“Are you going to give me a real answer?”
“After you answer one question that has been plaguing me since I woke up.”
Complete silence filled the room before she asked, “What is your question?”
“I don’t know how to ask this in a sensitive manner, so please forgive me for my crassness. Who are Lillie and Millie’s parents?”
“William was their father.” She sighed, long and hard. “I finally met the girls a fortnight ago. They were living with their grandmother. Their mother had died giving birth to themand their grandmother has been raising them. I don’t know if William was aware of their existence, but his family has denied any responsibility for their care.”
A rock was planting itself firmly in his stomach as he paced the room. “You do not have to follow in my mother’s footsteps. We can find them a good home.”
Caillen stood so abruptly, her hands planting firmly on her hips. “I will not abandon those girls. They are William’s children and they are now my responsibility.”
“By your reaction, I’d say you already are their mother.”
She gave a firm nod of agreement.
“Did you give the grandmother a settlement as well?”
“She died two days ago. That’s why the girls are here. I had hired a nurse to stay with them, because their grandmother wanted to be with them as much as possible before she died, but she was not able to care for them. When she passed, the nurse sent word and I retrieved the girls.”
“Bloody hell.” He rubbed his temples with his thumb and middle finger. “We are a tragic bunch.”
His comment was met with silence and when he looked up to meet her gaze, she was staring at him. He should have known his comment would reap her wrath.
“I’m—” She tipped back her head and laughed. It was a glorious sound he had not heard in a very long time. He wasn’t certain how to react, especially when her laughter didn’t stop.
A slow rumble fell from his lips that turned into something much louder. One minute they were discussing death, and the next they were laughing about a situation that lacked all humor.
When their laughter died and they remained in the small room alone, he said, “You left Scotland as a childless widow, and in less than two months, you have three children. That can be overwhelming for a couple, let alone a woman by herself. Marry me.”
Her smile disappeared. “Do you plan to ask every Blair sister to marry you, or do you just like to wed damsels in distress?”
“I proposed to your sister because she saved my life.”
“Is that why you’re proposing to me?”
“It’s true that you saved my life, and I am extremely grateful, but no, that’s not the reason.”
“Then why?”
“We’re good together.”
She looked at him in disbelief. “We’re horrible together.”
“We are not.”
“We are, too.”
“We’re not,” he growled.
“See. You’re angry.” The smugness she displayed was grating.
“I’m not angry.”
“Then why is your face all scrunched up?” She made a ridiculous impression of his expression.
“That is not what I’m doing.”
