The Highlander's Bride(25)

They stopped hours later for a rest and to eat. Jeremy took the proffered food, breaking the bread apart to shove more than half in his pocket.

“My family needs to eat,” he explained.

“We have extra to spare,” Cullen offered.

Jeremy’s dark eyes glistened and he near choked on the piece of bread he swallowed. “You would share with us?”

“Of course we would,” Cullen said, thinking the stranger might well be telling them the truth. He was a simple farmer trying to feed his hungry family.

Sara asked the question that was about to slip from Cullen’s lips. “Don’t you have a clan to look after you?”

Jeremy shook his head. “My cousin isn’t much of a leader. He boasts and promises and does nothing to improve the lot of our small clan. Ginny and I hope someday to go to America. I hear that people like us have a chance at a better life there, a chance to own land of their own. We want to provide a better life for our daughter Gwen.”

Jeremy brushed his hands free of crumbs. “I don’t mean to rush you but if we keep a good pace we can reach my farm by dusk, and I am eager to see my family.”

Cullen stood and extended his hand to Sara. “Then let’s be on our way.”

He had half expected her to refuse his help, but then, she had been quieter than usual and subdued in her manner. She was either up to something or acting the good wife in front of the stranger.

That he was aware of the noticeable change in Sara reminded him of just how familiar he’d become with his new wife in such a short time. She wasn’t a woman easily ignored, though beauty wasn’t her draw. Her features were classic, defined like the sculpted statues that graced the churches. She appeared a pillar of strength and confidence, a woman a man could rely on.

When he glanced over at her where she rode alongside him, she seemed lost in thought. No doubt that was the reason for her silence, since she talked endlessly, and surprisingly, her discussions were always of interest to him. She was a well-informed woman with strong opinions and the brightest, most unmanageable red hair he had ever seen. Actually, her hair was much like her; it did as it pleased, whether it curled tightly, sprang out oddly, or fell softly around her face and shoulders. Its unpredictability matched her perfectly.

“He’s slovenly,” Sara said, her eyes fixed on Jeremy, who kept several paces ahead.

“That sounds like an observation not an accusation,” Cullen said for clarification.

“It is more like a clue.”

“To help you recall what’s familiar about him?” Cullen scratched his head. “Slovenly is familiar?”

“That’s it,” Sara said, thrilled, and reached out to squeeze Cullen’s arm. “You’re a genius, I love you.”

His heart broke a little bit at hearing I love you. The last time he’d heard those words, they trembled off Alaina’s dying lips. He knew Sara meant it in a grateful sense, not a loving sense, but it had drudged up memories, reminding him how much he missed hearing it.

“Jeremy,” she called out, excited.

The man stopped and instinctively spun around and crouched as if bracing for attack.

“It’s all right,” she assured him. “I was merely curious about your clan and wondered if I knew your leader, since I’ve been through these parts before.”

“Harken McWilliams. I doubt a lady like you would know the likes of him. He’s a slovenly one.” He brushed at his soiled garments. “Not that I’m much better, but it’s been a hard trip in my search for food, and Ginny is going to have a fit when she sees the filth of me. My Ginny is a good wife and keeps what meager family garments we have in good repair, and clean as well. I’m a lucky man.”

“You’re right. I don’t know him,” Sara said, with a raised brow to Cullen.

He understood her silent message and her unwillingness to share the fact that she was the woman that Harken McWilliams, his cousin. had planned on wedding to improve his clan’s lot. Not that he expected Jeremy to be upset with her. More than likely he would be upset with his cousin for even thinking a woman like Sara would consider a careless man like Harken.

Sara leaned closer to Cullen to whisper, “I feel I owe Jeremy and his family.”

It certainly hadn’t been her fault that Harken was a poor leader and an idiot, Cullen thought, though he knew Sara would see it differently. She would feel responsible, simply because she had a caring heart and the courage and confidence to follow her convictions.

Thank the Lord she did or his son would have been dead.

“I’m sure we can help them somehow,” Cullen said in agreement.