Alexander was about to tell them it was fine, but Cicilia spoke up first. “Dinnae ye worry,” the lass told the little ones gently. “We can trust the Laird.”
Those words made Alexander’s heart flutter, but he didn’t even have time to work out his reaction before Cicilia had led the twins over to sit at the same table where he was still waiting.
When the children sat, Annys said uncertainly, “Daddy got us Bacon. He’d be right sad if he kent we let him die. Can he see us from heaven? Will he be angry?”
Alexander saw the tears forming in Cicilia’s eyes and knew he had to act. These children were heartbroken enough at the loss of their pet; it would not do to allow them to believe their father was furious with them beyond the grave.
“Nay, Annys,” he said gently. From the corner of his eye he saw Cicilia’s head swivel to look at him but he didn’t react, keeping his eyes focused on the twins instead. “Aye, Jamie, I’m sorry, but Bacon’s gone the same way yer faither has. But dinnae ye worry, yer daddy will nae be mad. Nae at all.”
“How do ye ken?” Jamie asked, sniffling as he wiped his eyes.
“Well,” Alexander told him. “I ken because me mammy an’ me daddy are up there.” It had been many years since he called his parents by such childish names, but right now, it seemed only fitting.
Annys gasped. “Do ye think me mammy an’ daddy are friends wi’ yers, Mr. Laird?”
Alexander smiled, his heart warming a little. They just sought comfort, and it was his duty as a Laird and as a man to give it. “Ye two can call me Alexander if ye like,” he told them. “We’re friends, are we nae?”
Both twins nodded in unison, their eyes fixed on his face, clearly held rapt by his every word.
“An’ aye, I think so,” he went on. “I bet me parents an’ yer parents are watchin?
? right now, an’ they’re right proud o’ ye. An’ yer daddy will nae be angry about Bacon because Bacon’s just gone to keep him company. Yer daddy kens how much ye looked after him, and now he’s gonnae look after him instead.”
Cicilia spoke up, at last, her voice sounding choked like she was biting back more tears of her own. “Aye, the Laird is right. Daddy’s lookin’ after Bacon now, an’ our mammy is as well. They miss us, but they have each other to keep them company, aye?”
Annys and Jamie looked at each other uncertainly. Then Annys said hesitantly, “Well…I ken that’s a good thing, I guess, but…” Her face screwed up again. “But what about us? Bacon was our friend!”
Cicilia sighed, clearly heartbroken for the children, and unable to do anything to help.
But Alexander could. “He was yer friend, an’ he loves ye still,” he said patiently. “Which is why he will nae mind that we’re gonnae get ye a new special friend when we go to buy new animals for the farm.”
“Laird, I cannae let ye—” Cicilia started urgently under her breath.
“Ye mean it?” Annys asked him excitedly.
“Nae take backs, aye?” Jamie added.
“I mean it,” Alexander told them seriously. “When yer sister goes to fetch some animals, I’ll make sure she has an extra pouch o’ gold to get the best pig for ye.”
“Thank ye, Alexander!” both children yelled simultaneously and scrambled down off their chairs to hug him and kiss his cheeks.
Significantly happier, Annys called, “I’m gonnae tell Katie!” and then she and Jamie hurried out of the room.
When the library door swung closed and left Alexander and Cicilia alone once more, there was a long beat of silence before either spoke. Cicilia broke it, saying quietly, “Ye really dinnae have to do that.”
“Aye,” Alexander told her. “I did. An’ what’s more, I will nae be leavin’ on the morrow. Me an’ Nathair, we’ll stay here until we’ve made sure everythin’ on this farm is straightened out good an’ proper.”
She didn’t speak for a moment, and for a horrible second, Alexander thought he’d managed to say the wrong thing…again. To his utmost surprise, though, the next minute, she had launched herself into his arms.
He felt her warm skin against his cheek as she hugged him, but though he was shocked, he did not let go. She was standing, him sitting, negating their height difference entirely. And while her body was pressed against his, even though he was not typically one for unsolicited touch, he could not help but notice how well they fit together.
Her skin is so soft, an’ her hair smells like wildflowers.
More than that, her generous curves pressed against his chest, and when he gingerly hugged her back, the tone of her body even under the nightgown was warm, comforting, and appealing.
He could not help it but wonder what it would feel like to do the same, to hold her like this, but without their clothes. To feel her pull him closer, their every inch of skin touching, their eyes alert, the grip of her thankfulness instead a grip of desire…
But no.