Terese had given her permission after they had all discussed it at a meeting, and though the women were concerned for Piper as to how Evan would react to the news, they needn’t have worried. He was more excited about Piper showing him how she had concealed the tracks from him, then the news itself. The two were meant for each other.
Rowena was also in the throes of love, Talon having returned time and time again to see her after he had healed and returned to the mercenary camp. His stays at Everagis grew longer than his returns to camp until finally Septimus threw him out claiming that a love-sick pup was useless to him. Talon now spent his day building a cottage for him and Rowena.
Terese grew melancholy, thinking about Lachlan. Actually, there hadn’t been a day that had gone by since his departure over four months ago that she hadn’t thought about him. She missed him terribly, especially at night when she crawled into an empty bed. She ached for his arms to wrap around her and to feel his body planted against hers.
She shook the thoughts from her mind or else she would cry. She had been doing a lot of that lately, and it annoyed her.
Terese turned hearing someone approach, and smiled. It was May, or at least that’s what the women had named her since she arrived in May in the throes of labor the last night Terese had spent with Lachlan. She’d had severe bruising around her neck and had been unable to speak. So far her voice had not returned. But she had given birth to a beautiful baby boy who everyone fussed over. Though only a few months old, the lad laughed and smiled and rarely cried.
Since May couldn’t speak, the lad had yet to receive a proper name so he was often called little darling, sweetie, sweet stuff or any other endearing name that came to mind.
May was good at using her hands to make herself understood, since she never attempted to write anything, Terese assumed that she didn’t know how.
“Is the little one sleeping?” Terese asked.
May nodded and then proceeded to communicate with her hands.
Terese watched and then asked, “Are you telling me people approach?”
May nodded vigorously.
That’s when Terese spotted Hester approaching her on a run, and a sense of dread washed over her.
“May’s told you riders approach?” Hester asked anxiously.
“Riders?” Terese repeated the sense of dread growing. “Do you know who?”
Hester reached out for Terese’s hand, but she pulled away. “No, don’t tell me…” She shook her head. “It can’t be. He told me he wouldn’t return.” She grabbed hold of Hester’s arm. “Tell me it’s not him.”
“I’m sorry,” Hester said. “Lachlan will be here any moment.”
Chapter 21
Terese’s hand went to her stomach. She had been able to hide the slight roundness thus far, the only ones who knew that she carried Lachlan’s babe were Rowena and Hester. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Megan or Piper, she just didn’t want to put them in the position of lying to the men they loved. And she supposed she had feared Andrew or Evan might decide to contact Lachlan. What did she intend to do when she couldn’t hide her expanding stomach any longer? She had no idea, though now she had a bigger problem to worry about.
Why had Lachlan returned?
May had gone her way and Hester walked with Terese to the center of the village.
“You cannot notice the bulge to my stomach, can you,” Terese whispered to Hester.
“The apron you wear does a good job of concealing the slight bump,” Hester assured her.
“Lachlan cannot remain here long,” Terese said with a tremble of worry.
Hester squeezed her hand. “I and the others will not let anything happen to you. You saved each of us at one time or another and now we will do the same for you.”
As if the women heard, they appeared one by one until Megan, Piper, and Rowena stood around Terese, waiting with her as the riders approached. Others in the village joined the women, all realizing friends approached and eager to greet them.
He was a bit of a distance away when she saw him riding tall and regal in his saddle. He didn’t have to get any closer for her to see that he was handsomer than she remembered him. The summer sun had sparked his brown hair with touches of gold and he appeared broader in the shoulders and chest, or perhaps he appeared more formidable because she felt vulnerable.
She remembered the babe then nestled safely in her stomach and knew she would do whatever was necessary to keep him safe, even resurrect Alyce Bunnock.
Lachlan came to a stop a few feet away from her, Andrew and Evan being the first to greet him and his men. His eyes strayed to her now and again, and she sensed his return had something to do with her.