Page 43 of Taken By the Savage Highlander

They did not bother looking at her, Miss Crusoe jumping at Friday before taking off running. When she reached the door connecting Margo’s chambers with the room Cameron had been inhabiting, Miss Crusoe flattened herself and crawled under. Then, as if he refused to be thwarted by such a simple maneuver, Friday followed, slipping through with just as much ease as his sister did.

“You little rascals,” Margo said with a click of her tongue.

She put her hands on her hips, figuring that she should be grateful they were giving her a short break. But, as she approached the door, she didn’t hear anything from the other side. The sun had set nearly an hour ago; by all means, Cameron should have been inside by now.

Something tightened in her chest; a complicated mix of frustration, worry, and disappointment. It was so overwhelming that she let it take control of her. Before she even registered what she was doing, Margo was walking through the door, ready to demand an explanation about why he had been so withdrawn.

“Where…”

The room was empty. She took everything in; the well-made bed, the fire in the hearth burning low, the darkness penetrated solely by the moonlight streaming through the windows. He was not here; and he likely had not been here for the entire day.

I should be relieved.

The thought came to her suddenly, but did not sit well with her heart. She felt like she couldn’t trust her feelings. Though perhaps she was simply worried about their contract deadline quickly approaching.

“Where are you?” she asked the kittens as she shuffled blindly around the room. “I do not want you in here on your own.”

She spotted two of them blinking at her from the armchair near the fire. They were frozen in the middle of their wrestling, watching her as she made her way over to them. Suddenly, they jumped to their feet and raced back into Margo’s room, leaving her alone in the center of the Laird’s private quarters.

I should leave.

Yet, she could not be there. She wondered if he had changed his mind about the agreement. She wondered if something terrible had drawn his attention away. She wondered if he was in the castle or the village or somewhere else entirely.

“Of course there’s no note,” she sighed after she had looked over his desk. “He demands that I must bear him an heir, makes me sign a contract, then avoids doing anything about it.”

With a scoff, she went back to her chambers, closing the door behind her. The kittens had stopped their romping, and all five of them were snuggled together in the center of her bed. Miss Crusoe was the only one that still looked alert.

"Why does he kiss me only to avoid me afterward?" Margo asked as she snuffed out the candle on her bedside table.

Miss Crusoe mewed, the noise sounding almost like disagreement. And, when Margo buried herself beneath the covers, Miss Crusoe walked up to her and nuzzled against her neck. The kitten’s soft purr carried her to sleep.

At least I haven’t been abandoned by the kittens.

Three days, three entire painstaking days passed Margo by without so much as a glimpse of Cameron. She was practically driving herself half-crazy wondering where he was.

“Perhaps I have gone mad,” she mumbled to herself as she stepped into the courtyard after breakfast. “I should not care if he is avoiding me.”

Even as the words left her mouth in a whisper, she found herself scanning the faces of everyone gathered around her. The guards were speaking among themselves, and her heart sank deep in her chest when she realized that Cameron was not standing there with them. A few children from the village gathered in a circle, shooting marbles as their fathers dropped off their fish deliveries.

“Are ye lookin’ for someone, me Lady?”

Margo spun around, her heart hammering with hope that the voice belonged to Cameron. Logically, she knew the sound of Gavin’s voice. That did not stop the disappointment from creeping in when she locked eyes with him.

“No, I am simply watching the people,” Margo forced a smile, her face heating up as if she’d been caught doing something embarrassing. “This place is so much more alive than Abbott Manor.”

“Aye, we are a lively bunch,” Gavin agreed, crossing his arms over his chest as he surveyed the scene. When he returned his attention to Margo, he said, “I am glad to find ye. I have a message for ye.”

“Is that so?” she asked, keeping her voice carefully neutral, though her emotions threatened to make it shake.

“Aye. Laird MacLeod has been called away to assist his cousin, Laird Lachlan MacLeod,” Gavin said, taking on a formal cadence. It seemed almost as though he were doing his best to keep his own opinions out of what he was saying. “One of the clan granaries has suffered damage. He will be returnin’ in three days.”

“I see,” Margo said, managing to keep her anger under control. “I assume that is where he has been over the last several days.”

“Yer assumption would be correct,” Gavin nodded as he raised a hand to greet the guards. “I received his missive this mornin’ and thought ye may like to ken.”

“It makes no difference to me,” she said, the lie sounding weak even to her. “But I do appreciate your thoughtfulness. Thank you, Gavin.”

“Of course, me Lady,” he said, giving her a single nod before he stepped away, walking toward the guards.