Heart of Stone by Rebecca Ruger
Epilogue
Calum exited the barn, wiping his hands on the cloth from his pocket, his gaze mechanically going toward the croft. The sight would never grow old, he was sure, filled with satisfaction for everything they’d made and had accomplished in the last year. Aye, he and his men had built a house but Julianna—and the lasses as well—had been the ones to make it a home. They’d whitewashed the exterior just this spring and had begged Finn to make them two long and narrow boxes that they’d placed on either side of the door and had filled with their favorite flowers. Whatever those purple and white and pink blooms were, Calum could not say, but he knew this was their second attempt, as their first had never taken root. But Julianna had assured one and all that these blooms would keep, as she’d had some conversation with Blackwood’s gardener. Later, that man had apologized to Calum, saying he only told her what he thought sounded right, what mayhap she’d wanted to hear, as his knowledge was in vegetables and not flowers.
“Gimme a parsnip or an onion or leeks, and aye, I can tell ye everything ye want to ken,” the gardener had said, scratching his head, “but she wants to plant flowers and she were in such distress that whatever she’d planted hadn’t taken off. I dinna have the heart to tell her I dinna ken. So I gave her what I ken might possibly be sound advice.” He’d shrugged then. “I dinna ken honestly but then, she was happy so that was good, aye?”
Calum, likewise, knew nothing of growing flowers, but supposed many of the basics might transcend from necessary vegetables to aesthetic blossoms as this bunch had indeed thrived and bloomed.
And aye, if Julianna were happy, that was good.
Aye, but it wasn’t only the paint and a few pretty buds. Julianna managed the house and all those who dwelled within with ease. True, it had taken her some time to master the cooking, but they’d all gamely followed along as she learned, chewing leathery meat and biting into bread that would break a man’s teeth, eating tasteless stews and that one disaster, which she’d claimed was a meat pie, but that to this day defied description. Each and every one of them, the girls included, had smiled while slogging through whatever she put in front of them. The lads had joked, outside of Julianna’s hearing, that they thought they’d gotten pretty good at hiding either their fright whenever she placed something unknown before them, or their reactions when it followed in the tradition of so many other dishes, just wrong. Things had improved, and praise the gods, that Calum could now proudly say his little wife put out a proper meal every night, the table large enough to accommodate all eleven of them, which so often made for boisterous mealtimes. In every other regard, she just seemed to be a natural, never tiring, never complaining, and possessed of an innate ability to coerce anyone into doing anything, in such a way that one never quite understood how she’d managed it so slyly that you found yourself smiling as you did her bidding, the workload spread so evenly.
Finn walked out of the barn as well, giving a great sigh and stopping near Calum just as Brida came out of the cottage. She waved across the yard to them and called out, “I’m headed up to the keep.”
“You want that I come up and fetch you later?” Calum called back, a smirk emerging as he knew well what her response would be. Even from the distance he could easily make out the blush that stained her cheeks.
“Tomag will fetch me.”
“Aye,” Finn returned, “And both you home at the regular time or we’ll be out with the torches for ye!”
Brida grinned at them and shook her head, crossing the yard, disappearing along the well rutted lane to Blackwood.
“She likes it up there,” Finn commented. “Hard worker, Gabe says.”
“Aye, it’s good for her, to get out from underneath Julianna’s shadow.” He’d been very proud of Brida, for suggesting herself that she might take a job, and because she hadn’t asked for either Julianna or Calum to speak to Gabe or Fenella in her stead but had wanted to do it herself. More of Julianna’s influence, Calum had surmised at the time.
Finn slanted a smirk at Calum. “Just so long as she dinna get under Tomag’s shadow.”
“Christ, Finn—”
The old man held up his hands in a swift, defensive posture. “I’m just saying.”
“Julianna is no’ worried about it—grinned like a wee lass, as if I’d stumbled on a grand secret she’d been keeping and was bursting with—so I’m no’ going to worry about it.”
Finn chuckled but then remembered, “We need to get that fencing fixed over near the west end there.”
“Aye, Peadar and Booth said they’d chop the posts when they returned from Kildrummy. We’ll tackle that tomorrow.”
“And are we ready for the shearing?”
Calum shrugged. “As we’ll ever be, I suppose.” He sent a crooked grin to his captain. “You retain anything from the other day watching Gabriel’s shearers at work?”
“Naught but a sore back and stomped toe where that ewe got me good. Was hoping ye were paying attention.”
He had been. “Finn, if we get the prices Gabe did at market for his wool, we’ll have enough to double our herd for next year and feed us all winter without worry.”
“Who’d have thought?” Finn mused.
This sent Calum’s gaze back to Finn, and with some contemplation. “It’s a good life, aye, Finn?”
The old captain nodded slowly before he spoke. “Artur and I were just talking about that the other day. Aye and truly, who’d have thought we’d end up like this? Last year you said, aye, we’re gonna do this and build here and raise sheep, mayhap have our own crops as well. I thought, well, the lad’s a dreamer but ye ken, I’d have done anything that kept me away from Magda.” This with an irreverent chuckle. “But here we are, and it’s no’ only working, we’re thriving. Those ghosts we brought from Murkle are long gone, them girls combing and spinning and weaving the wool, the giggles louder and louder every day. You, yourself, are a different person completely. The lads are loving it, too, close to Blackwood and Kildrummy and the village for whatever they need. Artur’s got that widow brewer sweet on him. We’ve got a good thing here and I tell ye I’m tickled to be a part of it.”
“I wasn’t that bad before though, was I?”
With a straight face, Finn shrugged and said, “Ye were a wee bit crusty, lad, but it dinna matter now.”
Calum grinned.
Their attention was called to their right, where the two smaller crofts of the MacKinnon men dotted the hillside. From in between those cottages and over the ridge came first the sound of laughter and then the silhouettes of Julianna and Marta. Barbara and Helen followed, all of them moving quickly. The girls ran wildly, their arms flailing while Julianna lumbered and giggled, trying to maintain her balance on the gentle decline. A basket swung uncontrollably from her arm and her shoulder length blonde curls bounced about her head while she tried not to gain much more speed as she moved downward.
“She’s going to be the death of me,” Calum groused and jogged toward her, Finn’s chuckle following him. Soon, he saw that mayhap the downward trajectory of the hill was not what had sent them into a run. Coming over the ridge were three goats, and they seemed to be chasing Julianna and the girls. He increased his speed, sprinting upward while they all ran down. Barbara screamed his name, but her shriek was filled with laughter. Thankfully, he met Julianna before the goats had caught up to her or the girls, letting Julianna crash into him, his hands upon her arms steadying her. The girls, still giggling, all crowded behind Calum, one of them clinging to his tunic, while he shooed the animals away.
Julianna tipped her face up to him, her nose dotted with freckles now from all the days spent out of doors, the silver-green of her eyes ever a magnificent thing to behold.
But damn, he wished she’d be more careful.
“Why, Julianna? Why do you do that to me?”
“Calum, I did not plan on being chased by those ninnies. I only—"
“Aye, and I’m only dying a little death inside every time you run or trip or Christ, sneeze.”
Unperturbed, Julianna lifted herself on her toes and pecked her lips on his, her smile unfazed. Her rounded belly leaned against his middle. “Aye, but maybe if you loved me only half as much, you would worry less as well.”
Still irritated, he barked, “We both ken that’s no’ going to happen.”
Julianna grinned at his surliness, attempting to soothe him with another kiss, which she knew damn well could get the job done.
And it did, and she melted into him, kissing him ravenously. “Am I forgiven, then?”
Calum shook his head at her, having momentarily lost his focus. “Aye, until the next time.”
The girls continued down the hill, Helen shrilly calling Finn’s name and babbling about some boy in the village calling her Helen the felon. At the same time, Marta was asking him where Artur was.
“Calum,” Julianna said, “have you ever thought about keeping me so very busy that I haven’t time for traipsing around so carelessly, putting your son at risk?”
It was her eyes that gave her away, bright and knowing and filled with hints of mischief and temptation.
Calum asked. “Are you suggesting busy and...naked?”
“I might be.”
“How long until the babe comes?”
“Three more months.”
Calum lifted his brow at her. “I can do that, if you can clear that house.”
“Ah, and here I thought I’d let you re-introduce me to—what did you call it last fall? Open air delight?”
Warming to her tone and her teasing, he lost the last of his chagrin, his gaze glancing over her gorgeous mouth. “Julianna, say the word, put your hand in mine, and I’ll show you some new delights as well.”
And he absolutely fell in love with how her eyes widened and sparkled at the very idea. “Give me five minutes to settle the girls, then?”
“I’ll give you three.”
“Fair enough,” she said and turned toward the house.
“But no running, Julianna!” He called out, all his gruffness returned for the fact that she was, indeed, skipping across the yard.
She appeared again in less than two minutes, by his counting. He watched her move so happily and gracefully toward him—trying not to run, he supposed with some thankfulness. Her smile was resplendent and for him alone, so much love shining in her gaze.
“Come, husband,” she said when she stood before him again. “We’ve got a lot of open air delight to get in before someone calls either your name or mine.” She turned and began pulling him away, toward the trees and the loch.
Calum glanced down to their joined hands, loving everything about this moment and her. And then it was increased tenfold when she turned her face on her shoulder and smiled at him.
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The End
Thank you for reading Heart of Stone. Gaining exposure as an independent author relies mostly on word-of-mouth, so if you have the time and inclination, please consider leaving a short review wherever you can. Thanks!
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Heart of a Highlander Series
Heart of Shadows
Heart of Stone
Heart of Fire
Heart of Iron
Heart of Winter
Heart of Ice
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Other Books by Rebecca Ruger
The Highlander Heroes Series
The Touch of Her Hand
The Memory of Her Kiss
The Shadow of Her Smile
The Depths of Her Soul
The Truth of Her Heart
The Love of Her Life
And Then He Loved Me (A Highlander Novella, Book 1)
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