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‘I love you too Ailsa,’ he said, as he pushed her gently away from him. ‘And believe me when I say I love Ilene, with all my heart. Don’t you ever think ill of her, for she is the best person I know.’
Epilogue
The sand was warm, lit a pale gold in the sun. Flora was just up ahead trying hard to control the gaggle of children surrounding her. They giggled and clung to her skirts, the braver ones running out now and again to chase away the boldest of the seagulls, seeking to steal a meal from the bread in her hand.
A large wave rushed up the beach and though Ilene lifted her skirts higher they got soaked. She squealed and clung tight to Murray’s arm as they both rushed back, laughing.
One of the smallest children detached himself from Flora’s skirts and tottered back down the beach towards them, stooping down to grab something from the sand, then up again on unsteady legs. When he reached them he offered his prize to Murray. ‘That’s the finest shell I ever saw,’ he said, taking it and gathering the boy up in his arms. The child beamed with pride, shielding his grey-blue eyes from the sunlight with a grubby hand.
‘For da,’ he replied in his toddler’s babble.
Murray closed his eyes and held the child tight to him, burying his nose in the boy’s hair and smelling the sea in it. He treasured moments like this, when the world was quiet and calm, when the love he had for his son would surge up from somewhere deep in his heart and fill it to the brim. And she was beside him, so lovely ith the sun lighting her eyes to a golden brown, black hair kissing her face in the wind, long, pale legs exposed where she held her skirt up, the sort of legs that you just wanted to follow all the way up. And that look on her face, pulling him in, making him want her so badly.
‘Flora,’ he shouted. ‘Take my son awhile for I must return to Cuan Dubh immediately.’
‘Why, what’s amiss?’
‘Nothing,’ he replied. ‘I have a matter to take care of with my wife is all.’ With that, he grabbed hold of Ilene, swung her over his shoulder and rushed off back up the beach to where his horse was tethered.
Ilene could hardly speak for laughing. ‘Murray, you fool, put me down.’
‘Aye I will put you down, into my bed, which is where you will stay until I am finished with you woman,’ he said, slapping her playfully on the bottom. There may be more useful things to do on a fine summer’s day, he thought, but none that were half as enjoyable.
Flora watched them go, wishing that Duff had an ounce of Murray’s energy. Aye, she hadn’t always liked the master as well as she did now but she’d always envied Ilene having such a fine looking man in her bed.
She kissed the child on the cheek. ‘I think little one, that you may be having a wee brother or sister in no time at all. Now let’s go and find more treasures.’
