Chapter Six

W olfe offered one arm to Ethne and the other to Rhona and led them out of the MacDanua chapel cemetery into the courtyard. As they cleared the arched opening with its rusty gate hanging off-kilter, sunlight flooded the area as if blessing them with the promise of better days ahead.

Rhona pulled away and stepped ahead of them, turning with a shy smile. "The two of ye have much to work out. When ye are ready, supper will be waiting at home, aye?"

"I thank ye, Rhona. For everything." Wolfe cast a slow look around. For the first time in over two hundred years, hope stirred within him. "There is much work to be done, but MacDanua Keep will shine again, and ye belong here as much as we do. This will be yer home as well, ye ken?"

Ethne gifted him with teary-eyed gratefulness, then gave Rhona an encouraging nod. "Aye, sister. We shall rebuild. Say ye will call this place home too. Please?"

Rhona ducked her head, vainly trying to hide her tears. "I will," she said. After a quick swipe at her eyes, she sniffed and squared her shoulders. "But until it is more livable, we best eat and sleep at the cottage. Agreed?"

Wolfe laughed and nodded. "A wise plan, dear sister."

Rhona gave Ethne a quick hug, curtsied to Wolfe, then turned and ran toward home.

"Thank ye," Ethne said softly as she faced him. "She hasna had a peaceful life either."

He gently cupped her face in his hand, unable to believe that all of them had received a second chance at life. He would not waste it. "Will ye be my wife, Ethne, even though I have nothing to offer ye other than the ruins of a once verra fine castle?"

She slid her hands up his chest and smiled, then hesitantly touched his cheek. "I have nothing to offer ye either. Nothing other than my heart."

"Ahh, that is where ye are wrong, m'love." He eased her into a closer embrace and pressed a lingering kiss to her forehead. "Ye've given me hope, unconditional love, and a life I never thought possible."

She stepped back and gave him a troubled look, making his heart beat faster.

"What is it, Ethne?"

"The villagers… Yer descendants." She shook her head and lowered her gaze. "They willna accept me. At least, most will not."

"To the devil with them." He lifted her face and kissed her before she could argue. The warm, tempting softness of her mouth nearly undid him. She leaned in, pressing tighter against him as she shyly allowed her tongue to welcome his.

The sound of someone clearing their throat separated them. Ethne jerked away and looked all around, obviously confused when no one was there.

"Mrs. Tarrel," Wolfe said. "Be polite enough to show yerself to Lady Ethne, if ye please."

The nosy housekeeper shimmered into view, her ghostly smile so wide she almost glowed. She dipped an airy curtsy toward Ethne. "A pleasure to meet ye, Lady Ethne. I be Mrs. Tarrel, housekeeper to MacDanua Castle."

Ethne blinked slowly, as though caught in a daze. "Greetings to ye, Mrs. Tarrel."

Mrs. Tarrel bobbed in midair again, then turned back to Wolfe. "I ken I told ye I'd be going to my reward once the curse was broken, but the way I see it, ye need me now more than ever. What with the keep to rebuild and a new wife? I dinna see any reason to hurry on my way."

Wolfe smiled and tugged Ethne back into his arms. "What say ye, my precious new wife? Is it all right if Mrs. Tarrel stays?"

"Definitely." Ethne tightened her arms around him. "She can tell me all yer secrets."

"I can at that, m'lady." Mrs. Tarrel chuckled as she faded from view. "I'll be off for a wee bit now to give the two of ye privacy. Call out should ye need me."

"Is she really gone?" Ethne whispered.

"I wager she has gone to the village to find workers to help us. She's quite adept at stirring a person's guilt and convincing folk to do what they shouldha done all along." Wolfe had no doubt the wily housekeeper had also gone to fetch the priest to make him and Ethne man and wife before another day passed. "We should sit by the gate and watch for the priest."

"The priest?" She stared up at him, looking amazed. "How do ye know he's coming?"

"When ye spend over two hundred years with a housekeeper who is more like a grandmother, ye tend to see what she is about to do before she does it." Wolfe stole another quick taste of Ethne's luscious mouth. "And in this case, I dinna mind. I want ye, Ethne. To be mine for always. In the eyes of God and everyone else. My heart aches as though a part of it's missing whenever ye're not with me."

"I love ye, Wolfe," she whispered. "More than ye will ever know."

"I love ye more, my precious Ethne. With all my heart and soul."

The End