Page 4 of The Laird's Secret Bairn

Kenna sighed. “Exactly like yer faither.”

He chuckled. “Ye usually say that with joy in yer voice, nae annoyance.”

She patted his arm. “Just stay safe. Lily and I will be waiting for yer return.” She reached up, briefly touching the edge of his mask, before pulling her hand back as if catching herself. “I only mean, daenae go looking for trouble tonight. Let the evening find its own shape.”

“I’ll behave meself, Maither. I willnae kill anyone, I promise ye that much.”

“Ye said the same before the last cèilidh and came home with a bloodied knuckle and a man’s tooth in yer pocket.”

“He deserved it. And even then, I didnae kill him, did I?”

She shook her head, though her mouth curled into something close to an amused smile.

Lily stopped him near the door, wrapping her tiny arms around him and giving him a tight hug. “Goodbye, Faither.”

He lifted her effortlessly, making her giggle. “I’ll see ye soon. Behave for yer grandmaither.”

Lily grinned. “I will!”

She was always good. That was the one thing Dougal could always count on.

2

Skye had dressed carefully that evening, more carefully than she’d admit to Emily.

Her long, dark brown hair was pinned back, the warm tone accentuated by the deep amber of her woolen gown. Her bodice was trimmed with a thin band of her family’s tartan at the shoulders, a shawl wrapped around her to ward off the evening chill.

The cèilidh was loud and warm and smelled of roasted meat and spilled ale, and Skye had spent most of it half-listening to Emily and half-thinking about the unfinished page hidden in her room. She was eager to return to writing, no matter how much she wanted to celebrate her sister-in-law’s second pregnancy.

“What do ye think the Lion of the Highlands will do next?” someone close by whispered.

“I daenae ken!”

Skye didn’t know either.

That was a problem because she was the writer.

She had never imagined anyone would ever read her work. She wrote for herself and no one else, but seeing how everyone reacted to her writing made her want to share more, even under a pen name.

She heard everyone in the Highlands talk about what would happen next. She had sat down to write the next part of her story, but she wasn’t able to continue. Something was blocking her.

Emily leaned in. “Ye still daenae ken how it ends?” Her voice was pitched low.

“Nay.” Skye’s cheeks warmed even admitting it. “I havenae decided if he kisses her or kills her.”

Emily let out a soft sigh. “I hoped ye might have an inkling of which way it might go.”

Emily had been one of the first to read the pamphlet and come to her with questions.

“I daenae.”

She gave Skye a gentle smile. “Have faith that ye will figure out a proper ending for the characters.”

“But how? I have nothing to write,” Skye admitted, her cheeks flushing further.

“Well, we ken it will be scandalous either way. That’s a start,” Emily murmured.

Skye almost choked on her breath. “Stop, or someone will hear ye.”