Page 43 of Kidnapping Cordelia

“So I saw,” she replied curtly. “And I meant what I said.”

He nodded, hanging the towel over the edge of the enclosure. “Dugald, ye can manage for a wee while?”

“Aye, laddie, course I can. Away with ye.”

“Would ye take a walk with me?” he asked, his voice quiet.

Delia shot a glance at Luella, who was hanging over the side of the enclosure, cooing over the new lamb.

“Alone,” Muir added.

For an instant, Delia thought to refuse him, but then she told herself not to be such a coward and nodded instead. “Very well.”

Muir rolled down his sleeves and shrugged his coat back on before offering her his arm. Delia took it and he escorted her out of the lambing shed. The day had brightened somewhat, and sunlight shimmered through the clouds. As they walked, arm in arm, Delia felt her emotions settle, the lovely countryside around her soothing her nerves.

“Do ye like it here?” Muir asked.

Delia glanced up to see his tawny eyes gazing down at her intently. “Very much,” she admitted. “I don’t ever remember feeling so comfortable anywhere before. It’s felt like coming home since I arrived, for reasons I don’t really understand.”

“Perhaps it’s because ye belong here,” he said quietly, smiling at her.

Delia looked away, unable to hold his gaze when he looked at her so warmly, for it set off sparks of eager excitement inside her, making her want things she was unsure he was prepared to give her. “What makes you say so?”

“Well,” he said, stopping in his tracks and taking one of her hands in his. “Firstly, because I want ye to stay, but maybe ye soul kens the place. Perhaps ye lived here in another life, or perhaps it is fate that brought us together for a reason, because it was meant to be.”

Delia snorted, assuming he was teasing her with romantic nonsense, trying to woo her so she would accept his proposal again. “You don’t believe that,” she said scornfully.

“Do I nae?” he retorted, quirking an eyebrow at her. “I feel this place in my bones, Delia. I have a connection to it, to the land. It feels ancient, and sometimes I feel like my ancestors are standing beside me, just out of sight. Perhaps it’s a romantic notion, but if ye feel something of the sort too, perhaps it’s for reasons we cannot explain in a rational manner.”

Delia considered this, studying his face and finding him sincere. She wished now she had not been so caustic, yet sometimes she did not know what to make of him. “Why the change of heart? From the beginning you’ve said you couldn’t imagine me in your home, could not see me as the wife of a farmer. Why should I believe you’ve reconsidered?”

“Because I have nae need to imagine it now, yer here before me,” he said simply.

She huffed and shook her head. “Too glib, Mr Anderson.”

“Ach, dinnae call me that. Come and see the lambs,” he said, tugging at her hand and taking her to another barn where the new mothers and babies were housed.

Grinning, he led her towards a pen and lifted the side so she might enter. He closed it after him and Delia gave a soft sigh of delight as she gazed down at two little lambs, snuggled against their mother’s side. At their entrance, they staggered to their feet as their mother bleated, eyeing Delia suspiciously.

“It’s all right, yer babies are quite safe,” Muir said, his tone soothing as he checked both lambs over. “Aye, yer a fine mama,” he said approvingly as the ewe gently butted at the lambs and licked them.

“May I touch them?” Delia asked, longing to do so.

“Aye, here,” he said, lifting one lamb up for her to pet.

Delia laughed delightedly as the lamb licked her fingers and tried to suck them. “Such a sweet baby, and you will grow up to be a fine, big sheep and give Muir lots of lovely wool to sell. Yes, you will,” she crooned, and then looked up and found him watching her. She braced herself to feel embarrassed, to see him look at her with bewilderment or even derision as many had done in the past. Instead, he smiled at her.

“I hope so,” he replied, with quiet approval, before tilting the lamb’s chin so the creature looked at him. “Did ye listen well, wee yin? Ye must do as the lady says, aye?”

Delia laughed. “Adorable,” she said, finding her heart lift at the wonderful sight and uncertain if she was speaking about the lamb or Muir. She studied him then, her expression curious. “Why did you invite me here today? I would have thought showing me such a heartwarming scene was the last thing you wished to do. You did not want me to have a romantic view of your life, I think.”

He set the lamb carefully back on its feet again and shrugged. “I didnae want to sell ye a fantasy that isnae real, one that you will resent me for when the truth is clear to ye, but neither do I want to deny that sometimes life here… ach, lassie, life here is the best thing in the world in my opinion, but it’s nae what ye were bred for, is it?”

“That doesn’t mean I couldn’t find a place here,” she said impatiently.

“Aye,” he said, surprising her a little. “I agree. I believe I am guilty of underestimating ye. Ye didnae swoon when ye saw the lamb being born,” he added, his eyes warm with approval.

“I knew that’s what you were expecting!” she exclaimed, glowering at him.