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Why had Lachlan returned?
May had gone her way and Hester walked with Terese to the center of the village.
“You cannot notice the bulge to my stomach, can you,” Terese whispered to Hester.
“The apron you wear does a good job of concealing the slight bump,” Hester assured her.
“Lachlan cannot remain here long,” Terese said with a tremble of worry.
Hester squeezed her hand. “I and the others will not let anything happen to you. You saved each of us at one time or another and now we will do the same for you.”
As if the women heard, they appeared one by one until Megan, Piper, and Rowena stood around Terese, waiting with her as the riders approached. Others in the village joined the women, all realizing friends approached and eager to greet them.
He was a bit of a distance away when she saw him riding tall and regal in his saddle. He didn’t have to get any closer for her to see that he was handsomer than she remembered him. The summer sun had sparked his brown hair with touches of gold and he appeared broader in the shoulders and chest, or perhaps he appeared more formidable because she felt vulnerable.
She remembered the babe then nestled safely in her stomach and knew she would do whatever was necessary to keep him safe, even resurrect Alyce Bunnock.
Lachlan came to a stop a few feet away from her, Andrew and Evan being the first to greet him and his men. His eyes strayed to her now and again, and she sensed his return had something to do with her.
“He knows,” she whispered for only the women to hear.
“Nonsense,” Rowena said.
“How could he?” Piper asked.
“It doesn’t matter,” Megan said.
“She’s right,” Hester agreed. “It doesn’t matter. Your home is here and here you’ll stay.”
While he approached them with a lazy gait, his dark eyes told a different story and Terese knew trouble brewed.
She decided to take control from the start. “You told me you wouldn’t be returning. What brings you back?”
“No greeting, glad to see you, missed you?” Lachlan asked with a teasing glint.
“Speak your piece, Lachlan, for I have no time for your playful charm this day.” Though truth be told it was difficult not to smile at his teasing charm, or get lost in his good looks, or want to desperately melt into his strong arms.
“You’re sounding like a bit of a shrew there, Terese.”
“Is it a shrew you’re looking for?”
“So Angus Bunnock tells me and a beautiful one at that, long blond hair, blue eyes that match the summer sky.” He glanced up at the sky and then back at Terese. “And Angus tells me that Alyce never got sick and was a born leader. Sound familiar?”
“We all helped bury Alyce,” Megan said with a sharp tongue.
“I’m sure you did,” Lachlan said. “You buried her so good that no one would question.”
“There’s nothing to question,” Rowena insisted.
“I think differently,” Lachlan said and looked directly at Terese, “and so does her father. He’s sent me to confirm that it is his daughter who rests in the grave. Her height being a good indication if it is her, for Alyce stands at least eight inches over five feet.”
“This is church land,” Megan declared. “You have no right to disturb a grave.”
“This is no longer church land,” Lachlan informed the startled women. “And I have permission from the laird who now claims it.”
Terese was no fool. She knew exactly who the new laird was. “Everagis now belongs to the clan Sinclare?”
“Is this true?” Andrew asked with a smile as he approached from behind Lachlan.
“It is.” Lachlan nodded. “And Cavan has appointed you leader.”
Terese stopped Hester with a hand to her arm when she stepped forward to protest.
“This is wonderful news,” Andrew said excited, though tempered it once he saw how the women glared at him. He wisely remained behind Lachlan, his mouth clamped shut.
Lachlan looked to the sky. “There’s enough light left to dig up the grave.”
Terese pushed past the women to stand only inches from Lachlan. “You haven’t come to dig up the grave. You have come to confront me.”
“Tell me the truth,” Lachlan said.
“You already know it,” she challenged.
“I want to hear from you.”
She knew somewhere deep in her heart that she wouldn’t be able to maintain this ruse forever. Someday, somehow, someone would learn the truth and her charade would be revealed. She had taken a chance and for a while it had been good. Now she would face the consequences of her actions, and the only thing that mattered to her was the babe that she carried.
Terese tossed her chin up and with a spark of defiance said, “I am Alyce Bunnock.”
Andrew reacted with a gasp and Evan, who approached, stopped dead in his tracks. The women, however, closed ranks around Alyce.
“Your father wants you home,” Lachlan said.
