Ada’s brows snapped together. “’Tis their moment, Sassenach, not yers.”
“How come?” Besse frowned at her mother, having quite enjoyed Edmund’s company while picking flowers. But then he had a way of making everything into an adventure. “I rather think ye deserve a flower, Ma.”
“Aye,” Duncan agreed, clearly just as taken with Edmund. “And he did save us, after all.”
“Och, fine then.” Although Ada snatched the flower from Edmund as if exasperated, a small smile hovered on her face when she nudged Teagan and Greer to get married already.
So it was, as rain pounded on the thatching overhead, that he wrapped a bit of MacLauchlin plaid around his and Greer’s wrists and the holy man saw them married. Though Teagan had never said vows before nor put much ilk in love or marriage, he could admit saying the words that bound them together affected him. Almost as much as her saying them back.
Even the air around them felt different. Lighter somehow. As though joining with her in the eyes of God eased his burden. That being with a lass so kind and pure of heart allowed him to forgive himself just a wee bit. Mayhap it was knowing there was such goodness in this world. That, in some small way, good really did offset the evil.
“Ye may now kiss the bride,” the holy man finally said once things were official.
“Aye,” Teagan agreed, never so eager. He cupped Greer’s cheeks and closed his mouth over hers.
“Bloody hell what the…” Ada exclaimed, interrupting the moment. She scowled at what had landed on her shoulder. “A kitten?”
“Och,” Edmund exclaimed a moment later when a pup thumped down on his head.
Wide-eyed, Greer put a hand over her mouth, muffling laughter as her eyes went to the rafters overhead.
“Dinnae even say it,” Ada warned Greer, handing the cat off to Besse.
“Say what?” Edmund gave the pup to Duncan and flinched when a heavy raindrop hit his cheek.
“Och, my apologies,” the holy man exclaimed. “Animals tend to take shelter up there during rainfall, then inevitably discover how porous this building is. Now they but try to escape the wet coming through.”
“I have heard of this happening,” Adlin mused, with a twinkle in his eyes. “Though I’ve never seen it first-hand.”
“’Tis all right,” Greer assured the holy man, laughing merrily at Ada and Edmund, who, against the odds, were hit with one more of each animal. “’Tis actually quite perfect.”
When Greer filled Teagan in on Ada claiming she would find love the day it rained cats and dogs, he couldn’t help but chuckle as well. In truth, though, it wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility as far as he could tell. Not with how Edmund looked at her. And while Ada seemed put off by him as a whole, Teagan couldn’t help but notice how often they had ridden beside one another earlier.
“What would ye like to drink?” he asked Greer when they made their way into the tavern to celebrate. “Though they dinnae have wine, mayhap a spot of ale?”
“What about whisky?” she asked, surprising him. “I hear ’tis quite good in these parts.”
“And quite strong,” he warned.
“Even so.” She smiled, making the roomful of people, if not the whole bloody country, fade away. “I think I would like to try some on my wedding day.”
“Then so it shall be.” He ordered two mugs, and they joined the others.
“Whisky, is it?” Cecille grinned at her daughter. “Good girl!”
Greer met her grin and sipped it only to flinch and cough.
“’Tis not bad,” Greer managed, coughing again. “Quite good, actually.”
“Aye, especially when served with food,” Teagan recommended and saw to it.
As it happened, despite trouble brewing on the morrow, their wedding celebration was unforgettable. For the first time in longer than he could remember, Teagan not only smiled and laughed but danced. He felt alive in a way he hadn’t for far too long. Present, when too often his mind drifted into the past.
“I cannae tell ye how good it is to see ye like this,” Malcolm said at one point, sharing a dram with him. “Whilst I would have thought such change in so little time impossible, I’m living proof it happens. Greer is taming yer inner beasties, and ’tis a welcome sight, brother.”
Malcolm was living proof, the deep love he’d found with Isabella, unquestionable. His eyes never strayed, and Teagan knew they never would. Their bond was too strong. Forged in a shared past. Unbreakable in a way Teagan hoped his and Greer’s might someday be.
“Aye, Greer has made all the difference.” Teagan couldn’t take his eyes off of her as she danced with the bairns. “’Tis hard to explain…”
When he broke off, having no words for it, Malcolm clasped his shoulder. “Then dinnae try. Just live in the moment, here and now, and love her.”
“I dinnae know much about love,” he murmured out of habit, though the words didn’t feel quite right on his tongue anymore.
“Ye know more than ye think.” Malcolm noted how Greer glanced Teagan’s way more often than not. “As does she.”
Though the celebration went on for some time and Greer enjoyed her whisky, he, like most men there, refrained from drinking too much. It was best to keep a clear head and remain alert not only because of what loomed on the morrow but because they were so close to the border.
Eventually, he scooped his new wife up and carried her off to bed amid many cheers of goodwill.
“What a wonderful evening this has been,” she murmured when he set her down in a small room with a single candle. “Better than any of my stories could have spun it.”
“Somehow, I doubt that.” He removed the ring of flowers from her head. “None tell a tale quite like ye.”
When she smiled at him shyly, wondering what came next, he made things clear.
“’Twill not be what ye think this eve, lass.” It would be bloody hard, but this could only go one way. “I willnae take ye when ye’re in yer cups. ’Tis not how it should be our first time.”
He bit back a smile at the look of disappointment in her eyes.
“Not to say yer wedding night doesnae still have some wooing ahead.” He removed her belt and untied her dress, rallying his strength, praying his willpower held. But he wanted her to have something this night. An experience he suspected she’d never had before. “If ye’d like some more wooing, that is?”
“I cannot see it hurting,” she said softly, a curious light in her eyes. “Though I will admit, now I wish I had not enjoyed your Scottish whisky so much.”
“May those words never leave yer lips again,” he admonished. “I wouldnae have had it any other way. ’Twas yer wedding, too, lass. Yer grand adventure and yer first taste of freedom. ’Twould have been a shame had ye not enjoyed every wee part of it.” He cocked a crooked grin. “And trust me, whisky is verra much a part of a proper Scottish adventure.”
“I tended to think so.” Greer kept smiling, almost as if she couldn’t help it. She rested her hand on his chest, her tongue bold, thanks to said whisky. “Though I do so look forward to a full Scottish adventure and all it entails.”