“I daenae recall yer hair ever bein’ short.”
“It took years to grow it back out again, ye have to remember. I was forced to wear those hideous floral scarves to hide the shame.”
Anna’s head bobbed as she slapped her leg. “Aye, now it’s comin’ back to me. And he did that in retaliation for the horse?”
“Aye, he did.”
Elena didn’t know what to feel. Frustration was the first emotion to sink into her followed by a brief bout of ire. The mere thought of the incident caused the anger to boil to the surface. Only she wasn’t sure if she should be mad at Anna or Gabriel.
“Have ye seen Saoirse or Georgia?” Elena asked as she set the cup back down and scanned the dance floor. Anna shook her head and shrugged.
“I havenae, but daenae fret, I’m sure they’ll be around soon,” Anna said, pulling a chair out for her husband. Elena glanced over to Vincent. He was a few inches taller than Gabriel and stood out with his golden locks and brown eyes.
“Congratulations,” Vincent said with a half smirk.
“If ye say so,” Elena answered.
“Thank ye,” Gabriel said. Elena shuddered as she realized he was so close to her. Glancing over her shoulder, she eyed Gabriel wondering why he came to her side.
“Ye’ve made a fine choice for a wife,” Vincent said raising his cup. “But she is a slippery one. Best keep her at home and away from the sheers. Wouldnae want to wake and find she lobbed off yer hair.”
Vincent jumped as Elena caught a glimpse of Anna pinching his leg under the table. Refusing to be the joke of the table, Elena turned on her heel. A smile drifted over her lips as she spied Georgia coming into the hall.
“About that,” Anna said turning to Gabriel. “It was I who lamed yer pony, nae Elena.”
“Well,” Gabriel said with a huff as he curled his arm around Elena’s waistline and pulled her closer. “Seems I was mistaken.”
Gabriel’s arm felt like a noose around her. Wiggling out of his grip, she nodded to Vincent and Anna. “I think I’ll greet Georgia. I see she’s just come in.”
“I should go as well, daenae ye think?” Gabriel said as his lips slipped into a smile.
“If ye must,” Elena mumbled as she turned and walked toward the main entrance.
The moment Georgia spotted Elena, the pressure crushing Elena’s chest eased. Elena rushed to her sister and threw her arms around Georgia’s neck.
“Are ye alright?” Georgia asked.
“It’s been forever since I’ve seen ye,” Elena mumbled into Georgia’s neck. In fact, Elena couldn’t remember the last time the whole family had gotten together. It seemed ages ago.
“That it has, but that is what happens, I suppose, when ye’ve got bairns to look after.” Elena pulled back and studied her sister’s weary face. It was clear by the wrinkles under Georgia’s eyes that sleep eluded her.
“And where are the wee beasties?” Gabriel asked as three young children darted into the hall and threw their arms around Georgia’s leg. Elena couldn’t help but smile at their puffy little faces. The last time she laid eyes on any of them was the day they were born.
“There they are,” Gabriel said, kneeling. “And what strappin’ wee lads they are. Do ye ken who I am?”
The boys straddling Georgia’s legs bobbed their heads as they stared at Gabriel intently.
“Yer our uncle now,” Bradley, the youngest of the two answered with his thumb planted in his mouth.
“That’s right. And ye ken what an uncle is good for?” Gabriel asked with a playfulness in his eye. “Fun. Come on, let me show ye where the goodies are and let yer maither breathe a moment.”
Before Elena or Georgia could protest, the boys pried their arms off Georgia’s leg and followed Gabriel to the table with the sweets.
“Well,” Georgia said, surprised as she watched her children go off without an issue. “He’s nae what I expected.”
“Daenae ye start, too,” Elena said trying to hold on to the anger. Yet with each passing moment, she found it harder and harder to do so. There was no doubt Gabriel was making an impression with her family in the limited amount of time he’d been a part of their lives. But the last thing Elena wanted was for her sisters to take Gabriel’s side.
“He’s a handsome man too,” Georgia said. “Seems as if it was only yesterday the two of ye were runnin’ about the barn and carryin’ on.”