Maggie sat by the fire in the hospice, clutching the blanket around her, trying to warm herself from the chill. She was a married woman now. It all happened so fast that she hadn’t had time to think about it. She’d sneezed when Reed tried to kiss her at the wedding and had hoped he’d try again, but he hadn’t. Her heart ached. This wasn’t at all how she’d pictured her wedding. It had been so rushed that she didn’t even have a ring.
“Maggie, I’ll be staying with Hawke and his family in the chieftain’s cottage tonight,” said Duff, sitting on the bench next to her.
“Why?” She felt tired and didn’t want to argue with her brother, but didn’t like the fact he was spending more time with the Scots than he was with her.
“Hawke asked me to stay with him. Plus, I thought ye’d want some time alone with yer new husband.”
“Ye? Yer?” What was happening to her brother? He wore a plaid and was now starting to talk like a Scot. “Duff, you realize that we’re going to have to go back to England.”
“Nay!” He jumped off the bench. “Why should we? Ye’re married to Reed now. We’ll live in the Highlands. I dinna want to go back to England. Ever!”
“Stop talking like a Scot. You were raised English, and I have a betrothal to an English baron who is going to train you as a page and then a squire.”
“Ye stop talkin’ like a Sassenach!” he spat. “Besides, you are no longer betrothed to anyone. You - ye are married to Reed – a Highlander, so forget about the baron.”
Duff was trying to find out who he was. Maggie almost laughed when he spoke like and Englishman and a Scot all at the same time. She reached out and took his arm.
“Duff, I’m only thinking of what is best for you. I’ve spent my life trying to make a better life for you than the one I lived through. And as for the baron – I’m not sure what I’m going to do about that matter.” She shook her head. Reed had acted much too quickly and now she was going to pay the price.
“If you want to go back to England, then go,” he shouted, pushing her hand off his arm. “But I’m staying here where I belong. Scotland is my home and always has been even if ye dinna agree.” He ran from her, knocking into Reed as he came through the door.
“Slow down, lad. What’s the hurry?” Reed took Duff by the shoulders and looked him in the eye.
“Reed, can you teach me how to fight with a sword tomorrow?” asked Duff.
“Why sure I can,” he said with a smile. “Just meet me down by the loch at the break of day.”
“Thank ye. Ye’re a mighty fine Scot and I hope to follow in yer footsteps.” He ran out the door, leaving Reed standing there chuckling and shaking his head.
Maggie turned back to the fire, biting her lip. Why had Reed just promised her brother something without talking to her first?
“Let me warm ye,” he said, sitting down next to her and putting his arm around her. The hospice was crowded with mostly women. A few of the Scots were dismantling the trestle tables and helping to set up the sleeping pallets to use during the night.
“Why did you do that, Reed?”
“I’m sorry. I thought ye were cold.” He removed his arm from her shoulder and laid his hands on his lap.
“Not that. I’m talking about the promise you made Duff.”
“To learn to fight?” He glanced to the door and back to her. “That’s a good thing, right? After all, the boy is already ten and has yet to learn to hold a sword. I was holdin’ a sword from the time I could walk.”
“Reed, please.” She made a face and shook her head. “We both know that’s a lie.”
“All right. I didna mean it. It was just a figment of speech. But he needs to learn to fight and use weapons now that he’s livin’ in the Highlands.”
“We’re not staying.”
“What?”
She couldn’t look at him because the disappointment in his eyes was too much to bear. After their intimate night together and the time they spent, she’d seen a happy side of Reed and she cherished it. She didn’t like all the anger and vengeance in his heart and wanted him to be happy again like he was when they were children.
“Do you think the issue that I’m supposed to marry the baron is just going to disappear now that we’re married?”
“Well, nay. But I didna think –”
“That’s the problem.” She turned to face him now. “You didn’t think, Reed. You acted recklessly and now we’re in this bind.”
“I acted recklessly?” He chuckled. “Ye were the one who didna think when ye were so eager to make love to me. I might have made a quick decision, but I was tryin’ to save ye from embarrassment – especially in front of Duff.”
She sighed, and reached out and laid her hand on his. “I suppose you’re right. I always accuse you of being reckless, but I’m no better.”
“That’s why we were childhood sweethearts. We were much the same.” He reached over and kissed her atop her head. “I ken I’ll never be able to give ye what the baron could have, but give me a chance to prove to ye that I’m no’ as bad as ye think.”
“I never thought you were bad.” She interwove her fingers with his. “What are we going to do, Reed? We’ve made some decisions that can’t be undone.”
“We’ll take one day at a time, lassie. That’s all we can do.”
“I suppose you’re right.” She laid her head against his shoulder, staring into the flames. “Once we tell the baron that we were betrothed since childhood, hopefully, he’ll understand that I can no longer marry him.”
Reed cleared his throat. “About that – there is somethin’ I need to tell ye.”
“What is it?” She looked up into his beautiful blue eyes. So clear like a summer’s day. And so caring and honest. That’s what she loved about him. Reed wasn’t deceitful like a lot of the men she’d met in her life.
“We werena betrothed after all.”
Her heart sank. So he wasn’t that different after all. “What do you mean?” She sat up, taking her hand out of his.
“Ross said we were betrothed, but no alliance was ever finalized between him and yer faither.”
“So our whole marriage is based on naught but a lie?”
“I swear I didna ken about this. Ross only did it to help us. Ye canna be angry with him.”
She stood up and dropped the blanket, putting her hands on her hips. “I wish everyone would just stop trying to help me! First Rowen betroths me, then you deceive me. So did Ross. I don’t know what to think anymore.”
“I didna deceive ye, Maggie.” He stood, towering over her. His long, red hair was still wet from the rain. Water droplets slid down to his chest and disappeared under his leine. “That’s why I told ye the truth as soon as I found out. I am a lot of things, but I am no’ a liar.”
“This is all too much.” She started away, but Reed grabbed her hand and turned her around.
“Where are ye goin’, Wife?”
“I’m going to spend the night in the chieftain’s cottage with his family and my brother.”
“But it’s our weddin’ night. We should spend it together.”
“I have a lot of thinking to do. Besides, we already had our wedding night – last night.” She stormed away leaving Reed feeling abandoned. It didn’t feel good at all. No one should ever be abandoned.
He walked back to the stables to sleep, wanting to be alone. What was happening in his life lately? He was no longer sure if he was able to make a right decision since every decision he made since the night of Burnt Candlemas had seemed to bring hardship and pain to one person or another.