Free Ian's Rose: Book One of The Mackintoshes and McLarens by Suzan Tisdale Page B

the stool to stand before Rose. “Frederick and I could no’ trust this to just anyone. Ye have been the closest thing to a sister I’ve ever had, Rose. Truly, I do no’ wish to leave here, to leave ye or Ian or anyone. But Frederick believes we should at least make an attempt at what Douglas has given me.” Tears pooled in her eyes as she wrapped her arms around her friend. “If I had me own way, we’d never leave here. But I keep thinkin’ of me mum. McLaren lands were hers, ye ken. To ignore that, to let them fall to ruin, to allow neighborin’ clans to take that land? ‘Twould be a travesty to her memory.”
    Rose was just as stunned as her husband. Certainly he would not consider leaving here. They’d already made plans to ask his father for a wee cottage, where she would plant a garden and flowers, and they would spend the rest of their lives simply loving one another. Nay, he could not even consider the proposal.
    She should have known better.

    * * *
    H is brother had just given him the chance at a much brighter future. If he took what Frederick and Aggie were offering him, he’d be able to give Rose everything he felt she deserved. And in his mind and heart, he wanted to give his wife the world.
    “I shall give ye some time to think on it,” Frederick said as he started for the door.
    “I need no time,” Ian said with a wide smile. “We shall do this fer ye.”
    Rose pulled away from Aggie’s embrace. Seeing the look of surprise and desperation in her dear friend’s eyes, Aggie said, “Ian, do ye no’ think ye should discuss this with yer wife?”
    As soon as he looked at her with that wide, proud smile, Rose knew she’d not ever be able to change his mind. In that tiny moment, she knew she was destined to return to those lands she had grown to hate and fear. The rundown keep. The land where ’twas impossible to grow anything more than weeds. The lands that held more bad memories than good. ’Twas that smile of his that was her undoing: the one she knew in her heart she’d never be able to deny a thing on God’s earth. So proud, so utterly happy, as if he’d just been handed the world on a golden salver by all the old gods.
    “If this be what me husband wants,” she said, choking back tears, “then we shall do what ye ask.”

5
    T he following days seemed to fly by as Ian and Rose prepared for their future. A future that Ian was far more excited about than Rose.
    Ian spent his days in meetings with his father and brothers, planning the route back to McLaren lands, discussing what supplies would be necessary, as well as the design of the future keep.
    Weeks ago — almost immediately after Aggie had agreed they could use the money found in her father’s old office to rebuild her clan — Frederick had began to put in place plans for a new keep. He had gone to Inverness and met with a well-known and respected carpenter, Ingerame Macdowall, whom he hired immediately. Ingerame would be the lead carpenter on the project, responsible for hiring a team of laborers and carpenters of his own choosing. Frederick had the perfect spot in mind. ’Twas a mile away from the original keep, with more fertile ground, and more importantly, as far away from the glen as it could be. He’d also spent many a night drawing up plans for a much grander and heavily fortified structure. And the bloody roof would never leak.
    Almost immediately after being hired, the carpenter and his team of laborers set out for McLaren lands. The idea was that Frederick would meet him there later in the autumn.
    But with the recent turn of events and changes in leadership, ‘twould now be Ian and Rose meeting the man, and much sooner than originally anticipated.
    A swearing-in ceremony was held on the same evening Ian accepted the position. In front of his family and new clan, he swore an oath to protect each and every one of them, to lead with a firm yet fair hand, and to do a damn sight better than their last chief.
    While