No sooner had Gordan gone than there was a knocking at the door.
“I’ll get it,” Alex said.
When he opened the door, in came Dina, a woman men followed around as if she had some dark secret to share with them. Sileas heard at the church today that Dina’s husband caught her in their bed with another man— which was no surprise to anyone but him—and tossed her out.
Unease settled in Sileas’s stomach when Dina dropped a heavy cloth bag inside the door.
“Thank ye for taking me in,” Dina said, dipping her head to Ian’s mother. “I’m a good cook, and I’ll do my best to lend a hand wherever ye need it.”
From the startled look on Beitris’s face, the invitation to join their household had not come from her.
“Ian and I told Dina ye would be happy for her help,” Alex said.
Sileas shot a look at Ian, who was glaring at Alex, as if he was not pleased with Alex for mentioning his role in this. How could Ian do this to her, on top of everything else? It was one humiliation too many.
The awful memory flooded her vision. She must have been nine years old. Ian had told her—repeatedly—that he was “a man now” and couldn’t have her following him everywhere anymore. Of course, she had paid no heed.
Until the day she came upon him behind a shepherd’s hut with Dina’s legs wrapped around his waist.
Ach, he’d forgotten all about Dina. He should have warned his mother. Why did Alex have to go and invite her? Wasn’t there enough trouble in the house?
“I’ll take Payton’s supper to him,” Sileas said, getting up without so much as a glance Ian’s way. “Ye must be hungry, Dina. Take my seat.”
Ian noticed Sileas had not touched her own supper.
After they finished their meal, he and Alex went in to talk with Payton. When Ian attempted to catch Sileas’s eye, she abruptly left the room, leaving a cold frost in her wake.
Ian wanted to go after her, but his father was waiting to hear what happened at the church. He showed some of his old spirit as they discussed what needed to be done next. Since his father had taken a long nap, he didn’t tire for a good long while.
By the time Ian and Alex returned to the hall, it was empty.
“Damn it,” Ian said. “I wanted to talk to Sileas tonight.”
“Talk?” Alex said, elbowing him. “I thought your plan was to take that lass to bed and make a proper wife of her today.”
“She doesn’t make it easy,” Ian said, taking down the jug of whiskey and two cups from the shelf. “The looks she gives me could fry eggs.”
“Ach, Sileas is just upset because you’ve kept her waiting.” Alex patted his chest. “Ye can be sure I wouldn’t have.”
“Oh, aye, for certain ye would be ready to jump into marriage,” Ian said, then tossed back his first drink.
“Not me, but we both know ye are the sort to marry.” Alex drank his own cup down and signaled for more. “Ye will do no better than Sileas. That lass has fire in her.”
Before drinking down their second round, they clinked their cups together and chanted, “It’s no health if the glass is not emptied.”
“What can I do?” Ian said, wiping his mouth. “She acts as if she hates me. And she’s always running off with that Gordan Graumach.”
“Ye can’t let Gordan have her—he’s too dull for a lass with her spark.” Alex waggled his eyebrows. “I’d know what to do with that spark.”
“This is no time for your joking,” Ian said, his irritation rising. “And I’m more than a wee bit tired of hearing what ye would do in my place.”
“Who says I’m joking?” Alex lifted one shoulder. “Wouldn’t ye rather see her with me than with Gordan? Ach, she’d be wasted on a man with so little imagination.”
“I don’t appreciate ye speaking about my wife that way,” Ian said, clenching his fists.
“If ye are so foolish as to let Sileas go without fighting for her, ye don’t deserve her.” Alex leaned forward, his expression serious. “And if ye don’t make her your true wife soon, ye are going to lose her.”
“She is my wife,” Ian said through his teeth. “And I intend to keep her.”
“Then you’d best do something about it,” Alex said. “I grew up with a bitter woman, so I can tell ye—a woman will only forgive so much before she comes to hate ye.”
That was a depressing thought; they both took another drink.
“Speaking of your folks,” Ian said, “when are ye going to go see them?”
“No matter which I see first, I’ll never hear the end of it from the other.” Alex blew out a long breath. “I’ll wait until the Samhain gathering, so I can see them both at once.”
“How many times has your mother tried to poison your da?” Ian asked, without expecting an answer. “Doesn’t it strike ye as odd that neither of them married again?”
“Praise God they haven’t undertaken to torture anyone else. The only thing the two of them can agree upon is that I should make the same mistake. They want me to marry and produce an heir.” Alex shook his head. “Perhaps I should rescue Sileas from Gordan. It would be no hardship to set to work on getting an heir with her.”
Ian reached across the table and grabbed Alex by the front of his shirt. “I warned ye not to speak of her that way.”
