The Ghost, Greyson, Maeve [funny books to read TXT] 📗

He gave Brenna an apologetic bob of his head. “I shouldha had him bring the goods inside before now. Forgive me.” His gaze slid to Keigan. “But it slipped my mind,” he added with a thoughtful quietness that made her heart hurt.

Before she could reply, Evander blew back inside with his arms overloaded with bundles.

As Keigan rushed to join the lad at the small table in front of the window, Brenna stepped back out of their way and found herself shoulder to shoulder with Magnus. Well, they would have been shoulder to shoulder if she were quite a bit taller. As it was, even being a tall woman, the top of her head barely reached his chin.

“Thank ye for this, Brenna,” he said softly for her ears alone. “I know I dinna deserve it, but I am forever indebted to yer kindness. Ye have no idea how much yer understanding means to me.”

“Dinna thank me,” she replied in a curt whisper. Frustration churned through her, made even worse by the feeling she had betrayed the need for vengeance she had nurtured all these years. His heartfelt whisper touched her more than she cared to admit, and she hated herself for it. “This was my sister’s dying wish. For the child to know ye. No more. No less.”

“Be that as it may,” Magnus countered, “I shall owe ye the rest of my days. Whatever ye may need—all ye must do is ask it of me, ye ken?”

Chapter Three

She had always thought Keigan favored his mother. Little did she know how wrong she had been. The child’s likeness was a reflection of his father. Disturbingly so. Same eyes. The slant of their smiles displaying the same dimple planted in their right cheek. With their heads bent close over the game they had scratched out on the dirt floor, barely a shade’s difference could be seen between their hair.

“I have ye now,” Evander crowed as he slid a rock toward another pile of pebbles within the circle.

“Nay!” Magnus and Keigan shouted in unison as they retaliated by moving their stones.

Brenna didn’t understand their play and couldn’t care less. All she knew was that it gave her the advantage of observing Magnus. She was determined to reveal the genuinely selfish man that he was, the one he so craftily hid beneath a quiet, mannerly exterior.

The muscular man, a massive warrior, built for fighting battles and not crouching on the floor, changed positions and covertly massaged a knee. A moment of pity flitted through her. With the endless rains confining them, the three had been at the game a long while. Poor fool would be so stiff he’d be unable to walk by the time they finished. Good. Served him right for showing up to steal her dear lad away. She slammed a freshly washed plate down on the shelf so hard it was a wonder it didn’t shatter.

Her conscience pricked at her, sounding a great deal like her sister’s voice. The distant memory of Bree begging her to swear that the child would know his father. Brenna tossed down the rag she had used to wipe the dishes, fetched a three-legged stool out of the shadows, and thumped it down beside Magnus. “Here. Before ye cripple yerself.”

“I thank ye, lass,” he said as he hoisted himself onto the stool. “And my poor knee thanks ye even more.”

She replied with nothing more than a dip of her chin. Curse the rains. Would they never cease and free her of this forced companionship?

“What’s wrong with yer knee?” Keigan asked. “Was it a fierce battle? Did ye kill them after they wounded ye?”

Brenna rolled her eyes. What was it about males that made them glorify such things? She braced herself, half tempted to stuff rags in her ears to keep from hearing what would surely be a murderous lie of honor and glory.

Evander laughed out loud, then snapped his mouth shut. “Sorry,” he snickered in response to Magnus’s chilling glare.

“I hurt it saving a pup,” Magnus said, leaning forward to slide a pebble to a different square within the circle.

“Ye mean when ye tried,” Evander interrupted. “We had to save him and the pup both.”

“Go check on the horses,” Magnus ordered, jabbing a finger at the door. “Now.”

“It’s pouring buckets even harder,” Evander argued. “I’m just now dried out from last time.” Thunder rumbled in the distance.

“Yer ill manners just earned ye another good soaking and more chores. Now, go.” Magnus rose to his full height and pointed at the door again. “And dinna come back inside until ye’ve moved the beasts closer to the shelter and seen that they’re safe and calm. Understand?”

The sullen lad ducked his head and stomped out the door.

“Why did ye send him out in the rain again?” Keigan asked.

“Because he needed a lesson in respecting his elders,” Brenna explained before she could stop herself. She bit the inside of her cheek. What was wrong with her? Defending the fool man? And was that a hint of a smile tugging at his lips? By goodness, if he finished that smirk, she would throw a pot at him.

Magnus must have sensed her irritation because he cleared his throat and lowered himself back to the stool. “Ye asked how I hurt my knee. Remember?”

“Aye.” Keigan scooted closer, his face alight with interest. “What happened to the puppy? Was a bad man trying to hurt it, and ye had to fight him off?”

It was Magnus who ducked his head this time, but he looked embarrassed rather than sullen. “Nay, lad. Nothing like that.” He leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. “Tor Ruadh is built into the side of the mighty Ben Nevis. There are caves aplenty that run deep into the mountain. Some connect to the main stable and some to other parts of the keep.” He stretched out his leg and rubbed the knee in question as if telling the story renewed the old injury. “The nosy