The only time she saw a break in his seriousness was when Catarina nettled him. Which was a habit the gypsy had taken to right away.
Lochlan was a young man to wield such power and authority, and she wondered if he ever found the burden oppressive.
"I know," she said in response to his words.
"Can you tell me why?"
"Most likely because he wants to wake up and tell me to spare his ears while he heals."
Lochlan"s face softened a degree. "He can be a bit overbearing."
"Not really. He is rather charming, point of fact."
Lochlan arched a brow at her declaration. "You think so?"
"Aye. He"s very gentle and sweet."
Lochlan choked. "Ewan? Sweet? The devil you say. The man is surly at best."
"He is not surly... often. He"s just sensitive."
His handsome face was aghast at her words. "My lady, I fear you are the one who is delirious if you believe that. There"s nothing sensitive about him."
Her anger was fired by his words.
How dare he say such a thing!
"You don"t know your brother very well, do you, my lord?" She reached out and touched Ewan"s hot hands. Hands that had made her want to weep with pleasure.
Hands she would sell her soul to be able to hold on to for the rest of eternity.
"You love him." Lochlan"s deep voice rang out in the stillness of the room.
It was a statement of fact.
Nora didn"t bother to lie. "Aye, I do."
"Does he know it?"
"I"ve never hidden the fact."
She felt the weight of Lochlan"s gaze. It was heavy. Frightening.
Discerning. "Does he love you?"
She sighed weakly. "I think so. But with Ewan, one never knows really where one stands."
Lochlan leaned forward in his chair. "Nora, look at me."
She did.
Lochlan"s stern gaze didn"t falter or waver. It was intense and oppressive.
"Did he... did you..." He looked greatly uncomfortable, and she knew what he was asking.
Her face flamed, and she looked away without answering.
Lochlan cursed. "Your father will have his head for it."
"My father will never know, and if you say a word, Lochlan MacAllister, I will deny it."
Lochlan actually smiled at her. "You would protect my brother?"
"Always."
The smile crept up his face, all the way to his eyes, turning them a gentle, friendly blue instead of their normal iciness. "Ewan is a lucky man to have found you."
She frowned at his unexpected comment.
Lochlan excused himself and left her alone with Ewan.
Nora stared at his pale features. His sweat-dampened hair was plastered to his skin.
Setting her sewing aside, she moved to fetch a cloth to bathe his brow.
"I wish you would wake up, Ewan," she said as she always did when she tended him alone. "I miss seeing your crystal blue eyes, hearing your fierce growl when you get aggravated at me. Mostly I just miss you."
His eyes fluttered opened, shocking her.
Nora gasped at the sight.
For a second she feared he was still gripped by his fever-induced madness, but his gaze was clear and sensible.
He frowned, then tried to sit up.
"Nay!" she said, forcing him back. "You shouldn"t be moving."
His frown grew sterner. He glanced around the room, then looked under the sheet. His face perplexed, he looked at her. "Why are you here in my brother"s home while I lay naked in his bed?"
She laughed at him, giddy with relief that he was awake and still his surly self.
Before she could respond, the door opened to admit his mother and brother Sin.
The instant they realized he was awake and alert, the two of them rushed forward.
"So he lives," Sin said, his voice relieved, his dark eyes bright.
Aisleen took Ewan"s hand and pressed it to her lips. "Praise be to G.o.d. I had feared I would lose another son."
Nora wanted to stay, but as Braden, Maggie and Caledonia burst into the room with their children, she realized she didn"t belong there.
Though she might wish it otherwise, she wasn"t Ewan"s family. They were.
Turning around, she made her way quietly toward the stairs.
Once she was on the ground floor, she saw Lochlan, who was just leaving the great hall, and headed for the stairs behind her.
Worry creased his brow. "Did something happen? You haven"t left Ewan"s side since he took ill."
"He"s awake."
His face delighted, Lochlan bolted for the stairs.
Nora smiled in his wake, then moved to where her mother sat in the great hall by the hearth.
"How does he?" her mother asked.
"I think he shall live after all. He seems quite well. Where is Father?"
"He"s outside with Ryan."
Nora felt strange. She wasn"t quite sure what to do with herself now that Ewan was awake again. She"d been so focused on his getting better that she hadn"t really contemplated what his recovery would herald for her.
Now she did.
Would he keep her or force her to marry Ryan?
Her heart shriveled.
Knowing him as she did, there was very little doubt what he would choose.
And G.o.d have mercy on them both when he did.
"Where did Nora go?" Ewan asked, looking around the crowd gathered at his bed.
"She was below a moment ago," Lochlan said.
Ewan started to get up to find her, but Sin stopped him. "You"ve been ill for almost a fortnight, little brother. The last thing you need is to get up and walk."
"I..." He paused as he remembered everything that had happened.
Ryan-the b.a.s.t.a.r.d who would not die.
Ewan sat back as reality came cras.h.i.+ng down upon him.
"Nora was a blessing to us these days past," his mother said. "She watched over you like an angel. Ever vigilant and kind."
Ewan turned his head toward her to see her thankful smile. "What do you mean?"
"She hasn"t left your side," Maggie said.
Ewan thought back to the way Nora had cared for him after he"d been wounded.
The way she"d run off to Ryan...
"Would you like for me to go fetch her?" Braden asked.
Ewan shook his head. "I would rather you fetch me something to eat and then leave me in peace."
"He must be feeling better," Sin said. "Already he wants his solitude."
His family gave their good wishes and love, then left him alone with Lochlan.
Ewan looked at his brother, then meaningfully at the door. "Why are you still here?"
"I want to make sure you don"t do anything foolish."
"Such as?"
"Withdraw back into yourself while there"s a beautiful woman downstairs who loves you."
Ewan snorted at that while inside he could actually feel his heart shriveling from the mere thought of losing her. "What do you know of it?"
"Nothing, truly. I"ve never been blessed with a woman"s love. But if I were, I"d make certain that I kept it."
Ewan snorted. It was much easier for a man to give advice than to take it.
The giving of it cost Lochlan nothing, but should Ewan yield to it, the results could be disastrous.
"Aye, but at what cost?"
"What do you mean?"
"She is promised to another, Lochlan. A man who loves her and who has said repeatedly that he will not let her go. His clan will feud with ours if I take her from him. I already caused one feud and killed my brother over such a thing. Think you I want to kill another man?"
"Ewan-"
"Leave me!" he roared.
Lochlan tensed, then turned about and left.
Alone, Ewan let his thoughts drift over the last few days with Nora. Over the happiness that she had brought into his dismal world.
His gaze fell to the embroidery that lay on his bed. Picking it up, he frowned. It was the image of a troubadour playing the lute with a lady.
His fingers shook as he traced the picture.
How could he let her go?