“We don’t keep secrets,” Ronan said.
“I do,” Cavan said. “And while it appears at times you all fail to treat me as your laird, make no mistake that I am.”
Things had just turned for the good, and Carissa didn’t want to be the reason the brothers argued. She placed a gentle hand on Ronan’s arm, and said, “Why don’t you see to getting the horses ready? We can leave as soon as I’m done.”
She could tell he was annoyed, but he nodded.
Carissa smiled and tugged at his shirt so that he would lean down, and she kissed his cheek, and whispered, “I’ll confide all to you when we’re done.”
He was instantly appeased, and Lachlan and Alyce joined him to see to their horses.
Carissa didn’t give Cavan a chance to speak once he closed the door to his solar.
“I assume this meeting pertains to Cregan,” she said.
“It does,” he answered. “I’d like to know what else your men have learned about his approach. How many men in his troop? If there is any further indication of what he wants and so on. You have commanded your men long enough to know what information I’m looking for.”
“I don’t like keeping this from Ronan,” she admitted.
“I can understand that. But I know my brother, and when he learns that a warrior who had fought alongside your father heads this way wanting to meet with you…” Cavan shook his head. “I will not be able to contain him. And in a sheer moment of foolishness, he could very well lose his life.”
“I don’t believe Ronan would do anything foolish,” she said, though she secretly wondered.
“Are you sure of that? After all he’s gone through to find the woman he loves, do you truly believe he wouldn’t do anything to protect you?”
“I see what you mean,” she admitted. “I suppose it is better we don’t take the chance.”
“It is better we find out what Cregan wants from you before we alert Ronan to the situation.”
She nodded. “Agreed.”
“So what are you going to tell him I said to you?”
“How did you know I’d tell him?”
Cavan grinned. “I have a wife who expects the same.”
She laughed and shook her head. “I’m not sure what to tell him.”
“I am,” Cavan said. “Tell him I wanted to know if he asked you to marry him yet.”
Chapter 34
Carissa rode beside Ronan, while Alyce and Lachlan rode in front. A fur-lined cloak and hood, along with fur-lined boots, a wool skirt and blouse did much to keep her warm against the bitter cold.
“I’ve waited long enough,” Ronan said. “Tell me what my brother had to say.”
Carissa hesitated. Things had been going so well, and while she would love to be Ronan’s wife, she didn’t want to suggest it to him. She much preferred he’d ask her on his own. And yet Cavan had asked the question. Dare she?
“You hesitate,” he said, concerned. “What’s wrong? Did my brother upset you?”
“No,” she said quickly, not wanting him to assume the worst. “Cavan has been very pleasant with me.”
“I truly believe he has grown to like you”—he laughed—“though I wonder if it has something to do with your delicious cooking.”
“It’s possible,” she said, though she knew it was because she had shared the intimacies of her life with him that caused him to see her in a different light.
Ronan smiled and reached his hand out to her. She took hold of it, and though it was warm, it sent shivers racing up her arm and throughout her body. It was always that way with him. All he had to do was touch her, and she wanted him.
“We’re home now. It isn’t only me who has come home; it is I and the woman I love who are finally home.”
She had never thought she’d have a true home, and she let him know how much it meant to her. “You could have given me no greater gift than the gift of being welcome in your home.”
“It is just the beginning of the gifts I will give to you,” he said, squeezing her hand. “And we will have a lavish wedding with clans coming from far and wide to honor our special day.”
Her heart quickened and her breath caught and she glared wide-eyed at him.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, alarmed. “Don’t you feel well?”
“You wish to wed me?” she asked, as if not believing her own question.
It was his turn to look startled. “Of course I do—” He stopped suddenly and shook his head. “I should have approached our getting wed differently. This is neither the time nor the place to discuss the matter. Instead, let us talk about what Cavan had to say.”