To Wed A Highlander Read Free Page A

wide door frame and gestured for the stable master to leave. Colin rarely exposed his anger, but in his present mood, it would take very little to antagonize him.
    The source of Colin’s frustration was not in question, but Dunlop wondered at the exact cause of its current intensity. For the past month, both Colin and Makenna had been steadfast in their convictions not to marry, and the laird had been equally clear about his disappointment. Then again, the pressure to marry was steadily increasing as the stream of visitors continued to arrive at Lochlen for a ceremony that was supposed to happen on the morrow.
    Colin sat bareback for a moment staring at the black mane of his horse. Pulling the reins to depart, he realized Dunlop was still calmly standing at the entrance. Lines of frustration deepened along Colin’s brows and along his forehead. “Ride with me, Dunlop, but I warn you, I am not prepared to speak of my exchange with Alexander.”
    Dunlop gave a light shrug in agreement. “Aye. Where do we ride?” he inquired, moving to jump onto his preferred brown stallion.
    “We’ll follow the river,” Colin replied as he urged his black out of the stables and toward the town gate. Once outside, he drove his horse over the green and gold grassy knolls and headed south toward the River Dye Water.
    Dunlop assumed Colin would ease the force at which he rode once they reached the river’s rocky banks, but Colin just turned east and continued hard beside the water’s strong current. Dunlop had begun to wonder if Colin was planning to ride all the way to the North Sea before he finally reduced his speed.
    Slowing to a stop, Colin slid off the animal’s wet back and stared into the setting sun. The ride had done nothing to end the war raging in his head. Two incompatible options loomed before him, both with unacceptable consequences.
    Instinct said to return to the land that spiraled into the sky with frigid cold lochs and men and customs he understood.
    Pride required he stay and complete what he had started. Honor was forcing him into doing the unthinkable.
    He needed to keep the promise he had made to his lovely wife, Deirdre.
    She had been so weak for most of their marriage, but in her last hour, she had suddenly become strong in her desire to have him understand what he needed to do. “My dearest Colin, you have taken such good care of me. I fell in love with you when I first saw you. I will never regret one moment of the time we have shared.”
    Her voice had been soft, but unusually firm. It scared him. “Don’t speak, my bean si. Just conserve your strength and get better,” he whispered, clasping her pale, cool fingers as he knelt by her bedside. Fear gripped him. He was going to lose her.
    Her hazel eyes smiled at him. “I have been so unfair to you, my Colin, so incredibly unfair, and yet you never wavered.”
    He kissed her lips lightly and smoothed back the pale gold strands of her hair, fingering their softness. “You have never been unfair to me, Deirdre. I never wanted to marry until I met you, and never once have I had a single regret.”
    Deirdre reached up and caressed his cheek. “No, I have been selfish, Colin. I was never the wife you needed me to be. I was just lucky to be the one you loved.”
    “I was lucky to have found you.”
    She lowered her hand and smiled, shaking her head. “Ah, Colin, you deserve someone who can match your passions, stand by your side when needed, and be a true friend. Until now, I could not be that for you.”
    “You have always been more than enough for me.”
    “It is kind of you to say, Colin. You may even believe that, but I know the truth.” Deirdre put a finger against his lips, preventing him from arguing. “I needed you, Colin, and you were there for me, but when did you ever need me? I mean need me. I know you don’t understand, but I pray that someday you will and that you will need your wife as much as she needs you.”
    Colin placed a warm, tender