His wife had an uncanny way of being right most times, but he would do his best to be there for her. Besides, he much preferred to be in bed with her when she woke.
There was one thing he could do for her now that might help.
“Tell me about these dreams,” he urged.
Flora did not hesitate. She wanted to discuss them, make sense of them, help settle them.
“They are about my mum and da. “They are upset in the dream. They keep asking me to help them. I never see them, the fog is too thick in my dreams, but I do see a shadow that lurks and, somehow, I know it is neither my mum nor da. The shadow makes me uncomfortable. I cannot help but think they are somehow lost, and they are reaching out to me for help.”
“What happened to your mum and da?” Torin asked, hoping to find a way to help his wife.
“They returned ill from a trip to France. I so wanted to go with them, but Lord Simon, a patron of my da’s, requested my help at a small abbey he generously supported. His lordship felt the nuns were poorly organized and asked if I would teach them how to run the abbey more efficiently. I accomplished the task and returned home the same day my parents did. Their illness was apparent, and they took to bed immediately. They died a week later within hours of each other.”
“I am sorry for your loss, Flora, but it was good that they at least made it home and did not die on foreign soil away from you.”
“Something I have thought of often and that I am grateful for,” she admitted.
“I continue to dream of my grandfather, and he died years ago. He often offers me advice or reminds me not to be like my da. He was more of a da to me than my own da.”
“Does he ever reach out to you for help?” Flora asked anxiously.
“I can’t say that he has.”
“I feel I should help my parents, but I don’t know how. They are dead. How could I possibly help them?” she asked mystified.
“I wish I knew,” Torin said, and he did since he did not like seeing his wife so troubled.
He held her, not used to the silence that grew heavy around them. When he finally was about to break the oppressive silence, his wife stepped out of his arms and took hold of his hand.
“Come with me,” she said and led him out of the room.
He followed behind her up the stairs and into the room that was now their new bedchamber.
“Our bedchamber is finished. We can sleep here tonight,” she said with a soft smile.
CHAPTER14
“Are you not pleased with it?” Flora asked when her husband remained silent as he glanced around the room. “If there is anything you do not like about it, I can see it changed, though I think it will suit us well. The room may not be as large as the other one, but it holds all we need, and we can make new and happy memories here. I hope to fill it with much joy and love—”
Torin silenced his wife with a kiss, a powerful one, leaving her a bit breathless. “It is perfect, absolutely perfect. We need no large bedchamber since I intend to keep you close.”
He smiled and it spread as he took another look around the room. His bed fit well and was dressed in clean bedding. Two chests, stacked on top of each other, sat on one side of the bed while only one chest sat on the side of the other. Candles sat in metal holders that had been dusted clean. Freshly cleaned tapestries covered the two shuttered windows and the scent of pine filled the air from the fresh cut branches along the rough-hewn mantel. A small table with two benches tucked beneath sat to the side of the hearth and several pegs had been added to the wall and held not only some of his garments but some of his wife’s as well.
Flora smiled, watching the smile grow on her husband’s face and the way his eyes lit with joy.
“You made the bedchamber ours. There is not a trace of my mum here. You made it warm and welcoming, and I cannot wait to share it with you.”
“And I with you,” Flora said, her troubling thoughts having faded seeing her husband so pleased. “I think it would be wise to arrange a celebration, when the time is right, in the Great Hall, so people can come and see there is nothing to fear here.”
“I agree. The clan could use some festivity.”
“I will go discuss it with Verena, so she is aware of it and prepares as necessary. She is doing well overseeing the kitchen, and then I will have the last of our things moved here from the cottage.”
“See that our meal is brought here to our bedchamber this evening. Tonight is about us and the start of our lives together as husband and wife.”
A slight shiver of anticipation trickled over Flora. It was the very reason she had taken such care when preparing this room. She wanted all the old memories swept away with the dust and dirt, leaving it fresh and clean for them to make a new start here.
“Aye, as husband and wife,” she agreed, letting him know she felt the same.