Samantha James (27 page)

With summer nigh, the days had begun to grow longer, the air drier and warmer and filled with the promise of another prosperous year. The high stone walls of Blackstone Keep sparkled in the sunlight that poured down from an azure sky. Voices drifted on the warm spring breeze—along with lilting laughter and childish squeals.

’Twas a lazy afternoon, and the four of them, Cameron and Meredith, Egan and Glenda, sat upon the lush green grass, looking after their little ones as they played beneath the gnarled branches of the ancient oak tree that grew near the bend in the river.

Brodie was tall for a lad of his years, his limbs long, his shoulders sturdy. His sister Aileen, but an infant when Glenda and Egan departed Dunthorpe, was the image of her mother with her halo of fiery red curls and huge, sparkling eyes; much to Cameron’s good-natured vexation, she had adopted her brother’s habit of darting into places to hide, then imploring her father to come find her. Elizabeth, now just over a year old, possessed her father’s thick, dark hair and her mother’s wide golden eyes. With dimpled cheeks and a ready, impish smile, she was a beautiful child.

But Elizabeth was not the only one whose lusty cries had filled the towering walls of the keep in the past year. Not long after Simon’s death, Jeannine had wed Culbert; for a time it had seemed almost odd to see her empty arms. Yet within the year she carried anew a swaddled little bundle, this time full of a squirming little lad…It was Nessa who had delivered the bairn…and Nessa who would no doubt deliver still another before summer’s end…

The second child of the lord and lady of Blackstone Keep.

A smile of contentment curling her lips, Glenda laced her fingers atop the curve of her belly. Egan had propped himself on an elbow beside his wife. Meredith sat next to Glenda, with Cameron stretched out beside her. Aileen sought to stand on her head, her plump little bottom stuck high in the air. Brodie dropped down beside his father, whereupon Elizabeth beamed and squealed with delight at finding Brodie on her own level. Flinging her arms around him, she pressed a sloppy wet kiss on young Brodie’s cheek.

Brodie howled and scrubbed the spot fiercely with his knuckles.

“Mama. Papa…make Elizabeth stop!”

Egan chuckled. “She’s very fond of you, Brodie.”

“But must she always follow me? And must she always
kiss
me?”

“You should be glad that she finds you such a handsome young lad,” Cameron chimed in. “Why, there may even come a time when
you
will be the one chasing Elizabeth.”

Brodie hardly looked convinced. Yet despite his complaints, when Elizabeth tumbled forward in the grass, it was Brodie who reached her, hauled her to her feet with a grunt and brushed the dirt from her tiny gown. She swayed for an instant, then proceeded to follow in his wake when he ambled away. In truth, during the week since the MacKays’ arrival, Brodie was quick to aid the little girl who forever toddled after him, for Elizabeth was still a trifle unsteady on her feet.

In the meantime, the two men had exchanged glances, their thoughts clearly reflecting the other’s. It was Egan who said in a voice of dawning wonder, “God above, wouldn’t it be something if Brodie and Elizabeth were to marry someday?”

“It would indeed.” Cameron sat up.

“I would not be opposed if Elizabeth wished to marry Brodie. He is a good lad. Already he takes care of his own.”

Cameron nodded. “Their children would likely have dark hair,” he mused, thoughtfully eyeing the pair in question, “wouldn’t you say?”

“Oh, I should think so, indeed.” Egan nodded his certainty.

“We could have the wedding at Dunthorpe.” Cameron’s tone took on a note of excitement.

“But Elizabeth is the bride. The wedding should be here at Blackstone!”

Now it was Glenda and Meredith who looked at each other. “Blackstone. Dunthorpe,” Glenda echoed in astonishment, then shook her head. “Do the two of you not hear yourselves? Already you discuss your grandchildren, but I would remind you, Elizabeth is hardly ready to become a bride, and Brodie is scarcely of an age to be a husband!”

Again that look between the men. Their eyes gleamed. “We could betroth them,” said one.

“Nay!” chorused two female voices in unison.

“If they are to find each other, it must be on their own,” said Glenda. “The two of you cannot make them fall in love.”

“Aye,” Meredith pronounced with mock sternness. “If it is to be, it will be, and not because the two of you say it will be so. We shall just have to wait and see, and the two of you must simply content yourselves with that!”

It was not long thereafter that they made their way back to the keep. Egan cradled a sleepy Elizabeth in his arms, while Aileen already slumbered against Cameron’s shoulder. In the hall, Cameron proceeded up the stairs to put the little girl to bed. Brodie marched after him. Meredith glanced over at Egan and Glenda, just as the pair chanced to exchange a tender look above their daughter’s head.

She smiled. Reaching out, she took Glenda’s hand and squeezed it. “I cannot tell you how it fills my heart to see the two of you so happy,” she said softly, then turned to Egan. “’Tis just as Cameron once told me. You belong together.” Stretching up on tiptoe, she pressed a kiss upon Egan’s cheek before making her way after Cameron.

Later that night Glenda nestled close against the side of her husband. A fire burned cozily in the hearth, and the bed was snug and warm.

Peering up at him, Glenda arched a brow. With a fingertip she traced the place on his cheek where Meredith had kissed him. “The women of Dunthorpe do seem to harbor a fancy for you, sir,” she told him tartly. “I wonder…should I be jealous?”

Egan caught her hand and kissed her fingertips. Weaving his fingers through hers, he laid it on the mound of her belly. He laughed, the sound husky.

“Only one woman will ever hold my heart in her hands,” he told her.

“Ah. And who might that be?” Glenda’s tone was grave, but her eyes held the light of a thousand stars.

Egan laughed, the sound husky. “The woman I hold right here in my arms.”

She smiled. “Perhaps you could show me as well, sir.”

“Perhaps I will.”

And, indeed…he did.