Page 58 of Deception of a Highlander

Kieran rapped a series of well-timed knocks against the smooth wood. The door opened, and a friendly face appeared in the doorway. Emerald-green eyes crinkled with delight as they settled on Mariel, and a wide smile spread over the woman’s comely face.

“You must be Mariel.” The woman spoke with a melodic lilt that hovered somewhere between Scots and English. “It’s so wonderful to meet you finally.” Her thin arms caught Mariel in a strong embrace.

Where Kieran was cold and closed off, his sister was warm and open. Mariel smiled in spite of herself and breathed in the clean scent of sunshine and home that seemed to emanate from the slender woman.

“Oh, do come in. I have so much I’d like to say to you.”

Mariel allowed herself to be pulled into the small house. Kieran’s sister laid a dagger on a table beside the door with a heavy clunk.

Her home was simple but cheerfully so. A table sat in the center of the room, surrounded by three wooden chairs. Several cabinets dotted the wall, and a bed was pushed into the corner. Various herbs hung from the rafters and left the air in the small home comforting.

Kieran walked in behind them, followed by the boy she had seen that morning. The boy kept his dark gaze fixed on her as he stalked over to his mother with a noticeable limp and stood in front of her, his stance protective.

Kieran’s sister ruffled her son’s hair and smiled down at him. “This sweaty little boy is my son, Dougal.”

Dougal.

The hairs on the back of Mariel’s neck stood on end. No.

The air in the cabin grew thin.

It couldn’t be.

“I’m afraid I don’t know your name,” Mariel heard herself say.

“Ach, forgive my terrible manners.” Kieran’s sister gave a wide grin, her face open and genuinely sweet. “I’m Blair.”

CHAPTER 22

Kieran leaned his back against the wall as Dougal sat beside Mariel’s feet. The little boy tugged the hem of her dress, his face earnest. She bent to the boy’s height with a smile and let him whisper in her ear.

“All right, but this is the last time,” Mariel said. She pulled a coin from her pocket, pushed her hands together, and then opened them with a dramatic flourish. The coin had disappeared. While Dougal searched her arms for where she had hidden it, she plucked the coin from behind his ear.

His high-pitched laughter filled the room as he clapped his hands. “Again! Again!”

Blair stood up from the table and joined Kieran as Mariel agreed to do the trick “one last time.”

His sister grinned up at him. “I like her, Kieran. I like her a lot.”

“Ye seem to get along well, but then I knew ye would. It’s good to see ye have someone to talk to.”

The flush of happiness and the sparkle in Blair’s eyes were evidence enough that he had made the right decision in trusting Mariel. He had been a fool for keeping Blair and Dougal a secret from her for so long.

“She would be a very good mother,” Blair mused.

Kieran didn’t respond as he watched Mariel laugh and allow herself to be pulled to the ground beside Dougal. She would be as patient with her own children and as fiercely protective of them as she had been with Coira. Kieran felt a smile tug his lips at the thought of her cradling his child.

“I think what I like best about her, though,” Blair continued, “is the way she looks at you.” She made a point of peering up at him. “And the way you look at her.”

Kieran grunted and crossed his arms over his chest. “I dinna know what ye’re talking about.”

“You need a wife, and Caisteal Camus has been too long without a mistress. Mariel—”

“It wouldna be without a mistress if ye lived with us.”

Her smooth brow puckered. “You know why I can’t.”

Of course, he knew. They had this conversation every time he visited. “It’s foolish, Blair. If ye lived in the castle, I could offer ye better protection. There is no one out here to help if—”