Free Elaine Coffman - [Mackinnons 06] by When Love Comes Along

the best
minister in the Highlands.”
    “I fear I was known for being long on sermons and short on
patience.”
    Fletcher laughed. “I see she was also right about something
else.”
    “Oh? And what is that?”
    “She said you were quite modest.”
    David looked as if he was lost in recollections, then he
said, “Ahhh, Maggie… Some of the brightness was gone out of the Highlands after
she left.” He paused. “Forgive an old man’s ruminations. Maggie is where she
should be, and happy as a clam, I understand.”
    “Yes. Very happy.”
    “And now you are here and I canna believe you are Bruce and
Maggie’s son. Of course I would have known who you were even if you hadn’t
given your name. You are your father’s double, but I ken this is not the first
time you have heard that.”
    Before Fletcher could reply, David said, “Come sit down,
lad, and tell me all about your mother. She doesna write as often now as she
once did, and I find myself wondering from time to time just how Maggie is
doing.”
    They started to walk into the other room when Cathleen
reached for the wet towel Fletcher had used. Giving her a quick glance, David
said, “Would you bring tea and some of your shortbread into the parlor,
Cathleen?”
    Cathleen did not answer, and when he looked at her, Fletcher
saw that she was staring at him.
    David MacDonald looked at his granddaughter. Then he looked
at Fletcher.
    Fletcher and Cathleen seemed locked in their gaze.
    Somewhat bewildered, David said, “Do forgive me for not
introducing you. This is my granddaughter, Mary Cathleen Lindsay.”
    She gave a quick nod, then darted through the door before
Fletcher could say anything.
    David, looking a bit puzzled, said, “You’ve met before?”
    “Yes. I saw your granddaughter a few weeks ago. She was in a
hay field drawing water from a well as I rode by.”
    “Barefoot and covered with dust, no doubt,” David said, then
glanced toward the door.
    Fletcher could not help seeing the wealth of emotion in that
look.
    “Cathleen has ever been a helpful lass. When she isn’t
helping me, she is attending to others. Everyone in the village has come to
depend upon her in one way or another. An angel of mercy, they call her.” David
paused, then drew his gaze from the door to look at Fletcher. “Well, enough of
that. I ken you didna come all this way to hear me expound upon the virtues of
my granddaughter. Besides, I am eager to hear of Maggie. Let’s go to the
parlor, shall we?”
    Fletcher followed him into a small parlor and saw
immediately that the reverend had been working on something, for papers were
scattered across the library table and sheets of music lay stacked upon the
piano bench.
    David seated himself in a worn, comfortable-looking chair
beside the fireplace and indicated for Fletcher to take the one across from
him.
    “Now then, tell me about Maggie and your sisters.”
     
    In the kitchen, Cathleen put on a pot of water to heat, then
took down a small plate and the best teacups, placing several pieces of
shortbread on the plate, then arranging everything on a tray that had belonged
to the grandmother she never knew. While she waited for the water to boil, she
listened to her grandfather talking with Fletcher Ramsay but catching only bits
and pieces of their conversation.
    When the tea was ready, she put the pot on the tray with the
cups and shortbread and carried it into the parlor.
    David glanced up as she entered. “Ah, things will seem ever
so much better after a nice cup of hot tea and a bite of Cathleen’s
shortbread,” he said to Fletcher, shoving papers aside and clearing a place for
the tray on a low table next to a small chair, which Cathleen lowered herself
into as gracefully as possible, considering that she was feeling a bit
self-conscious because Fletcher Ramsay was watching her every move.
    “How do you take your tea, Mr. Ramsay?” she asked, not
looking at him.
    “No cream, no sugar.”
    “Fletcher is the Earl of