Page 80 of Her Reluctant Highlander Husband

“I’d rather do it now. I don’t want this ruining my appetite.”

“Fine.” Lach kissed his glaring wife and stepped down from the main table.

They crossed paths with Cam and Mari as they were heading upstairs. Cam kissed his wife and their children and turned to follow behind Lach and Bryce.

In the study, Lach went to his desk and pulled out the papers. Without a word, Bryce stepped up and dipped a quill to sign.

Lach held out his hand to stop him. “Before you do that, I want to be clear that I’m not forcing you to do this. If you want to keep Dorie as your wife and bring her back to Dunardry, I would support you fully, even if it meant we didn’t have the aid of Sutherland’s men.”

Bryce blinked at him. “Is Kenna making you say such things?”

“Nay. Well, in a roundabout way. When I first met Kenna, I didn’t want a wife, either. And even if I could have brought myself to want one, I surely hadn’t wanted a wife like her.”

“We recall,” Bryce said as Cam nodded with a scowl.

“And then I gave her a chance, and she gave me a second chance, and I’ve since realized I wouldn’t want to live without her. She’s made my life happier than I ever imagined.”

“I’m glad for ye, truly. As you may remember, I felt the same way when I married Maggie. And I dinna want to live my life without her, either. But then she died, and I was forced to do just that. I managed to piece together enough bloody parts of my soul to barely be called a man. And then you lashed me to another woman. One who—”

He stepped away to compose himself for a moment, then continued.

“One who also left me. Fortunately, this time I was smart enough to protect myself from falling into the same trap as before. So step aside and let me end this farce of a marriage once and for all.”

But Lach didn’t step aside. In fact, Cam came to stand next to him. There was no way Bryce could get past the giant, let alone both his cousins. Even the dog who had stayed by his side since Dorie left seemed to side with the other men.

“Please, I beg you, let this be done,” Bryce said in defeat.

Cam reached out and placed a heavy hand on his shoulder. “Maggie was taken from you. You had no say in the matter. If you lose Dorie, it will be because you made it so. I know you were happy with the lass. She made you smile. You deserve to be happy again. You have a choice. Make sure you make the right decision.”

Bryce laughed harshly at his words. Nay, he didn’t deserve to be happy, and he had no choice in anything. His life was far out of his own control. He was nothing but a fluff of a feather caught in a storm. He had no choice but to ride it out.

“What happened with Maggie was a tragedy,” Lach said. “You canna blame yourself. You were called to duty and ye went. Just as any of us would go right now if asked. If they’d fallen ill while you were still at home, it wouldn’t have mattered. They would still be gone.”

“It would have mattered to me. It would have been the difference between saying goodbye, telling them how much I loved them, and living with the fact they died alone thinking I’d abandoned them.”

Cam threw his hands in the air as if giving up on convincing him, then stepped away. Bryce looked Lach in the eyes for a good minute before the other man finally conceded and stepped aside.

With them out of his way, he was able to sign his name.

And with that, he ended his marriage.

Chapter Twenty-Six

After the handful of dinner parties Dorie had attended with her father and stepmother in Durham, she’d thought she was prepared for London.

How wrong she was.

Not only was it intimidating because of the sheer number of people, but the sheer daunting splendor of the city made her feel all the more out of her element. Her father’s house in London was filled with furniture that looked more like art. Her wardrobe was filled to bursting with the latest fashions, and her maids—now there were two—busied themselves for hours with her hair and clothing.

The thing she hated most about being in the city was that her family had only come after making certain she was not carrying Bryce’s child. It had been determined the first month, and the second. But her father wanted to be absolutely certain there were no mishaps before presenting her in London.

And present her he did. From the frequent visitors to their home for dinner or cards, to the endless trips to the theater where inquisitive people came up to be introduced, she was surrounded by people who looked at her as something amusing. They tittered and laughed at her speech to the point she rarely spoke.

It reminded her of the years she’d spent alone in her room unwilling to talk for fear she would say the wrong thing. Her silence now was brought on by a similar apprehension.

She didn’t want to embarrass her father, but she wasn’t sure how to be entertaining. Once she spoke of something funny one of the twins had done earlier in the day, only to receive stares in return. Perhaps she had told the story poorly, for she found their antics hilarious.

Even so, men flocked to her—though she had to think it was more because of the property her father offered as part of a marriage settlement rather than any interest in her as a person.