She watched him walk away until he was out of sight before she entered her chamber and closed the door behind her. Jack Lyons acted in ways that confused her heart.
12
Jack was pleased with the progress of his Clan’s farming. While he visited the farmlands the next afternoon and watched the men work on the hedges of the seeds they were to sow, he strolled with his cousin Aideen and inspected their work.
“Thank goodness for the English lass,” Aideen said as he faced Jack. “With her dowry ye can help the Clan for the rest of the year while we look forward to the new harvest with hopes that the drought willnae affect us this year.”
Jack nodded. That was his plan exactly. Once the fair ended, the harvest would begin. They had been able to gather enough crops for sales this year already, but they needed much more if they were going to survive the long winter predicted by the Clan’s wise men.
Also, they needed to build back their armory and treasury to make sure their Clan stayed defended against whomever dared to roust a war from the other lands. Jack could not wait until his Clan was strong enough to defend itself against any others who might dare to challenge them.
I would do anything to make sure we are great again.
“She mentioned she came for the fair and ye both met in Birlet Shallows,” Aideen continued. “She must enjoy travelin’ to come all the way from England without her parents or a chaperone like the English lasses always have.”
“I ken,” he answered and rubbed the back of his neck. “She is a bold one.”
Jack didn’t want to talk about Isla much with anyone. He couldn’t risk them finding out the things only he knew about her.
“Aye, she did. I met her and her father, we spent a few days together and I ken I wanted to marry her then. Besides it is time I took a lass for wife to strength my claim to the Lairdship is it nay?”
“Aye, it is,” his cousin agreed. “She will make a good wife, but… the councilmen have their concerns. Lady Isla is bonnie and will make a fine Lady of the Castle, but she is nay Scot. This Clan has never married outside the bloodlines before. There are many bonnie Scottish lasses to pick from and—”
“I willnae listen to this talk, Aideen,” Jack said, cutting into his cousin’s words before he went any further. “I ken ye speak for the small council, but I will choose who to spend the rest of my life with nay the council.”
“My Laird—”
“Tell the councilmen this willnae be discussed, and report to me about the other villages instead.”
He saw Aideen’s lips form a thin line before he cleared his throat and said, “As ye wish it, My Laird.”
Aideen had always been his greatest supporter even when the other high Clansmen had been against him inheriting the Lairdship because of his father’s many mistakes and sins.
Aideen kept talking about the reports from the other village chiefs and the preparations for the coming winter on their end.
“They need more guards and the guards being sent to Birlet Shallows need more weapons. We dinnae have enough in our armory to go round anymore.”
“I have brought back small proceedings from my sales in Birlet Shallows. Send word to Clan McDonalds whom we always purchase weapons from. We can bring some into the Clan while we wait—”
“For yer dowry?” Aideen asked.
“Aye,” Jack replied.
His time with his cousin at the farmlands passed slowly, and by the time they rode back to the Castle, Jack found his brother with Isla by the moats both rolling in laughter.
He knew his brother Elliot to always cause a ruckus. He never took anything seriously even as leader of the Clan’s knight watch.
“Brother,” Jack said when he excused himself from Aideen and walked over to them. Isla instantly beamed when he reached them and seeing the way her eyes gleamed sparked a flame inside him.
Jack had to admit to himself that she was the most elegant and beautiful woman he had ever seen. Now what he needed to come to terms with was the shiver that raced through him and made his nerves tingle when he was close to her.
Their almost-kiss had only been a slip of judgment, he told himself. But for two nights now, he kept thinking of it, and wondering what it would feel like to kiss her.
Stop it!
“How is that ye manage to do that every time?” his brother asked, and Jack dragged his thoughts away from Isla. He also cleared his throat because he realized he had been staring at her.
“Do what?”