Page 278

“Nay, sire, ’tis I who should be grateful to you for giving Jemma life,” he pulled her against him and gazed down at her. “She has become mine.”

Matthew could see the love the man held for his daughter and was amazed and pleased. He never thought he’d live to see the day when Jemma would marry, much less marry a man who loved her.

“Jemma, did ye pay him to say that?” Ian demanded, breaking the spell.

“Nay, Ian, I dinna,” she replied with a smirk to him.

Cord walked over and slapped Kieran on the arm. “By damn, if ye aren’t the widest man I have ever seen. Does this mean ye’ll beat us if we pick on Jemma like we’re used to?”

Kieran grinned. “Nay, I am sure my wife would prefer to beat you herself,” he pretended to rub at his jaw. “I know for a fact she can hit about as well as I can.”

“We taught her that,” Ian chimed in with a laugh.

Kieran laughed, too. He could feel the distrust and tension fading away and being replaced by a warm understanding. God, he was almost weak with relief.

“Will you come downstairs and eat with us?” he asked. “Dinner is about to be served.”

Cord and Ian readily agreed, arguing over who was going to escort Mary Alys. Matthew, however, shook his head.

“Nay, sir knight,” he said. “I am still feeling fatigued. Ye will forgive me for taking my meal in my room and retiring early.”

Kieran glanced at his wife, and then his father-in-law. “Would you allow me to sup with you?”

Matthew looked surprised. “Wouldna ye rather eat with yer wife and friends?

“I eat with them all of the time,” he replied. “I would consider it an honor if you would allow me to dine with you.”

Matthew looked positively pleased. Jemma was thrilled that her father and husband would be spending time alone, getting to know one another. It was everything she had hoped for; and more. She knew her father to be a kind man, but she had received her hatred for the English from his ideals. Mayhap the fact that the English had rescued him from the bowels of McKenna Keep weighed on him and he was willing to overlook his beliefs.

“I shall have yer supper send up,” Jemma announced, kissing her husband.

Kieran went to the wall and pulled a small table into the middle of the room, placing two chairs on opposite sides. Matthew rose stiffly, moving to one of the chairs. “A game table? Do ye play Foxes and Hounds, sir knight?”

“Aye, I do,” Kieran nodded, then looked Matthew in the eye. “And, please, my lord. Call me Kieran. ‘Sir knight’ is not a term to be used between family members.”

Matthew smiled and took his chair. “Agreed, if ye dunna call me my lord. ’Tis not what a son calls his father. How about a game before our dinner arrives?”

Kieran went over to an elegant cupboard and retrieved the case that held the game pieces. “Then what do you want me to call you?” he asked, sitting opposite him and setting the case down. Matthew focused on the game that was being set up Jemma, her daughter and her brothers were moving for the door, knowing they had been forgotten. But she lingered, just a bit, when her brothers took Mary Alys into the hall. She wanted to hear her father’s reply.

“Ye can call me Matthew,” her father said, examining a fox. “Or da. Whatever ye want.”

Kieran cocked an eyebrow, setting up his hounds. “Unless my wife objects, I will call you Matthew, then.”

Matthew set up the rest of his foxes. “Whether or not she objects, ’tis not her decision to make. ’Tis yours and mine.”

Smiling, Jemma quietly closed the door behind her, her mind finally at ease. They took to her husband as she knew they would, as she did.

Kieran had come home.

*

Jordan was waiting for Jemma in the grand hall impatiently. Dressed in a glorious silver and lavender surcoat with the front of her hair pulled loosely to the crown of her head, she paced back and forth near the dais wringing her hands. When her cousin finally entered the massive room with her brothers and daughter, Jordan rushed to her.

“What took ye so long.” she demanded.

Jemma smiled. “Oh, Jordi, my Da and Kieran have finally come to terms,” she gushed. “I am ever so thankful.”

Jordan’s face went soft and happy. “What wonderful news.” she said. “But ye knew it would happen. Who could resist Kieran’s gentle soul? My Da is mad for the man, too.”