The Bedeviled Heart (The Highland Heather and Hearts Scottish Romance Series) by Carmen Caine

father tilted his head to the door, straining to hear, as a warm, welcoming smile graced his lips. “Well met, lad.”
    Cameron bowed. “Well met, my good sir.”
    “Have ye come for Kate?” The man chuckled. “Ach, of course ye have, lad. She’s nae here.”
    Feeling a twinge of disappointment, Cameron opened his mouth to ask after the man’s health when the cottage door banged open, and Kate’s cheerful voice sent a shiver of pleasure down his spine.
    “Father! I’ve the most splendid news!” Kate sailed into the room, panting. She pulled up short to see Cameron, but her face lit with joy. “Cameron, I’ve the most wonderful news!”
    “Catch your breath, Kate.” Her father laughed.
    Grabbing her father’s hands, she danced with him as he sat. “I’m a lady’s maid, father! Eight shillings a year! Eight !”
    Her father’s jaw dropped open as Cameron raised a curious brow.
    “’Tis the most fortunate day!” Kate laughed. Dropping her father’s hands, she grabbed Cameron’s and squeezed them in excitement. “I met the most gracious lady, and she asked me to be her own maid!”
    “And who might this lady be?” Cameron lips crooked into a smile as he looked down into her sparkling eyes. Her joy was catching. Slipping an arm about her tiny waist, he lifted her up and twirled her around.
    Laughing, she replied, “Lady Elsa! She’s just come from the Borderlands!”
    Cameron stumbled and nearly dropped her. With a sharp breath, he quickly regained his control and set her lightly back upon her feet.
    “Are ye ill, Cameron?” Kate gripped his arm and shook it. “Ye suddenly look pale!”
    “Lady Elsa?” He cleared his throat. Surely, it couldn’t be his ward, Lady Elsa MacRae? Couldn’t there be more than one Lady Elsa in Stirling?
    Kate watched him closely. With furrowed brows, she eyed him up and down a bit suspiciously. “At the castle this morning, I swear I saw a man that looked just like ye, Cameron.”
    “Oh?” he asked guardedly. There was no doubt now. It had to be the same Lady Elsa. As always, fortune played cruel games with him.
    “Surely, ‘twasn’t ye now, was it?” Kate folded her arms, her brown eyes locked on his.
    “And why would I be at the castle?” he evaded.
    Casting a glance at her father, Kate shook her head and placed a finger upon her lip. Moving to her father once more, she said, “The wee Donald will bring Fiona here to stay with ye now that I must sleep at the castle with my mistress. He’ll bring her within the hour, but I must run errands now for the lady. I’ll be by as often as I can, to check on ye both, and the wee Donald will come here three times a day to fetch whatever ye need!”
    “Ach, my sweet bairn, dinna forget to breathe!” Her father laughed and then added, “And dinna worry overly much of me, lass. I’ll be hale and hearty soon!”
    A wistful expression entered Kate’s eyes as she bent to place a quick kiss on his forehead. “Mayhap I’ll have enough coin soon to get ye the water from the Pilgrim’s Well.”
    “Ach, lass.” Her father shook his head but sent her an indulgent smile. “My sight is gone for good, and there’s naught to be done if it. Do ye not recall the good monk’s words? Dinna waste your coin on a fool’s dream!”
    “Miracles, father, not dreams!” Kate frowned stubbornly in disagreement.
    Squeezing her hands, her father ordered, “Be gone, Kate, afore ye try Lady Elsa’s patience! And take this young lad with ye. He can aid ye in the lady’s errands.”
    Blushing, Kate waited as Cameron said his farewells before pulling him out of the cottage to stand on the step. Placing her hands upon her slim hips, she took him to task with a frown. “I’ll be stern with ye now, lad! I swear that was ye at the castle, and if it was then ye are a fool! If ye dinna care in keeping your own head, think of me! I care that ye keep it! There is honorable work to be had! And now that I’ve eight shillings a year, I can