Free The Arrow: A Highland Guard Novel (The Highland Guard) by Monica McCarty Page A

But the boy’s age had always bothered her. She knew Gregor had just turned one and thirty, and although she wouldn’t put it past him, fifteen was awfully young to father a child.
    Gregor’s certainty—at least about Pip—left little room for error. She only wished Pip hadn’t had to hear it.
    What had she thought, that Gregor would take one look at the boy and his heart would go out to him as much as hers had? Perhaps. Though she knew it wasn’t fair. Gregor hadn’t been eager to be saddled with her; she shouldn’t have expected that he would welcome three children with open arms.
    Even were she to believe him that they weren’t his children—and there seemed little room for doubt about Pip—it didn’t matter. He couldn’t turn them away; they needed him.
    He would come around.
    Having reached the barn, she drew open the door. The pungent, earthy smells accosted her at once, but she didn’t mind. She’d spent a lot of time in the barn when she first arrived, too.
    “Pip?”
    She heard what sounded like a muffled sniffle, and then a bit of shuffling around. “Back here,” he said. “With the pup.”
    One of the dogs in the village had given birth to pups a few weeks back. The bitch had ignored the sickly runt, and the farmer had been about to drown the poor thing, when Pip had come to its rescue and brought it back to the tower house. Remarkably, not only did the creature seem to be thriving, but their old, stubborn barn cat, who didn’t like anyone, seemed to think it was the pup’s mother.
    Cate moved toward the far end of the barn, finding Pip sitting against the wall of the last stall.
    Her heart squeezed, seeing the telltale streaks down his swollen, bloodied face. But she pretended not to notice. His pride was a tender thing right now. He was so full of bluster and bravado. But it had helped him survive, and she would not destroy it with comfort. Not until he was ready.
    “How is he?”
    Pip shrugged. “I brought him some scraps of meat from the evening meal last night, and he seemed to like them.”
    “Have you named him yet?”
    The boy shook his head. “No.” She understood. He wouldn’t name him until he was certain the pup would live. His eyes scanned her dress, and then narrowed angrily. “That’s for
him
, isn’t it? You’ve dressed like that for him.”
    Cate hoped she wasn’t blushing, but her cheeks felt suspiciously hot. Good gracious, was it that obvious? “No, I—”
    “You like him, don’t you? Well, I don’t. I hate him—and he’s not my father!”
    Cate pulled over a stool that was used for milking the cows and drew it over to sit by him. “Why do you say that?”
    For a moment he looked stricken, but then he looked away and mumbled, “My mother said he was handsome. That we looked just alike. I don’t look anything like him. He’s cold and arrogant and ugly.”
    He looked so upset, Cate didn’t have the heart to smile. She doubted anyone had ever called Gregor MacGregor ugly before. “He didn’t mean what he said, Pip. He was surprised, that’s all. Once you get to know him—”
    “I don’t want to get to know him. I hate him!”
    Dear Lord, had she actually thought this would be easy? Her plan to bring them all together had the makings of a disaster. “You both started off on the wrong foot, that’s all.” Not wanting to leave any more room for discussion, she stood. “It will be time for the midday meal soon—you have just enough time to wash up.” He started to protest, but she stopped him in a voice that brooked no argument. “I will fetch some salve for your cuts.”
    He looked down at the dog and nodded.
    Again she wanted to put her arms around him, but she remembered all too well how she’d been at that age. LadyMarion had been patient with her, and she would do the same for Pip.
    She turned to leave, but he stopped her. “How did you do what you did to Dougal today?”
    Her mouth twisted. It had been rather amazing. She hadn’t really