Morna's Legacy 04 - Love Beyond Measure (21 page)

“’Cause he likes Mom.” Cooper shook his head dramatically, speaking before Eoghanan had the chance. “And I mean
really
likes her. Isn’t that right E-o?”

Eoghanan moved to stand Cooper back on the bed, preferring to speak with them while he faced them both. “Aye, ’tis yer mother I wish to speak to ye both about.”

“Okay. Let’s hear it.” Jeffrey crossed his arms waiting for Eoghanan’s explanation. Cooper glanced over at his father and mimicked him, crossing his own arms right alongside him.

Taking a breath for courage, Eoghanan spoke. “I know that the three of ye are a family, and I want ye to know that I doona ever wish to disrupt it, but ’tis me hope that ye are open to adding another member. I am verra much in love with Grace. I canna imagine me life without her,” he glanced at Cooper, “or ye Cooper. ’Tis me intention to ask her to marry me, but I willna do so without having both yer blessing.”

Cooper smiled back at him. “Whoa. That’s a big question, E-o.”

Jeffrey continued to regard him pensively, his arms crossed, guarded. “So are you saying that if either of us said no, you really wouldn’t ask her? That’s a big statement, my man.”

Eoghanan nodded. He wouldn’t. Committing to Grace meant committing to her family, and he wanted both of them to accept him willingly. “Aye, I wouldna. I give ye me word.”

“But Dad…” Cooper reached out to tug on his Dad’s arm. “You already told me we were gonna stay, so we’re gonna tell him yes, right?”

Eoghanan did his best not to smile, wishing to allow Jeffrey the chance to answer.

Jeffrey turned to speak below his breath to Cooper but did it so that Eoghanan could hear him. “Well, of course we’re going to tell him yes, but I was just trying to make him sweat a little.”

“That’s not very nice, Dad.” Cooper lifted one eyebrow, a gesture of disapproval, in his father’s direction.

“You’re right. It’s not.” Jeffrey turned back toward Eoghanan. “Yes, you have our full
permission to ask her to marry you. I think you’re a good man, Eoghanan. Do not prove me wrong.”

Eoghanan extended a hand in his new friend’s direction. “I swear to ye that I will do everything in me power to make her happy.”

Jeffrey took his hand, shaking it just a little too firmly. “I’m serious, okay? I don’t care if you’re six inches taller than me and the size of a professional football player. You hurt Grace, and I will hurt you. Understood?”

“Aye, I do. It pleases me that Grace has so many that care for her.” Eoghanan stepped toward Cooper, shaking his little hand as well to seal their agreement. “I will bid ye goodnight now. I thank ye both.”

Eoghanan shut the door behind him, but not before he heard Cooper’s little voice laughing at his father.

“You’re a funny guy, Dad. You wouldn’t even step on that spider earlier. I mean, come on, what do you think you’re gonna do to E-o?”

It took me the rest of the evening to wrangle my stress over the incident to a manageable size. I couldn’t stand the thought of someone so evil standing so close to my son. Eoghanan had left immediately to find Baodan, and together they went with a small group of men to ensure she hadn’t remained anywhere on the property.

When I saw Jeffrey leave the dining hall with Cooper in tow, I decided to take my leave as well, stopping to ensure they made it safely to their bedchamber before making my way up to Eoghanan’s room.

Once inside, I didn’t bother to disrobe before collapsing onto the center of the large bed, the stress of the evening making me weak-limbed and exhausted. I wouldn’t sleep, not until the men were back and I knew that the grounds were safe. Still, I tried to unwind a bit by rubbing my eyelids with my thumb and middle finger, allowing my fingers to gently rub against my closed eyes.

The repetitive motion must have done the trick, for I didn’t hear Eoghanan enter until he spoke.

“Are ye trying to poke yer eye out, lass?”

The sound of his unexpected voice made me jump, and I sat up as he neared me, blinking oddly.

“No, but I think I just about managed it just now. You scared me.”

“I’m sorry. I meant to be quiet so that if ye were sleeping, I wouldna wake ye.”

I stood and moved to him, reaching up to kiss him warmly. “Did you find anything?”

He shook his head, pulling me closer.

“No, I doona think she will be back. Ye needn’t worry yerself over it.”

I didn’t think for a moment that he really believed what he said. He was too smart not to realize that she wouldn’t have taken such a risk to come here unless it was for a reason. Still, there was nothing to be done about it tonight, and I didn’t wish to think about it anymore. “Distract me.” My voice came shaky, breathless, and desperate. I needed the comforting refuge of his body.

His breath caught, and he lifted my chin from its resting place against his chest. “Distract ye?” He smiled mischievously. “I am sorry, but I canna do it tonight. I’m far too sleepy.”

“Oh,” I stepped away from him, my eyes teasing, “that’s just really too bad. I thought we could play a game, but if you’re too sleepy…” I turned away, smiling to the wall as I waited for him to respond.

It took about half a second before he grabbed my wrist and spun me to him. “A game, lass? What sort of game?”

“Well, there’s still so many things we don’t know about one another. Let’s play a game of questions.”

He nodded. “Aye, fine, but that doesna sound like a game, Grace. ’Tis a conversation.”

“You’re right,” I pointed at him, excitedly, “but it becomes a game if we go put on every piece of clothing we can stuff ourselves in and then if I want to ask you a question, I have to take off a piece of clothing and you have to do the same.”

His eyebrows rose humorously high. “Is this a game often played in yer own time, lass?”

“No, not really. Wanna play?”

“Do ye promise me that we will both end with no any clothes on?”

I nodded, slowly.

“Aye, then I’d verra much like to play yer little game.”

*

Ten minutes later, we faced each other and instantaneously burst into laughter. We looked equally ridiculous.

I’d squeezed myself into three of Mitsy’s dresses which I wore on top of the outfit I’d travelled here in—a bra and underwear, jeans and a t-shirt, with socks, tennis shoes. I also pinned up my hair with every bobby pin that I’d had in my hair on the night of our journey here.

Eoghanan had far less—a pair of linen pants paired with a linen shirt, and two kilts draped oddly around him.

“Tell me the rules of this game, lass, so that we may both play fairly.”

“Only this—we each must answer every question completely truthfully.” I began to sweat profusely. Perhaps I’d not thought it through perfectly.

“Can we ask one another anything?”

“Yes, anything, but it looks like I’m going to get to ask a lot more questions than you are.” I fanned myself, the back of my neck growing sticky.

“I doona need many questions, lass. I already know what I wish to ask ye.”

“Is that so? Ok, shoot.”

“Shoot?” His brows pulled together in confusion.

“It just means ‘start’.”

“Oh, aye, fine. Me first question is this,” he paused and removed the first kilt. “Do ye miss yer own time, Grace?”

“No.” My answer slipped out even more easily than I’d expected, but it was true. “There are exactly three things I miss about the twenty-first century.” I hesitated. “Okay, maybe more than three, but only three that seem very significant to me. Number one, refrigerator ice; number two, toothpaste; number three, Bebop.”

I started pulling the first dress off my shoulders, but Eoghanan held out a hand to stop me. “No so fast. I still have three questions left.”

I’d assumed we would alternate questions, but he seemed so eager to continue that I stopped messing with the laces and went back to fanning myself.

After a moment of maneuvering, the second kilt dropped. “I couldna love Cooper any more if he was me own, but this is me second question—do ye wish for more children, Grace?”

I grew even warmer. My heart beating quickly at the happiness that filled it at

Eoghanan’s confession. I loved how he loved Cooper. “Yes, bukoos more.”

He smiled, and I knew that my answer pleased him. I could see the future children I’d always dreamed of, all with the same red hair, same full lips as Eoghanan. I wanted those children to be his.

Slowly, he removed his linen shirt. “Me third question is this—do ye trust me to care for ye and Cooper? To love ye and protect ye and be there for ye always?”

It was more than one question, but I said nothing about it, my head getting a bit light as he walked toward me, gathering up my hands as he stared at me with pleading eyes.

“Yes, Eoghanan, I trust you completely.”

“And I, ye, lass. I have one question left, but I doona wish to ask it in the nude. Me fourth question is this—will ye marry me?”

It certainly wasn’t the way I’d ever imagined a proposal—with me feeling like an overweight
Barbie
, the layers of clothes making me look puffy and foolish, while the man I loved stood before me half naked, looking as handsome as I’d ever seen him. Still, it was sweet and perfect, and whether it was sweat or tears I couldn’t be sure, but my eyes were wet as I answered him.

“Yes.” I stepped forward to kiss him, my hands struggling to reach his face amongst the heavy weight of the sleeves. “I would love nothing more, but I think there’s someone else you might need to speak to before we make it completely official.”

He brushed a tear away from my cheek and nodded while he smiled down at me. “Aye, two others that I counted. I’ve already spoken to both Cooper and Jeffrey.”

“No you haven’t?” I kissed him again. He was always thoughtful; it shouldn’t continually surprise me, but every time it did.

“Aye, and they have both given their blessing. Though, if I hurt ye, Jeffrey has promised to cause me great harm.”

I laughed but had to step away to fan myself again. “I’m sure he had you shaking in your boots, huh?”

His eyebrows pinched together in the adorable way they always did when he didn’t understand one of my modern expressions.

“Never mind. I love you.”

“And I love ye, lass. Ye will never truly know just how much.”

I pinched the fabric in between my bosom and lifted it up and down trying to prevent heatstroke. “I don’t mean to spoil the moment, but I think it’s my turn in this game. If not, I’m going to pass out.”

He looked at me playfully and slowly removed his pants, completing his last question. He walked slowly to the bed. It was utterly astonishing at how little his rear end jiggled as he did so. The man was an unbelievable specimen.

He stretched casually and confidently over the bed, lying on his side and propping his head up on his hand while watching me closely. “Please lass, ’tis now yer turn. Ask me whatever ye wish.”

Compared to his questions, mine seemed like fluff, but to me they weren’t. I could tell a lot about a person by the small stuff.

Gleefully, I shed the first dress, instantly feeling ten pounds lighter. “Okay,” I said, shaking myself out, allowing a breeze to work its way under the fabric. “First question. Do you like dogs?”

I’d never had one myself, although I’d always wanted one. I didn’t trust anyone that said no to that question.

“Aye, there are few animals that I doona like.”

“Good answer.” I kicked off my tennis shoes, sending them sailing across the room. “Second question. When you’re holding a child and they decide to use your sleeve…” I paused thinking on his normal attire, “okay, let’s pretend that you’re usually wearing a shirt. Anyhow, a child decides to use your sleeve as a nose tissue, are you quick to anger and disgust?”

He laughed loudly, emphasizing the tight muscles in his stomach. “Why would I get angry, lass, when I use me shirt for just the same purpose?”

I let loose one uncomfortable chuckle, praying that he joked. I didn’t ponder the thought long, slipping happily out of the second dress. “Question number three. What was your father like?”

In my opinion, this was perhaps the most important question. Men often turned into their dads, just like women did their mothers. If my parents had birthed boys, I had no doubt they would have turned into mini-me, terrifying versions of my father, just as Jeffrey had become the most admirable of men like his own.

“Ah. I doona believe we have spoken of this before. The father that raised me was a kind, honest, decent man, but he was no me father by birth.”

“Oh.” Another reason, perhaps, that Eoghanan had taken so graciously to my strange relationship with Jeffrey. He too had grown up with another man standing in the stead of his real father. “So, did you know your real father?”

He clucked his tongue at me and pointed to my still overly-dressed body. “That was another question, was it no? I think ye must remove something else before I answer.”

I grasped at the opportunity and shed the last remaining dress, standing before him in my jeans and t-shirt. “Gladly. Now answer.”