They were eating at an earlier hour than those who ate their meals at the castle, which meant Aisling would still be able to return in time to help prepare the meal there.
The men hurried in and sat down at the table. Blair remained on the bed, sitting over the edge to eat there. Aisling sat with her since there wasn’t enough room at the table for more than four people. But Elspeth joined them, sitting opposite them on another pallet.
“My mother is a midwife at the castle,” Aisling told Elspeth.
The guys were quiet, listening to the conversation between the ladies.
“Oh, that is admirable. I have some healing skills and have delivered babies,” Elspeth said.
“I delivered the, uh, boys,” Magnus said, smiling.
Coinneach and Tamhas’s jaws dropped. Aisling realized they hadn’t known their da had delivered them.
Elspeth, on the other hand, looked worried. So did Aisling’s own mother. Aisling hoped her mother didn’t dissolve into tears again. She reached out and touched her mother’s hand.
Her mother quickly finished her fish stew and bread. “I’m ready to go home.” Then she looked up at Elspeth, her eyes filled with tears, and said, “Thanks for your gracious offer of a meal. It was perfect. But they will be missing us at the castle.”
“Aye, of course,” Elspeth said, finishing her meal.
The men all stood.
“We dinna need your help,” Blair said to Coinneach.
“I will see you to the castle,” Coinneach said with fierce pride, his blue eyes as blue as the sky on a summer’s day.
Aisling was glad he would walk them home. She worried about her mother’s emotional and physical state.
“Aye,” Magnus said. “Coinneach will make sure you get back all right.” Tamhas looked hopeful he could go too, but Magnussaid to him, “I have a chore for you to do since Coinneach worked the field by himself.”
Outvoted, Blair submitted and rose to her feet. She managed to leave the croft on her own power, but Coinneach was right there to help her if she faltered. Aisling thought the world of him for it.
When they left the croft, Magnus said, “Come back to see us anytime.”
“Aye, we insist,” Elspeth said, looking straight at Aisling.
She assumed Elspeth recognized Coinneach and Aisling were intrigued with each other. Wolves could sense things like that—the considered looks, the smiles when they caught each other’s gaze, the heightened scents that told everyone they were interested in each other.
“We would love to,” Aisling said.
Coinneach grabbed their cart and began pulling it. It was full of herbs and mushrooms that they had harvested from the forest and produce from market. Aisling was glad to see that her mother seemed all right now and was walking as fast as she could to the castle.
Aisling smiled at Coinneach as her mother walked ahead of them. She quietly said, “I’ll be back when I can.”
He gave her a wicked smile. “I will look forward to it.”
Coinneach was soglad his dad had put Tamhas to work and that he’d insisted Coinneach take Blair and Aisling home. He feared Blair would insist that she was fine and leave with Aisling without him. But he wanted to spend more time with Aisling and, of course, make sure that her mother didn’t collapse again.
When he saw the castle up close, with its massive walls towering above him and a few guards surveying the surroundings from the top of the crenelated wall walk, he felt honored to walk inside the inner bailey. Several people were doing chores, washing clothes, caring for the horses, and feeding chickens.
Blair seemed to have improved as soon as they reached the castle and hurried to enter it without a backward glance, as if it would prove too painful to look at him again, even though his shirt covered up his wolf birthmark. On the other hand, Aisling took hold of his hand and kissed him on the cheek, bringing a smile to his lips.
“Thank you again.” Then, she pulled the cart behind her as an older woman hollered at her to get into the kitchen at once.
He felt lighter than air as he headed home, vowing to see Aisling again.
2
After spending the day doing chores, washing himself in the lake, and getting dressed, Coinneach was prepared to call it a night and started his walk back through the meadow to his parents' croft. Suddenly, his keen wolf hearing caught a gruff man's voice saying, "We target that house first."
