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Chapter 11
It’s strange how quickly things can change, Meredith thought as she gazed around the dinner table at her assembled family, plus the Murrays, who had rushed to the castle as soon as they’d heard the news.
Just a few weeks ago, she’d been a single lass, living with her parents and siblings. Now she was married, and they lived with her — a turn of events so strange and unexpected that she still had difficulty believing it was true.
“Ryder, stop talking,” Melissa said, abruptly cutting into her thoughts. “I can barely hear meself think for yer ceaseless chatter!”
She was teasing, of course. Although Ryder had been surprisingly accepting of his new circumstances, welcoming Meredith’s family to his home with a warmth that had surprised even her, being thrown into the middle of the Quinn clan had not made him any more talkative, much to Melissa’s chagrin.
Now, he simply glowered menacingly at his sister-in-law, daring her with his eye to tease him again. Knowing Melissa was more than likely to rise to that particular challenge, though, Meredith quickly intervened, asking Melissa to please pass the salt and then engaging her in a long conversation about which of Meredith’s clothes she would most like to borrow.
She had become used to playing peacemaker between the two of them, and although she knew their bickering was not serious — in fact, she’d told Ryder more than once that he should take Melissa’s relentless teasing as a compliment, for it meant she truly saw him as one of the family.
“It’s just her way,” she explained, as the three of them walked to the stables later that morning, Melissa running ahead to take a carrot to her favorite horse. “If she dinnae like ye, she’d just ignore ye, but she already sees ye as a big brother, which means ye have to put up with yer share of teasing, like the rest o’ us!”
Ryder was silent for a moment, his face serious.
“It’s been a long time since anyone saw me as a big brother,” he said, at last, thinking of the sister who he had failed to protect from their father’s cruelty. A fact that he knew would haunt him for the rest of his life. “I fear I dinnae do a very good job of it the last time, either.”
Meredith looked up at him curiously. It was rare for him to mention his family, and she wasn't sure whether she should press him on the issue or simply let the subject drop rather than forcing him to re-visit a memory that was clearly painful to him.
“Yer sister?” she prompted gently, choosing to tread carefully. “I daenae ken very much about her.”
“Aye. Elspeth was her name. She wasnae much older than Melissa when she died. When she was killed, I mean,” he replied, his voice steady but his expression far away. “And I might have avenged her death, but I still wish I’d been able to prevent it instead. I’ll always wish that.”
Meredith squeezed his arm tightly, sensing he’d said as much as he was willing to - for now.
“I daenae ken what happened to Elspeth,” she said tenderly, “But I ken ye would have done yer best for her, whatever it was. And I ken ye’ll do yer best for Melissa, too, and me, and Felix, and me parents, and...”
“Enough!” Ryder laughed, his solemn mood lifting. “Ye’ll have me looking after everyone in Scotland at this rate!”
“And ye’d be good at it, too,” she replied, as Melissa came bounding back towards them, putting an abrupt end to the conversation.
“Come on, slowpokes!” she called as she approached. “Am I to wait all day for ye two to join me for our ride? Ryder, can I ride the chestnut mare this time? Remember ye promised me I could as long as ye were there to watch me? And will ye race me to the stream and back? Only Meredith is always too slow, and it's nae fun beating her every time!”
Meredith stuck out her tongue at her sister as she finally paused for breath, Ryder chuckling beside her at the younger girl’s enthusiasm.
“Aye,” he said, as Melissa took the opposite arm to the one Meredith was holding and started to drag them both towards the stables. “Aye, ye can ride the mare. Ye’ll not be able to get far enough ahead o’ me to come to any harm on her, anyway!”
Melissa gasped in mock offense.
“Well, we’ll just have to see about that!” she said, pouting.
At that, they turned and walked through the archway that led to the stable courtyard, Ryder with a sister on each arm and a small smile on his face. So far, it had been the perfect morning.
* * *
After lunch, Meredith and Melissa walked over to the Murray household to take the family some sweetmeats Cook had prepared, and Ryder took the opportunity to spend some time with the Quinns.
At first, he’d worried that his interactions with his new parents-in-law would be awkward or uncomfortable. He had never known what it was to be part of a family, after all, and they were proud people, once the heads of a large clan, who had already felt beholden to their son-in-law when his betrothal to Meredith had helped them out of their financial woes. To now be forced to throw themselves entirely upon his charity must be difficult indeed, he knew, but if Meredith’s parents felt any sense of discomfort in his presence, they had never once shown it.
Meredith’s mother was kind and warm. The sort of mother his own might have been, had she not been so beaten down by his father and his cruelty. Her father, meanwhile, had a shrewd mind and a quick wit. Ryder found himself looking forward to the conversations they’d have in the evenings, over a dram, and had come to value the older man’s opinion when it came to the running of the estate.
“I’m pleased yer here,” he said gruffly that afternoon, as he sat with Meredith's father in the estate office, where he’d been helping him go over his plans for the management of the estate over the coming months. “I am a fighter, not a businessman. I would far rather be out on the hills than sitting in front of piles of musty paper, so I’m grateful indeed for yer help. It’s taken a big burden off my shoulders.”
“Nay, lad, it’s I who should thank ye," Edward Quinn answered, the lines at the corners of his eyes deepening as he smiled. “I’ve never been comfortable with the idea of accepting charity, so if I can make meself useful to ye in some way, ye have but to ask.”
“It’s nay charity when it’s between family,” Ryder replied firmly, shuffling the papers on the desk before him. “So while I willnae object to yer help, I will object to any thanks ye feel obliged to offer me, for none are necessary.”
He turned away, pretending to be busy with the papers he was holding to give the older man the opportunity to blink away the tears he’d seen welling up in his eyes. As he did so, the door of the little room opened to admit Meredith’s mother, Erin, carrying a tray of the same scones and other fancies he’s seen Meredith and Melissa carry off to the Murrays.
“Nay, they’re not for ye,” she said, shooting a quick look at her husband as she set the tray carefully down on the table. “These are for Ryder. He needs feeding up.”
Ryder did not believe anyone who knew him would agree with this assessment of his physique --- indeed, his belt had been feeling a little tighter since Meredith had arrived at the castle, such had been Cook's increase in productivity --- but he took a cake anyway, purely to please his mother-in-law, who beamed in satisfaction as she saw him devour it and reach for another.
"Plenty more where these came from," she said happily, drawing up a chair beside them. "And cook and I can always rustle up more when they're done, so daenae be shy!"
Ryder grinned, his mouth full of cake. He was unused to being looked after like this --- his own mother had been too busy hiding herself away from his father and his cruel hands to take much notice of what he ate, and, by the time Mrs. MacDonald had started cooking for him, he had been a grown man, who could more than look after himself.
Still, there was no harm in letting someone else do it every now and again, so Ryder leaned forward and took another cake from the plate. If he wasn’t careful, he could get very used to having this family around him.
* * *
