Chapter Nine
Maeve hears words from her mother and father through Callie.
Maeve looked at Callie. “What did you say to him? He looks confused, muddled.”
“I had a message for him just like I have a message for ye, Lady Maeve. Please sit down and warm yerself by the fire.”
Maeve wrapped her blanket around her shoulders and pulled her chair closer to the fireplace, sighing as warmth moved through her. “I don’t understand, Callie. How can you have a message for me?”
“Someone who is with my mama has a message for ye. He says to listen carefully.”
Maeve didn’t know what to say. Were Callie’s communications with her mother all in her mind, or did they truly have some kind of connection that let Callie hear those who’d gone beyond the grave? She was not sure whether to trust the lass or not, but curiosity made her speak.
“Go ahead, Callie. Who is this person?”
“He says to tell ye that Maitland will safeguard yer heart. That ye must get over yer fears and trust him.”
She’d love to believe her words, but she couldn’t without knowing who they came from, if it really was from someone who’d passed on. “Who is speaking, Callie?”
“He says his name is Alexander. He’s yer father.”
Her heart skipped a beat, but then she reminded herself that she’d told Callie all about her parents, including their names. “What does he look like?” She had to test her somehow.
“He has hair the color of the darkest night, and the woman with him has golden hair like ye do. And there’s a black horse behind him.”
She still was not convinced. Everyone on and near Grant land knew what Alex and Maddie looked like and had heard of Alex’s stallion, Midnight. “What else does he have to tell me?”
“Yer mother says that if ye would trust Maitland and spend yer days with him, even when he travels and leaves Grant land, ye will have a happy life. And that ye will soon need to conquer yer fears in order to save more lads and lassies from sharing yer old life, before ye were rescued.
Ye must leave Grant land. But ’twill be in yer hands. Ye will have the secret he will need, though ye dinnae know it yet.”
This puzzle confused her. Why would she need to leave Grant land, and how could she save anyone? Hew was long gone—he could steal away no more bairns.
“Yer father said ye need to find a place for yer square of plaid. It need no’ travel with ye. Keep sewing the fold into yer skirt, but ye need no’ store the square any longer. Ye are strong without it, and he is watching over ye whether ye have the square or no’.”
Tears flowed down Maeve’s cheeks, and she had no idea how to stop them. No one knew about the square of plaid. No one. Not even Kyla. She’d been too embarrassed to admit it to anyone. That small square gave her comfort. She hadn’t started carrying it until after her father’s death.
How could anyone know about it? Especially this strange, soft-spoken lass. Were her parents truly watching her from Heaven?
Baffled by this odd conversation, she wouldn’t have believed a bit of it until Callie had mentioned the square of plaid. But she didn’t know what to do with any of the words the lass had spoken.
“What is the secret I have?”
“I dinnae know. But I know ’tis a memory, like the memories that haunt yer dreams. Ye’ll know when ye learn it, and ye’ll know exactly what ye must do.”
She nodded, swiping at the tears.
“Yer mother says yer true love is in the next chamber. Dinnae lose him. He will bring ye all the happiness ye long for.”
She looked to the bedchamber, wondering whether to believe what she’d heard, but her mind was in too much disarray to know what to think. Secrets and plaids and love. Too much.
“Yer father said Maitland is the only one deserving of yer love.”
She gasped because that was the one thing her father often said to her. One man or the other had offered for her, but his remark was always that they were not deserving of Maeve’s love. Her mother had agreed. She always said, “Your true love will find you.”
But he never had.
“Now yer true love has found ye. Love him with all yer heart, Maeve.” Callie smiled softly, as if she knew just how Maeve felt—confused and happy and melancholy all at the same time.
The fire popped and settled just as Maitland stepped out of the bedchamber, looking as if he was ready for bed. His feet were bare and tunic hanging loose “Come, Maeve. I will dry yer tears.” Then he looked to Callie. “Do ye have any more words for us?”
“Nay, everyone who wished to speak to ye is gone. Even Mama. ’Tis time for my bed.”
Maitland banked the fire, protecting the embers enough to stay warm all night. Callie retired to her own chamber.
Maeve fell into Maitland’s arms and said, “Ye received a message from the heavens too?”
“Aye,” he murmured, placing a soft kiss on the top of her head. “Come to bed and we can each share our experiences with the lass.”
She moved into the bedchamber and vowed to do what she’d never done before.
She was about to give Maitland her heart if he wished for it.
One small tallow cast a faint light across the bedchamber. She had no idea how to handle this situation or what to do. The sweat on her palms betrayed her, but Maitland said nothing, instead clasping her hand and leading her to one side of the bed where he sat down, fitting her in beside him.
“I know not whether to believe the words the lass gave me, Maeve, but I wish to believe her words to be true.”
Maeve played with the folds in her night rail, then gazed up into Maitland’s warm eyes. “I received the same. Good words, words I wish to be true, but I’m unsure. What think you of Callie?”
He stared up at the small light in the chamber, pausing to gather his thoughts, but it did not take him long to answer.
“I believe she is an angel sent to us. She passed words to me from Nesta, and I believe them to be true. My mother, as ye know, is a seer, a most powerful one. She believes in angels and special guidance from the heavens above. I am going to trust that Callie’s words are true. What say ye?”
He waited, giving her hand a small squeeze, and she closed her eyes, a slight smile breaking out.
No one knew of the plaid. No one. Callie’s words to her had to have come from her dear mother and father.
“I believe the same, Maitland. My sire said you would guard my heart, so if you wish, I will give it to you.”
Maitland broke into a wide grin, intertwined their fingers just so, and brought his Menzie plaid from the end of the bed so a section crossed their wrists, tying them together.
“Maeve, I pledge my troth and my love to ye. To honor and protect ye for as long as we both shall live. Do ye do the same with me?”
Maeve whispered, “I do. I love you, Maitland Menzie, and though I know not what life has in store for us, I trust my heart to you. Together, we will find our way, wherever it may lead.”
He kissed her, pulling her close, then settled in next to her. Maeve’s heart blossomed in ways she never knew existed.