Page 74 of The Highland Laird’s Hellion Bride

Agnes considered this with seriousness, then slid off the bed and crossed to take his hand without further debate. “Will also the goats be there?”

“I’d wager on it.”

“Then I’m ready.”

Elspeth watched them go, Agnes’s hand small inside her father’s, the two of them quiet and matched in stride despite their difference in height, neither saying much of anything further. Something in her chest settled just watching it, the easy, unhurried way of it, a father who didn’t need to fill silence to be understood.

The moment the door clicked shut behind them, Katherine’s whole posture changed. It was subtle. A straightening of the spine, a stillness that hadn’t been there a moment before, the busy chatter about lace and hemlines gone, replaced by something careful and coiled. She set down the gown she’d been holding, crossed the room, and took both of Elspeth’s hands in hers.

“There’s something I havenae told anyone yet.”

Elspeth straightened at that, every instinct going quiet and attentive at once. “Katherine.”

“Ye have to promise me ye’ll nae make a sound. Nae until I’ve said it properly.”

“I promise nothing of the sort. Ye ken I’ve never once kept a promise like that in me life.”

“Elspeth.”

“Fine, I promise.” Elspeth squeezed her hands. “Now, tell me before I burst from waiting.”

Katherine’s cheeks had gone pink, and her eyes were bright in a way Elspeth hadn’t seen since the morning she’d first laid eyes on Liam across a crowded hall, years ago now, and had spent the whole evening pretending she hadn’t.

“I’m with child.”

Elspeth’s mouth opened. Nothing came out of it for a full second.

“Nay.”

“Aye.”

“Katherine.” She said the name like it might need repeating to be believed. “Katherine.”

“I ken. I’ve said yer name back to meself a hundred times since I found out, in exactly that tone.”

Elspeth threw her arms around her before either of them could say anything further. Katherine laughed against her shoulder—a wet, breathless laugh. For a moment, neither of them managed words at all, just held on, rocking slightly, both talking at once.

“How far along?”

“Nae far. Two months, the midwife thinks, though she willnae swear to it.”

“Does Liam ken?”

“Nay. Nobody kens. Ye’re the first I’ve told, ye’re always the first I tell.” Katherine’s grip on her hands tightened. “I wanted to be certain before I said it aloud to anyone, even him. Especially him.”

“Why especially him?”

“Because once I tell Liam, it becomes real in a way it isnae yet. Right now, it’s only mine to be frightened of.” Katherine pulled back far enough to look at her properly, hands gripping tight rather than loose. “I’m terrified, Elspeth.”

“Ye neednae be.”

“I am, regardless of whether I need to be or nae. Every morning since I found out, I’ve woken and lain there a full minute before I dared move. Just waiting to see if it was still true, as though thinking about it too hard might undo it.”

She laughed again, unsteady this time. “But I’m also delighted. I didnae ken a person could hold two such opposite things in the same chest without splitting clean in half.”

“Ye’re nae splitting. Ye’re simply carrying a great deal at once.” Elspeth brought their joined hands up between them. “Ye carried Agnes too.”

“That’s different.”