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“I’m nae sure she should be the one to watch him,” Jack declared.
“Excuse me?” Freya sputtered, annoyed.
“Well, if ye plan to have yer own son and make him an heir, this baby isnae useful to ye.”
“Ye think I’d hurt a baby?” Freya hissed, clutching Archer so tightly he squawked.
She had never thought anything of Jack. He had mostly kept his distance from her, but there was always a silent judgment in his eyes, as if he wasn’t sure she was good enough to raise his former Laird’s children.
Now the judgment was more blatant. He did not think she was up to raising the twins. He had accused her of it right now, and she didn’t even know how to respond, let alone comprehend someone thinking she was a danger to the children.
She was new to this, as was Evander. They were learning as they went, and yet Jack judged them harshly for a situation neither of them expected to ever be in.
During all of this, Evander remained quiet. Until he wasn’t. He crossed the distance between him and Jack in two swift strides, before grabbing his shirt and pushing him up against the wall.
“I wouldnae offend me wife again if I were ye,” he warned.
Jack’s feet were dangling above the floor. His hands wrapped around Evander’s arm. “I willnae,” he choked out.
He looked embarrassed to have said such a thing, but Freya wasn’t so sure. She was more convinced he was embarrassed that Evander had reacted with such anger.
Evander dropped him. Jack hit the floor hard, but he didn’t show how much it hurt. All he did was rise to his feet.
“Go,” Evander ordered. “And make sure to tell everyone that the feast is postponed. It will take place tomorrow once we make sure the bairn is all right.”
Jack didn’t dare to speak. He nodded and walked off, leaving them all in shock.
Seeing Evander so fierce on her behalf sent a shiver through her.
“Let us… get the children to the nursery,” Freya said at last.
Brigid followed. She set Amelia down in her crib and hurried off once Freya dismissed her with a gentle nod.
Freya wasn’t sure whether to be angry with Evander or flattered that he had defended her honor, even though it didn’t need defending. While Jack had been out of bounds, she understood why he lashed out the way he had.
Evander, apparently, disagreed.
23
The door closed after Jack, and Evander unclenched his fist.
He had seen red when Jack insulted Freya. How dare the man insult his wife while he was standing right there?
It was Jack who had come to him to tell him of his brother’s death. He wouldn’t have known anything had Jack not sought him out. Jack had pushed him to assume the lairdship, whether he fully approved or not.
It had been the same with the twins. No one could care for them but Evander, and yet Freya, who was doing her best, was being judged for what the healer herself said was nothing more than an accident.
Had Freya not been there with the children, Evander would’ve tightened his grip on Jack’s collar until his face turned purple. Jack might have clawed at his hand, but Evander wouldn’t have released him until he was sure that Jack understood there would be no insulting his wife ever around him, let alone in front of her.
“Ye didnae need to be so harsh with him,” Freya said.
Evander turned. She stood beside the cot with Archer on her hip, chin lifted, though her face was still too pale.
“He insulted ye.”
“He doubted me. That’s nae the same thing.”
“It’s close enough,” he growled.
