EPILOGUE WHAT OUR LOVE HAS MADE

A year later …

"MOTHER MARY, I'm getting as fat as a Yuletide goose!"

"Never!"

"It's true." Astrid struggled out of her chair, leaning back to keep her balance. "My belly arrives in every chamber I enter three strides ahead of me."

Mairi snorted a laugh, even as she bounced her bairn, Greig, upon her knee. "Nonsense."

"I'm afraid it isn't." Astrid ran a hand over her swollen midsection. "I've even started waddling!"

"I did too," Mairi replied with a rueful shake of her head. "Greig was a big lad." She chucked the bairn under the chin, and he giggled. "Weren't ye?"

Astrid grimaced, nervousness fluttering up. Greig's birth had been a long one, and Mairi's shouts and cries had echoed through the hallways of Duart Castle for many hours before the lad had come bawling into the world.

Astrid hoped the birth of her bairn, which the midwife said was just days away now, wouldn't be as long or as painful.

She wasn't the only one of their family with bairn at present. Tara had recently shared the news that she was also expecting. However, she wasn't due until near Yuletide.

Moving to the window of the ladies' solar, Astrid's gaze traveled over the inner courtyard, where a servant was sweeping the cobbles with a large broom. It was a balmy afternoon, the air sweet with the smell of summer. As well as the rhythmic sound of the broom, the clang of iron from the weaponsmith's forge in the outer courtyard, and the rumble of men's voices, drifted into the solar .

A tall, lean figure clad in leather stalked into view then, upon the wall opposite—and despite that they'd been wed a year now, the sight of her husband made Astrid's breathing catch.

Feeling the weight of her stare, Finn slowed his step and turned toward her.

Their gazes fused, and his mouth quirked into a soft smile that he reserved only for her.

Astrid smiled back.

This past year had been such a happy one.

Life had changed considerably for both her and Finn upon their return to Duart Castle. For one, she'd decided to move out of the keep and into Finn's lodgings high up in the guard tower. It was more simply furnished than her old bedchamber, yet larger, and Astrid liked having her own private space. Recently, she'd taken on Dougie's wife, Garia, to help cook and clean. Garia, whose practical and sweet nature Astrid appreciated, would be a great help too, once the bairn came.

For the rest, Astrid still tended her mother's Winter Garden, a lovely secluded walled garden on the top level of the keep, and spent time with Mairi in the afternoons in the ladies' solar.

As her belly had grown over the past moons, she'd ceased practicing with her knives or going out on long rides with Finn—both activities brought her much joy, yet she was wary of falling from her horse, and her big belly affected her balance when knife-throwing.

"Finn's out there, isn't he?"

Mairi's voice roused her, and Astrid cut her a glance to find her sister-by-marriage smiling.

"How did ye know?" she asked, arching a brow.

Mairi inclined her head, her gaze glinting. "Ye get a glow to yer face whenever ye look his way."

Astrid gave a soft, embarrassed laugh before waving to her husband.

With a wink, Finn walked off.

Rubbing her lower back, which had been paining her ever since she'd risen from her bed that morning, Astrid leaned against the stone window ledge. "Ye get a similar expression upon yer face whenever ye look Loch's way," she pointed out .

Mairi laughed. "Aye … I'm more in love with him now than I ever was." She shook her head then. "I didn't think it was possible."

"Aye, the love that develops when ye spend time with someone is magical indeed," she mused. "It's different from how things are at the beginning … when everything is stomach-churning and exciting. When true affection grows between ye, it's as if the pair of ye grow roots … and those roots knit together."

Mairi smiled back. "That's exactly how it feels."

Astrid pushed herself off the window ledge then, heading back toward the chair. She and Mairi were busy sewing clothing for the coming bairn, and she was halfway through a wee shift that would be perfect for the warmer months.

However, she'd only taken two steps when a strange sensation fluttered through her lower belly. An instant later, liquid cascaded between her thighs.

Gasping, Astrid halted, her hand grasping her stomach.

"Astrid?" Mairi's eyes flew wide. Rising to her feet, she set Greig down on the mat before the unlit hearth. "Are ye in pain?"

Astrid watched liquid pool upon the wooden floor under her skirts, her breath catching. "No … but I think the bairn is on its way."

Astrid surprised everyone at Duart, the midwife included, by giving birth quickly. Once the birthing pains arrived, a short while after her waters broke, they seized her with vicious intent. Teeth gritted, she bore down with each pain as Flora, the midwife, instructed. And then, a little before midnight, the bairn was born.

The lass barely uttered a squeak, making nothing more than a tiny mewling sound when Flora wrapped her up in a soft woolen shawl and passed her to Astrid.

Still panting from that last push, her body slick with sweat and aching, Astrid grinned.

She didn't care that she'd weathered agony over the past hours .

The sight of this perfect tiny creature, cradled in her arms, made everything worth it.

"Can I come in?" The door to the birthing chamber had opened a crack, and Finn peeked inside. His face was pale and strained, and Astrid knew without having to ask that he'd have worn a groove in the wooden boards outside the chamber as he waited for her to give birth.

He'd wanted to be at her side while she labored, yet Flora had ushered him out, telling him that men brought bad luck at births. Astrid had been disappointed, for she'd wanted Finn there. Nonetheless, she knew folk could be superstitious about such things, and Flora wasn't a woman to be argued with.

The midwife's facial expression was much softer now as she beckoned to Finn. "Aye, lad … come see yer bonnie daughter."

Delight flowered across Finn's face, and he moved forward, covering the distance to Astrid's side in just a couple of strides. Sinking down onto the stool next to her, he leaned in, his lips brushing her sweaty brow. "Ye have done well, my love." His gaze then dropped to his daughter's scrunched-up red face. "She's beautiful, indeed."

"She's ours, Finn," Astrid replied huskily. "Look what our love has made."

Finn's breathing hitched, and a moment later, tears sparkled upon his lashes.

"She was certainly impatient to arrive," Flora piped up. "I've birthed few bairns who've come so quickly."

"It didn't feel fast to me," Finn muttered. "Each hour I waited outside that door was an eternity."

"Aye, well … trust me, lad … many a husband has waited a day or two to see his bairn."

Astrid's mouth grimaced at this. She was relieved the labor hadn't been drawn out, and that despite her narrow hips, the babe hadn't gotten stuck.

"We haven't discussed names," she told Finn, breaking eye contact then to look at her daughter's face. "What should we call her?"

Moments passed, and when Finn didn't answer, Astrid glanced up. His face was solemn now, his eyes still gleaming with emotion. "How about ‘Maggie'?"

Astrid stared back at him, surprised .

Aye, over the past year, they'd sometimes spoken of her friend. They'd even visited her grave together. It had been overgrown with weeds, as if her family had now forgotten about her, and so Astrid and Finn had tidied it up and placed a bouquet of wildflowers before the small wooden cross that was beginning to rot. A few weeks later, Finn had replaced the cross with one made of stone—one that would last.

It was a lovely gesture, one which Astrid had appreciated. The local fisherfolk had learned of what Finn had done too, although many of them remained suspicious of him all the same.

Sometimes, Astrid was tempted to go to them, to tell them the truth, yet she always hesitated. Maggie was gone, and bringing up the tragedy again would only dredge up past hurts. Her father had declared Finn innocent, and the folk of Craignure would have to grow to accept it.

Nonetheless, there was sometimes a reserve between them if Maggie ever came up in conversation, almost as if her ghost hadn't been laid completely to rest.

"Are ye sure?" Astrid asked after a pause.

He nodded. "If ye are." His voice roughened. "It feels … right … somehow."

Astrid smiled, even as her throat tightened and her vision misted. She thought then of her spirited yet fey friend who'd craved the love and attention she'd never received at home, and whose life had been tragically cut short. There was a part of Astrid that felt as if she'd failed her, and when she'd told Finn that, he admitted he felt the same way.

They'd all been young and self-absorbed in those days, barely able to see past their own noses. Neither of them had understood how fragile Maggie was.

In truth, Astrid had been tempted to give the bairn her mother's name, Gellise, yet Finn's suggestion stuck with her. "Very well then," she said softly, her fingers tracing the bairn's cheek. "Greetings, Maggie MacDonald."

Another trilogy set on Mull is coming in early 2025!

I hope you loved my rogues as much as I did. Loch, Jack, and Finn were all larger-than-life characters that I quickly became obsessed with. There's something special about giving a flawed character their redemption.

This series has been so popular that I've decided to stay on Mull for a while!

Get ready for an angst-filled, exciting story featuring Alec Rankin, the sexy pirate you met in THE LADY HE LOATHED.

Yes, it's time I wrote a full-length novel about a pirate!

THE PIRATE'S INDECENT PROPOSAL (Book 1: Highland Scandal)

Their pact sparked a love that defied all odds. When a lady in peril strikes a scandalous bargain with a pirate, neither of them suspects where it will lead. Revenge and high stakes on Medieval Isle of Mull.

After Liza Maclean's cruel husband decides to do away with her, she finds herself tied up and left to die on a rock in the middle of the sea. All hope seems lost until she is unexpectedly saved … by pirates.

Alec Rankin's name is legend among the Western Isles . He and his crew have carved a reputation as bloodthirsty and ruthless. But when he rescues the distraught lady from certain death, Alec's life takes an unexpected turn.

Desperate to get revenge on her husband and be reunited with her son, Liza tries to strike a bargain with Alec to gain his help. However, when he responds with an indecent proposal, she is torn between outrage and despair.

He'll help her, for a sizeable amount of coin … and one night together.

It's her choice—but how far will Liza go to take back what her husband has stolen from her?

Full of impossible choices, forbidden love, and steam, Jayne Castel's new series, HIGHLAND SCANDAL, is set on Medieval Isle of Mull and follows lairds and ladies who put everything on the line … for love.