As soon as tankards were filled, Cree asked, “How did you come to know my mother? Your land is nowhere near where our farm was.”
“What difference does it make?” Kellmara asked clearly annoyed by the question.
“A big difference, for you have yet to convince me that you did not take advantage of my mother.”
“Advantage?” Douglas laughed. “Colleen stole my heart at first sight. She was a beauty, but more than that she never spoke an unkind word. She was like no woman I had ever met and have still not met. I was visiting an old friend of my father’s and came across your mother foraging in woods that she was not permitted to forage in. She told me that her young son was sick and she needed some of the plants to help heal him.” He paused as if lost in the memory of that day.
Cree clearly recalled it. He had been sick for days with a fever, but he never knew that his mother had taken the chance of foraging on restricted land to help heal him. She had placed herself in danger to save him, and she had placed herself at Kellmara’s mercy when he found her.
“What did you do?” Cree demanded, his hand clenching his tankard tightly.
“She was so kind, so apologetic, and pleaded so sincerely for her young son that I dropped to the ground and helped her gather what she needed, and then I saw that she got home safely to you.”
Cree’s hand relaxed. “I thank you for that.”
“But you certainly cannot thank me for falling in love with her, for my love brought her anguish instead of happiness. And I never meant that to happen. I had every intention of wedding your mother and taking you on as my son. My father had other ideas.”
“She never spoke of you to me,” Cree said.
“She felt it was best not to just yet. I could not blame her. Here I was a mighty chieftain’s son claiming to love her and wed her. She had told me I was dreaming that it would never be, but that for now she would love me, for I had stolen her heart when she had thought she would never love again. I intended to prove her wrong, and it breaks my heart and infuriates me that I had given her my word and failed to keep it.”
Kellmara turned and looked at Torr. “I will not, however, fail to claim my daughter and protect her.”
“And what Wintra wants does not matter?” Torr asked.
“I am her father and will determine what is best for her.”
“Good luck with that,” Torr said on a laugh. “I thought she was much like Cree, but it appears that she not only got her tenacity from him, but you as well.”
“I will talk with her and she —”
Cree and Torr burst out laughing.
“She will talk with you only when she is good and ready to,” Torr said.
“He is right,” Cree agreed. “I placed her in an abbey to be cared for and kept safe after our mother died since I hired out as a mercenary to help build a better life for us. She was furious and let me know it each time I visited her. Three years ago she refused my visits unless I was there to take her home. Three years and she never wavered. You might be in for a wait.”
“She cannot refuse me, I am her father.”
Cree and Torr laughed again.
“Your mother had a kind heart. Surely, her daughter has one too.”
“She does have a kind heart,” Torr said, “but she lingers often in her thoughts, causing her stubbornness to wind up winning out more often than not.”
Kellmara looked away as if he was to blame.
“You suffer from the same affliction?” Torr asked trying not to smile, but failing.
“Colleen was the one person who understood my constant musings and helped me to not linger in them. I miss her to this day as badly as I ever have.” Douglas shook his head and turned on Torr. “If you claim to love my daughter so much, why didn’t you go after her when she ran out of here?”
“Wintra’s not only angry with you, but all three of us,” Torr said. “And Dawn, Cree’s wife, followed after her. She is the best person to talk with Wintra right now. She would understand what she is going through and help her. And if you’re thinking it was because I feared you would try to stop me, think again. Nothing would or will stop me from being with my wife.”
Chapter Twenty-seven
Dawn rushed into the Great Hall, her hands flying as she gestured.
“Calm down,” Cree ordered as he jumped up out of his chair, the sudden jolt sending it tumbling. “I cannot understand you.”
Dawn slowed her gestures.
“Wintra is nowhere to be found?” Cree asked to make certain he heard her correctly.