Page 45 of Never Marry a Highlander

“Aye.As yer midwife, ye are my responsibility.Good food, fresh air and naps are verra important for a woman carrying a bairn.”

Cait began to chew on her lip.“I’m no’ sure Gaun would like that.”

Helena waved her hand.“Pssh.He doesna even have to ken.As long as it’s here and ye heat it up in yer hearth, he willna ken the difference.”

The lass gave a soft laugh.“He will ken the difference because he tells me I am a terrible cook.”

“See,” Lorena said, “ye can tell him ye spent the day improving yer cooking skills.”

All three women laughed but Lorena was not laughing inside.She knew what this young woman was going through, and her carrying a bairn!

They chatted for a while as Helena asked about Cait’s diet, rest, walking in the fresh air and if the bairn was still active.

“Aye.He is verra active.The worst seems to be at night when I’m trying to sleep.I keep moving around to get comfortable, but Gaun gets mad because he says I keep him awake, and kicks me out of the bed.”She stopped for a moment and said, “He asks me to leave, I mean.”

Lorena had no doubt that this husband of hers did most likely shove her out of the bed with his foot.This poor lass needed someone to speak with her husband.Would Robin want to be involved?

After giving Cait a hug, they left her.“What do ye think of her bruise?”Lorena asked Helena.She didn’t want to get too far into this if Helena had a different opinion.She would most likely resent her going to the laird if she didn’t see a problem.

“The lass has been beaten.‘Tis no’ the first time I saw marks on her, but this was by far the worse and I had no doubt this time ‘twas a beating.”Helena’s lips tightened and she said, “I shall speak with Robin tonight.He must visit their bothy and make Gaun understand that taking his fists to his wife is not allowed in the MacKay clan.”

“For certe?”Lorena said, the surprise in her voice.

“Aye.Robin is verra determined that women and bairns are no’ to be treated that way.He’s been known to throw a mon in the dungeon for beating his lad.”

Lorena thought about all that while they headed to the next house.This one was an older man, named Eby who had pains from the cold Scotland air and his age.Helena had told her she didn’t know the man’s age because he didn’t know himself.But she guessed he had seen seventy or more years.

The man was very sweet and Lorena came to the conclusion that more than a healer, he wanted company so he could tell his stories.When she said that to Helena on their way back to the brooch, she laughed.“Aye.He had two sons who were killed in a battle a few years back.The brooch takes care of his food and other needs.Robin has asked him several times to move to the brooch, but he refuses, saying he likes his own company better than anyone else’s.”

Lorena smiled.“Yet he likes to sit and tell ye stories.”

“Aye.I hope when I’m an old woman that there is someone for me to tell my stories to.”

“Ye will have yer bairn and yer husband.”

“Aye.”She patted her bump.

The servants were preparing the great hall for supper.Helena hurried to the kitchen to ask Maude to wrap up two servings of what she’d prepared and send one of the kitchen maids to deliver it to Cait MacKay’s bothy.

The woman didn’t question her, but merely nodded and reached for a bowl to put the food into.“Kerry, come take this to Cait MacKay’s bothy.And make it fast.”

Lorena left Helena after they put away the medicants and returned to her bedchamber.As foolish as it sounded, she expected to see Craig standing there, his laughing eyes welcoming her.She would love to be able to sit and tell him all about her day.The people she met, the things she’d learned.

She had never spent time speaking with many people, never having had a female friend, which it seemed Helena was becoming.Staring at the bed, she slumped thinking of another night by herself, no warm body to curl up to.Of course, she’d slept alone all her life, even when she was married because Avery told her he couldn’t stand having another person in his bed all night.

She brushed her hair and washed her face and went down to the great hall.Helena and Robin were already seated at the table and by the intense look on Helena’s face, she was most likely telling Robin about Cait MacKay.

Finn was also absent since he’d left for his assignment early that morn.‘Twas hard looking at the love shared between the laird and his wife.For certe, she didn’t love Craig, nor he love her, but it might be nice to speak with him at the last meal.But he was gone, which was exactly what she’d told him she wanted when they married.

Be careful what ye ask for lass, ye might get it.