Page 1 of Her Reluctant Highlander Husband

Chapter One

September, 1662 Scotland

If he could only take that final step, it would all be over. Bryce MacKinlay Campbell, war chief of Clan MacKinlay, balanced himself on the edge of the battlements for a few seconds longer before stepping back to safety.

He’d been here many times over the ten years since he’d lost his wife and child, and each time he’d been unable to take that fatal action. While the grief still haunted him, he couldn’t force fate’s hand and join them.

Kicking the immovable buttress, he slid to the stones and let his head hang. Letting his misery wash over him.

“You think it’s weakness that keeps you from ending it, but it’s not. It takes strength to stay and do what needs done.” Lachlan MacKinlay, laird of Clan MacKinlay, was the last person Bryce wanted to see at the moment.

“Only if what needs doing is at your order,” Bryce grumbled.

Lach was his younger cousin, though they’d been like brothers. He’d thought the man would always have his back, but it turned out Bryce was wrong about that. They’d not always agreed on how things should be, but there had always been respect between them.

Bryce’s respect had faltered when his laird had ordered him to wed. Bryce had considered for a time returning to the Campbells where his father still lived. His mother had been a MacKinlay, and when she’d passed he’d come to Dunardry to live with his uncle. He’d never regretted his decision to stay. Until now.

“I know ye think I only have one motive for forcing this marriage on you, but you’re wrong. It’s more than a simple alliance with the McCurdy clan to gain access to a port. I do it for you as well.”

“Please don’t offer me any favors, laird. You know well enough, I dinna want to marry ever again. I had a wife I loved. Making me take another is a sure way to promise two people are miserable for the rest of their lives.”

“Or…it could be a new start. You may have lost Maggie and Isabel, but you’re still alive. Perhaps it’s time for ye to start living.”

“I’m alive, yes, but without a heart to give to another. It’s not fair to this McCurdy lass to strap her to a husband who’s hollow and broken inside.”

“I would ask you not to be cruel to her because you’re angry at me.”

Bryce’s head snapped up at the insult. “I may not be able to toss myself over the battlements, but I’ll give you a mighty shove if you dare suggest I would do such a thing to an innocent girl.”

“I know you wouldn’t intentionally. But I also know well what can happen when one is not happy about being wed.”

“You’re the one I’m unhappy with,” Bryce reminded his cousin.

“Fair enough.” He held up his hands in surrender. “Then if you can see to treat her decent, I don’t think she’ll ask for much else. You can be sure it would take a lot for her new home to be as unpleasant as living with the McCurdys.”

“Mayhap she’s just as horrible as her kin.” The McCurdys were known across the Highlands as the worst that man had to offer.

Lach shook his head and held his hand out to assist Bryce to his feet. “I was told she is a quiet lass.”

Bryce snorted at the word lass. He knew she’d come of the age to marry two years ago when Lach had planned to marry her to Cameron, only to have their other cousin wiggle his way free of the arrangement. It meant Bryce’s new bride had only recently turned eighteen. Making him thirteen years older than she.

“She’s a child,” Bryce complained, though she was the same age he’d been when he’d married an even younger Maggie. It wasn’t that his intended was so young, but that Bryce felt so terribly old. It had been a lifetime ago that he’d been a happy groom looking down at his bride’s shy smile.

“She’s a woman,” Lach argued. “She’ll cause you no problems. Will you not give her a chance?”

That was the problem. If he allowed someone the chance, they might break through the walls he’d built to protect himself from feeling such pain ever again.

He cared for his cousins and their growing families. Lach’s three boys and Cam’s wee lass were blessings that brought a smile to his face whenever he had the occasion to be around them.

Though he made sure that occasion came rarely.

Bryce’s attention was drawn below by the sound of a wagon and horses entering the bailey. The man in the front carried a banner with the McCurdy arms.

“I must go greet our guests,” Lach said. “If you’re not planning to throw yourself to your death, perhaps you’ll come with me.”

“I’ll never forgive you for this.”

“I didn’t expect forgiveness.” Lach frowned. “I carry many burdens for the sake of my clan. One more is not so much. Though I do hope it turns out well for you.”