The Highlander Series(289)

She was sorely tempted to knee him in the cods and leave him writhing on the ground in agony. She pressed her lips into a thin line and sent him a stare that would wither a flower in full bloom.

She turned and when Gannon would have taken her arm, she jerked away and gave him an equally icy stare. Over her lifeless body would she obey her husband’s dictate to wait in their chamber for him to take her apart for some imagined slight.

She stomped inside and went in search of Sarah. Caelen should be filled with joy. He was going to be a father. It had been his wish for his seed to bear fruit with all haste so as to further seal his leadership over his new clan.

Now the McCabes and the McDonalds would be joined by blood. Caelen had everything he wanted. Why then did he look upon her as though she’d handed him the worst betrayal?

“You cannot avoid the laird forever,” Sarah warned.

Rionna shot her a glare. “ ’Tis not avoiding as much as it is me not obeying his almighty dictate. He can go to the devil. And to think I wore a dress for him.” She looked down in disgust at the beautiful amber gown that had a fair number of wrinkles in it now.

Sarah chuckled and resumed her knitting. The two women sat in Sarah’s cottage as the fire blazed in the hearth. ’Twas past the hour of the evening meal but Rionna had eaten—at Sarah’s insistence—in the quiet of Sarah’s cottage.

“You can’t miss meals now, lass,” she’d cautioned Rionna. “ ’Tis likely what made you faint. You didn’t break your fast and then you overexerted yourself.”

Rionna had given in to Sarah’s prodding and eaten a bowl of stew but she couldn’t even remember the taste. The only thing firmly entrenched in her memory was her husband’s furious expression. And his coldness to her. She had no explanation for it. One moment they were sparring, and aye, he’d been in a black mood because of the men, but surely that couldn’t be blamed for the horrible way he’d reacted to her pregnancy. Was he really so angry because she was carrying? It made no sense. Not when her bearing an heir was of such import to the alliance between the McCabes and the McDonalds. Her babe could go a long way in mending the animosity the McDonald men currently bore Caelen.

“I admit, I’ll never understand the mind of a man,” Rionna said with a sigh.

Sarah tsked under her breath. “ ’Tis good you learn that now, lass. ’Tis a foolhardy endeavor to even attempt such. The mind of a man changes on a daily basis and a woman is never sure which way it bends from one moment to the next. ’Tis why ’tis best to allow them to think they are the master of their domain and go quietly behind them and do things the way you like.”

Rionna laughed. “You are a wise woman, Sarah.”

“Having outlived two husbands already, I’ve gained more wisdom about men than a woman needs to know.” She shrugged. “ ’Tis not hard once you’ve learned they’re mostly bluster and gruff. If you can look beyond that and ignore their bite, they’re not hard to live with. You give them a little petting, stroke their pride a bit, and follow it with a kiss here and there, and they’re well content.”

“Aye, I used to think you were right,” Rionna said as she stared into the flames. “But my husband … ’tis disloyal of me to discuss him so, but he drives me daft. One moment he is as tender as a man can be and the next he’s as cold as the winter’s snow.”

Sarah smiled. “Because he’s not yet decided what he thinks of you, lass. You’ve got him so flustered that he doesn’t know if he’s coming or going. He’ll figure it out eventually.”

“How typical that I must wait on him to make his mind up before we can be at peace,” Rionna grumbled.

“ ’Tis hard to soothe a savage beast when you’re here and he’s there,” Sarah pointed out.

“ ’Tis cold and I’m not venturing out,” Rionna grumbled.

“The problem is you’re both as stubborn as an old mule. Neither of you will give an inch. ’Tis no way to make a success of a marriage.”

“If I make a practice of yielding so easily, then I’ll always be yielding and he’ll never bend.”

“Aye, that’s true as well.”

“Then what am I supposed to do?” Rionna asked in exasperation.

Sarah chuckled. “If I knew that, no one would ever be discontent, now would they? I think ’tis something you’ll have to muddle through on your own.”

“Maybe,” Rionna said grudgingly. “But ’tis nothing I’ll discover tonight. I’m tired.”