Free MacAlister's Hope by Laurin Wittig

dark-haired Annis spun past him, and he fought the urge to lock her away again for the harm she had nearly caused. Instead he counted the moments until the music would stop and he could claim Fia’s hand before she could avoid him, as she’d done so well this evening.
    “Does the lass ken?” His grandmum asked quietly, but still jerking Kieron out of his almost trance-like attention.
    “Ken what?”
    “How you feel about her.”
    “How I feel?”
    “Dinna play the dafty with me, Kieron. You are in love with her. How long?”
    “Since first I met her,” Kieron said without hesitation.
    Grandmum whistled through her teeth, drawing Kieron’s attention finally. Her sparse grey eyebrows were raised and the stunned expression in her eyes made Kieron laugh. It was rare he could surprise the old woman.
    “I ken I am a dafty, but ’tis true,” he said. “I have loved her since I first saw her sitting upon a stone at the edge of the meadow where Tavish and the other lads had chased me. She was tiny and golden with her pale hair and big blue eyes, and her laughter was like tinkling bells. I thought perhaps she was a fairy maid come to take me away. Or maybe I fell in love with her when she told me she was laughing at the rest of the lads.”
    “She is why you’ve never been much interested in the lassies here.”
    Kieron nodded. None had ever compared to Fia.
    “Did you ken she was at Kilmartin before you went there?”
    He nodded again.
    “Does she ken how you feel?” Grandmum asked again, her voice quieter and more serious now.
    “I have spoken of it.”
    “And the lass, does she feel the same?”
    Kieron nodded. “I believe she does, but she will not say.”
    “And if she did say? If she did love you, what then my laddie?”
    “I do not think ’twill change aught, even if she does share my feelings. She is determined that we cannot be together, not for a long time at least. I do not want to be without her, Grandmum. Not anymore.”
    “Och, lad. You get your way with most everyone here, often without them even knowing how you do it. Are you telling me you cannot convince a lass you love that marrying you would be the best thing she ever did?”
    “You are biased, Grandmum.”
    “Aye, but that does not make me wrong.” She laughed just as the music stopped. “Go get her, my laddie. If you really love her, and you believe she loves you, do not let her go.”
    Kieron almost toppled the bench and his grandmother in his rush to his feet. Fortunately the dance had brought Fia to his side of the crowded hall so he was able steady his grandmother and still reach Fia before anyone else claimed the next dance. He looked back at the table, ready to apologize for his abrupt abandonment, only to find the old woman grinning and tilting her head toward the door that led out to the deserted village. Kieron smiled and nodded.
    He needed to get Fia out of here, out of the crush of the clan and somewhere private. He needed to make sure she knew how he felt. He needed to know if she cared as deeply for him.
    “I need to talk to you, Fia,” he said. “Would you like to get some air?”
    Fia hesitated for a moment, then followed him as he led her through the throng and down the outer stairs into the village. When they were clear of the noise and the light of the torches that had been set up along the main path to the hallhouse, Kieron stopped and faced her. She stood a few feet away, almost as if she was afraid to get to close to him. His heart ached at the thought she might be afraid of him.
    “I do not think we have aught to say to each other, Kieron,” she said.
    He could see the tension that pulled her shoulders up, and pinched her face. She started to turn away and he reached out and caught her wrist. He didn’t know what to say to her, but he knew what he felt, what she felt, when they touched. He pulled her slowly into his arms, pleased when she reluctantly let him. He kissed her, coaxing her mouth to soften