Page 37 of Highland Flame

“Sister Edna is with her and will be helpin’ me out until Brathair Gillies can find a family to take in the girl permanently.”

“Oh.” His eyes swept up the stairs again. “So, that is what ye’re so angry about.”

“Aye, it is.”

“You dinna agree she should have a guid family?”

“Yes, I do. I want that more than anythin’ for the girl, but no’ with strangers. Ye are her faither and ye are the one who should be watchin’ her, and takin’ her home with ye to the Highlands.”

“Me?” His hand thumped against his chest. “I dinna even ken the girl,” he said in his defense. “I only just met her.”

“Then take the time to get to ken her. She wants to live with ye, no’ someone else. She cried about it all night long.”

“She did?” Now Cam felt really bad. Perhaps he was being selfish like Yvaine said. As much as he didn’t want to be tied down with a child, he also didn’t want to abandon Avianca either. This all brought back too many memories that haunted him since he was a child. “Well, mayhap I could get to ken her,” he said softly.

“Do ye really mean it?” Yvaine sounded hopeful, but he could tell she didn’t believe he would actually do it either.

“Yvaine, I’m no’ sure I’m the best one to take her in. I dinna ken a thing about children. I’m no’ sure I’d make a guid faither.”

“Well, then I suppose she’ll go to another family, after all.”

The words cut him like a knife. When this first started, he didn’t care, and wanted to be rid of the child. But when they were attacked and the thought entered his head that the girl could have been killed, everything changed. He had actually started to care for the child. Now, he was wondering if mayhap he’d made a mistake in wanting her sent away. Still, he couldn’t be sure. He also could never be a father. “Why dinna ye take her?” he suggested, watching Yvaine’s eyes open wide at the suggestion.

“Me? Why should I? I’m a widow, if ye havena forgotten. How do ye expect me to raise a child on my own and support her without a husband?”

“Ye’ll be livin’ here in the priory. Ye’ll have everythin’ ye need, since the monks are so self-sufficient. Besides, ye will have no’ only the monks but also the nuns to help ye raise the girl.”

“Is that so?”

“Aye. It sounds like the perfect solution to me. I mean, since ye’ll be livin’ here and all.”

“Nay, I willna. I will only be here for a year or two at most, so that is no solution at all.”

“Only a year or two?” he asked. “Will ye be goin’ to a nunnery after that? Is that what happens after ye take yer vows? How long will ye have to be a novice?”

Yvaine didn’t answer any of his questions. Instead, her face seemed to pale, and her hand went to her stomach as if she felt ill. He wasn’t at all sure she wasn’t going to swoon.

“Ah, there you are,” said Brother Gillies, hurrying across the courtyard to join them. “Cam, you seemed to have disappeared last night.”

“I’m sorry about that,” apologized Cam. “However, I’m here now, and ready to continue workin’ off my sentence.”

“Good,” said the monk with a quick nod. “Yvaine, were you able to get your things from the chandler’s shop set up yet?” asked Brother Gillies. “I know how anxious you are to start making candles again. Our beekeeper says we have more wax this year than ever, so you can use it. Plus, I have ideas of potential customers I will talk to – that is, after the church has purchased their candles from you first.”

“Nay, my shop isna ready yet. I’m afraid I was busy watchin’ the child yesterday, and time got away from me. Nothin’ is done.”

“I’d be happy to send a few lay brothers over to help you,” offered the monk.

“Nay. There’s no need. I’ll help her,” Cam spoke up, eager to make amends with Yvaine.

“Ye?” asked Yvaine. “Oh, I dinna think –”

“Great,” said Gillies. “Then it is all settled. Cam, I’ll allow you to miss a prayer service or two each day since you’ll be helping Yvaine get settled.”

“Thank ye,” he answered. “But what about Yvaine?”

“What about her?” asked the monk.

“Willna she be required to go to each of the cana – canol – the prayer sessions?”