Epilogue #2
She pulled back and smiled at him. “The usual suspects. MacLeods, in droves. John Bagley. Emily, of course. Derrick and a couple of others who vow they will show up in disguise and you’ll never recognize them. I think Bobby’s coming as Odo the Clown.”
Cameron laughed, apparently in spite of himself. “I’m not sure if I should thank you or shout at you.”
“You never shout at me.”
“Well, then I suppose I’ll just thank you,” he said with a hesitant smile. “This is very unexpected. I feel certain I’ll fidget uncomfortably all night.”
“It isn’t brunch,” she pointed out. “How bad can it be?”
"Point taken.” He looked at his watch. “And your five minutes are up.”
“That wasn’t five minutes.”
“My watch runs fast. Come here, woman, and distract me from what you just told me before I squirm anymore.”
She was quite happy to oblige him. He had, after all, cancelled his afternoon for her.
It was very late in the evening of his birthday when she found herself lying with him on the thick rug in front of the fire in his solar with her head on his shoulder.
The party had been everything she’d hoped for.
Cameron’s hall had been full of villagers come to raise a pint to him: old men he had listened to, old ladies he had been kind to, younger souls who he’d taken the time to befriend.
Sunny had issued a general invitation and been slightly surprised at how many had taken her up on it.
It had been worth it, though, to see the grave smile on Cameron’s face.
He had fidgeted quite a bit as well.
Once the villagers had gone, it had been just her family and his gathered around him, teasing him, toasting his health, congratulating him on actually managing to survive long enough to win such a fine witch.
And after that, it had been just Madelyn and Patrick who lingered behind with Hope, sitting with them in front of the fire in the great hall as Madame Gies and her lads cleaned up.
And then, an hour later, it had been just they two.
Cameron had sat next to her for a bit, holding her hand and running his thumb over the wait-for-me ring he’d given her. Sunny had watched him, grateful beyond measure that he was hers. Body, heart, and as much of his soul as was acceptable to heaven, as he would have said.
And then he’d led her up the stairs and into his solar, where he had loved her until she was, as usual, breathless.
But now she’d caught her breath and she had one last thing to give him. She leaned up on her elbow and looked at him.
“I have a present for you.”
He tangled his fingers in her hair and smiled up at her lazily. “I think you just gave me my present. And more than once, if memory serves.”
She smiled. “It’s actually more something I want to tell you.”
“Is it a good something?”
She pursed her lips. “What bad could it possibly be?”
“You’re leaving me for Tavish Fergusson?”
She laughed, then sat up. “Not a chance. I’ll be right back.”
“Hurry.”
She smiled at him, then wrapped a plaid around her and went to fetch from their bathroom what she’d been hiding under feminine protection products Cameron wouldn’t have come near if he’d had a sword at his back.
She held it behind her, walked through their very medieval-looking bedchamber, and back down the hallway to his solar.
She shut the door behind her, locked it, then walked over to the hearth. She knelt down on the rug next to him.
“Ready?” she asked.
He sat up. “I’m not sure.”
She handed him the pregnancy test. “Congratulations, my love. You’re going to be a father.”
The blood drained from his face. She caught him, then realized he’d planned that. He pulled her down with him, rolled her over so he was leaning over her, then he bent his head and kissed her.
“I’m speechless,” he said, sounding slightly awestruck. “When can we expect this pleasant arrival?”
“I imagine in mid-summer,” she said, smiling as he gathered her into his arms.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
“Thank you,” she returned, pulling him down and holding on to him tightly. “Thank you, Cam, for giving me the Highlands. And a beloved Highlander to go with them. And lovely summer days full of your endless meadows of flowers.”
He lifted his head and smiled at her. “And the rain?”
“It is Scotland, after all,” she said with a smile. “And I do love the rain.”
“And me?”
She put her hands on his face. “I love you best of all. Shall I show you?”
“I’ll show you this time.”
A pair of hours later, Sunny watched him sleep by the light of the fire and contemplated her life.
She thought back to the night when she’d first touched him, when she’d been sitting in front of the fire in Moraig’s house, listening to the rain on her roof and desperately wanting a reason to stay in Scotland. A simple man with a decent job and a bit of a garden would have been inducement enough.
Instead, what she’d gotten was a man who was intensity personified, land to roam over on long, flower-strewn days of summer, and a beautiful castle to curl up in on long, fire-warmed nights during the winter.
She supposed there were times when it just was best to not get what one had planned for. She closed her eyes and put her arm around her love.
Life had a way of providing so much more.