A Laird for Christmas Read Online Free PDF Page A

tower. She peered through the stone crenellations to the castle’s approach. Snow had fallen last night, leaving a chill in the morning air and turning the landscape beyond into a blanket of white. Over the pristine whiteness paraded a column of men on horseback that stretched from the borders of Bellhaven to the lowered drawbridge below. Her army had arrived, an army made up of six men’s retinues.
    Six men.
    Her suitors.
    Jane released a ragged sigh. This was madness. She did not want to pick a husband from a group of men. Margaret had not elaborated on who the men were, other than her cousin, but they would be men she had met before. There was not a single male in her past she would consider marrying… except perhaps… Jane straightened. No, she would not consider such a thing.
    There had to be a way out of this
arrangement
Margaret had concocted. Scottish law allowed for a woman to inherit her father’s lands if there were nomale heirs in the direct line. Her father might not deem her worthy, but she had run Bellhaven in part for many years, though fully over the last two while her father and brother had been too busy with their warring to care about the castle and its inhabitants.
    In their absence, she had proven herself a capable heiress. But inheriting Bellhaven would not be any easier than living with her father had been. She knew the provisions he had left behind—a will specifically stating that if her father were declared dead, she must marry by Christmas Eve in order to inherit, or the land and title would go to her cousin Bryce.
    The courts would see Bryce MacCallister as the indirect heir no matter if she contested his claim. Jane leaned her head back and closed her eyes. The only way for her to stay in her home and protect her people was to choose one of the other suitors Margaret had provided.
    “There you are.” Margaret’s familiar voice sounded in the morning coolness.
    “I needed some air.” Jane opened her eyes, returning her gaze to the men below. “Do I truly have to pick a husband from these men?”
    “There is no other way.” Margaret brought her hand up to stroke Jane’s cloak-covered shoulder. “The sooner you accept the need, my dear, and turn your mindset to one of pleasure and discovery, the better this competition will go for you.”
    Jane groaned. “I have so many other, bigger, problems at present.”
    “Such as?” Margaret asked lightly.
    Jane frowned. How could the woman be so annoyingly happy when Jane’s own world was about to end? “My need for an army.”
    Margaret waved a hand to the crowd below. “They are here. What other problems could you have?”
    “Have you forgotten the rumors of my wanton reputation spread by—” Jane broke off as memories surged to the front of her mind, so powerful, they stole her breath. How could a man she had trusted with her whole heart and soul say such horrible things about her?
    A look of understanding crossed Margaret’s face. “I know what you are thinking,” she said softly. “There has to be an explanation. Give him the chance to explain.”
    “Nicholas is here?”
    Margaret nodded.
    Jane tried to find words, any words, but all she had were memories and stark, sudden fear. Only moments ago she had wondered what it might be like to have him here, to see him again, but now in the face of that reality she trembled. “No, I cannot face him.”
    “Yes, Jane, you can. You are stronger than that.”
    In her mind she saw Nicholas as he had been when he had left her two years ago—the dark-haired handsome hero who had stolen her heart and kissed her for the very first time. Then came the hurtful memories, the ones that lingered long after he had gone. Jane forced those thoughts away and raised her chin. Nicholas was here. She would see him again, and she would show him that she was a woman now, not the girl he had left behind. “You are right, Margaret. I have learned to be strong in the past two years.”
    Margaret smiled.