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

bench and slowly shook his head. “Ye never told me how Cadha came to know so much about the caves. The way ye talked about how she led ye back to the keep made it sound as though the lass knew the maze better than any of us.”

Memories of how their odd friendship came to be made Brenna smile. “While I bound her broken arm, she told me she had learned the caves to impress ye. Said that just after ye brought her to Tor Ruadh, she heard ye had helped Alexander and Graham map out the tunnels.” Her smile faded, wiped away by the hurt in her heart as Cadha’s words replayed through her mind. “She said she had no friends, so whenever she finished her duties, she learned the caves to impress ye.” Scooting closer, she looped her arm through his and rested her cheek on his shoulder. “She loved ye true, mo ghràdh. In her own sad, twisted way.”

“Poor lass.” Magnus squeezed her hand and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “I wish Alexander had made the both of ye stay behind whilst he came and looked for me.” A gruff sigh left him. “Then she would be alive, and perhaps we couldha freed her from her addled mind and helped her find happiness of her own.” He squeezed her hand again. “And if the caves had claimed ye. too, I wouldha released my hold on that ledge and joined ye in death.” Shifting on the bench, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and lifted her face to his. “Ye are my heart, my soul, my all. I canna imagine life without ye.”

“And that is exactly why I came with Alexander, my dearest love.” She reached up and caressed his cheek, his day’s stubble scratching her palm in the best sort of way. “I couldna bear to stay behind and wonder. No one couldha kept me from ye.”

“Ye are a verra stubborn woman,” he whispered, bending closer.

“Aye. That I am.” Time for talk was over. She closed the space between them and kissed the man she loved more than life itself, the man she had once hated but now couldn’t imagine a life without. “I love ye,” she whispered against his mouth. “Mo chridhe, m’anam, mo chuid.”

“My heart, my soul, my all,” he repeated, throwing the cane to the ground and pulling her into a proper embrace. “And I thank God Almighty for putting ye in my life.”

A giggle escaped her, bubbling up between them. “Father William would love to hear ye say that,” she said as she tightened her arms around his neck.

With a wicked glint in his eyes, he shifted them around on the backless bench and rolled her off into the softness of the thick ivy between the bench and garden wall. Settling himself atop her, he nuzzled kisses along her throat and jawline. “I shall be sure and repeat it to him when he’s christening the bairn we start here in the kirkyard.”

“Magnus, we canna do this here!” she scolded in a harsh whisper. “’Tis blasphemy!” She gave him a meaningless push, knowing she had no intention of refusing him. “What if someone sees? And yer hip! What about yer hip and knee?”

“Exercise heals a man’s ailments.” His warm breath tickled the sensitive skin behind her ear in a way she couldn’t resist. “And if anyone sees—they’ll know that Jedidiah MacCoinnich loves his wife and canna keep his hands off her.” He paused in his nibbling, lifted his head, and gave her a look that made her ache for him even more. “I love ye, mo ghràdh, and need ye with a fury.”

“’Tis a good thing, my love—for I love ye and need ye just the same.”

Epilogue

MacCoinnich Chapel

Ben Nevis, Scotland

One Year Later…

“I believe ye swore to repeat something to me on this blessed day,” Father William announced with a superior air.

Magnus cut his eyes over at his cherished lady love. “Ye told him?”

“Of course, I told him,” Brenna said, then pressed a tender kiss to the velvety head of their two-week-old son. For the moment, their precious wee bairn slept while bundled in his loving mother’s arms. She gave him a wicked smile that made him love her even more. “It was yer oath, remember?”

There was no getting around it. She had snared him well and good with his own words. He didn’t know if they had conceived the wee one in the kirkyard that day, but he had promised, and a promise was a promise. Wrapping his left arm around Brenna and his right around Keigan, he hugged his beloved family closer. ’Twas a wonder his heart didn’t burst with all the happiness it held. He threw out his chest and spoke loud enough for all gathered for the christening to hear, “I thank God Almighty for bringing this wondrous woman into my life.” After a hard swallow to bridle more emotions than he had ever known, he continued, “I am truly blessed. Two healthy sons and a woman I love so much it frightens me. What more could a man ask for?”

Father William beamed at him with a proud smile. “Well said, my son, well said.” He held out both hands. “And now, let us welcome this precious child into the house of God.”

Magnus tensed. He didn’t like anyone other than himself, Brenna, or Keigan holding the babe. He was a mite selfish and protective when it came to his family, and proud to be so.

As soon as Brenna passed the little one to Father William, the baby’s bright blue eyes popped open. His tiny forehead wrinkled into a furious scowl, and his face turned red.

Magnus didn’t attempt to suppress a smile. He knew what was coming. His new son had a ferocious temper and a squall loud enough to be heard across the Highlands.

“There now, my fine wee one,” the holy man said as he settled the squirming babe in the