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Peripherally, I can see Lachlan grimacing---because I used his diminutive. But he doesn't speak up to complain.
"We've all agreed," Rory says, "that you shouldn't continue living with Aidan and Calli. You were never meant to be their permanent nanny."
"But I love spending time with the bairn."
"Aye. But we've decided you should go elsewhere."
"Such as where? The moon?"
Lachlan shakes his head. "No, ye cheeky lass. We want you to move in with Fiona and Cat."
"Oh, I see. Thank you for the offer, but I'd rather not stay with them. Fiona and Cat might feel slighted because I have a boyfriend and they don't."
"They dinnae care, I'm sure. What's the real reason you'd rather not stay with your sisters?"
"My boyfriend might be coming to visit, and I dinnae think Fiona or Cat wants to hear me and Gav shagging."
"Bod an Donais," Rory says miserably. "How many times have we asked you lasses not to bring up the subject of your love lives in front of us?"
"At least a hundred times."
Lachie and Rory whisper to each other for a moment, then Rory faces me. "You will be a guest at Dùndubhan for the time being."
"Thank you, Rory."
"What about me?" Lachlan says. "It was a joint decision."
"Aye, also thank you, Lachie. My brothers are so generous in the way they order their sisters about."
He squints at me, but Lachlan knows that won't fash me. Rory knows it too, but at least he has the sense not to let his displeasure show on his face.
I'd lived at Dùndubhan for nearly a year before Rory married Emery, so it's like coming home when I arrive at the castle again. Lachlan drives back to Ballachulish, to the farm he and Erica own just outside the village, while Rory and I head for Dùndubhan. The moment we enter the vestibule, Emery and Mrs. Darroch suddenly appear from the vicinity of the kitchen to greet us. Mrs. Darroch hugs me and kisses my cheek. But Emery is far more boisterous in her greeting.
She seizes me in a hug so firm that I gasp. "Oh, Jamie, we're so happy to have you at Dùndubhan again. And Lachlan called to tell us that Gavin might be coming for an extended visit. That's wonderful!"
"Aye, it is. Cannae wait to see him again, even though I just spent the weekend with him in Minneapolis."
"Being away from your honey is awful. When Rory went to Paris for a few days to attend a conference, I missed him like crazy." She aims a sly glance at her husband. "Of course, Rory was only trying to hide from me. The conference was a ruse."
Rory rolls his eyes, as he often does. "Em, dinnae tell lies to Jamie. It wasn't completely a ruse. I did learn new things at the conference."
"Uh-huh." She winks at him. "You learned how to avoid your wife."
"But I will never do that again. You are my soul mate, mo chridhe."
Rory MacTaggart just used the phrase soul mate. I cannae believe it. Though I know Emery has changed my brother's life and his attitudes toward everything, I hadn't expected him to announce that out loud.
If Lachlan and Rory could change...maybe Gavin and I have a chance too.
Ten days later, I'm once again standing on the tarmac at the Inverness airport waiting for one of the pilots to open the jet's door. The moment Gavin steps out of the jet and onto the stairs, I rush toward the bottom of the steps. He jogs down them and pulls me into his arms, kissing me so thoroughly that I feel soft and warm and melty. Aye, Emery taught me the word melty. My newest sister-in-law is my favorite person in the world---after Gavin. No one will ever displace him in my heart.
He finally peels his lips away from mine. "So damn glad to see you, baby."
My heart swells at those simple words. "I couldn't sleep last night because I was so excited to see you again."
"Can we go straight to your bedroom and make love?"
I bite my lip and lift my brows. "We could do that in the car. Rory sent me here in a limousine that I know for a fact has a privacy partition."
