The Ghost by Greyson, Maeve (best motivational books to read .txt) 📕

chucking a finger under his chin as she searched him for injury. “Are ye hurt? Did ye eat something ye couldna tell what it was? I told ye never to test things without checking with me first.” God help them both if he had eaten a dangerous plant. One that she might not be able to identify or counteract with the herbs she had packed. “Keigan, what is it?”

“My head’s a weighing heavy on my heart, Auntie.”

Rarely was Keigan without a smile unless he had done something he shouldn’t. Brenna stepped back, folded her arms, and waited. Silence paired with a stern look usually worked best at convincing the lad to confess all.

“I havena done a thing wrong,” he said as though reading her mind.

“Then what vexes ye?” Softening her motherly glare, she gave him an encouraging smile. “Ye ken well enough ye can tell me anything, my wee one. Now, what is it that’s troubling ye so?”

He chewed on his lip for a long while, peering up at her with those pale blue eyes that so resembled his mother’s. After puffing up with a deep breath, then blowing it out, he spoke. “I like Magnus.”

Her heart shattered, knowing what he was trying to tell her but couldn’t find the courage to say. Be that as it may, the child needed to learn to speak his mind, even when it might not be easy to do so. She forced herself to act as though his announcement was perfectly understandable. “Magnus has been verra kind. In fact, I’m certain he saved us by carrying us away from those villagers so quickly.”

The boy nervously shifted in place, avoiding her gaze and narrowing his eyes as though sighting in a target just past her shoulder. “Aye, but that’s no’ exactly what I meant.”

“Then perhaps ye should say what ye mean,” she prodded. “A man knows how to speak his mind clearly.” She cleared her throat to cover the trembling in her tone. “Mercy! Stirred up a storm of dust making camp.” With the threat of tears back under control, she gave him another nod. “Well, what is it, lad? Tell me now.”

“I think I want him to be my da,” he said so softly she almost failed to hear him. “I think he needs me for a son.”

Brenna forced a smile. “Of that, I have no doubt. Any man would be blessed to have ye as a son.”

“But what about ye?” He frowned and dug the toe of his boot into the soft ground. “If I take Magnus as my da, will I lose ye? I know ye have never liked him.”

She crouched down and pulled him into a fierce hug. “Ye will never lose my love, no matter yer choice. Remember that always, my fine warrior—always, ye ken?”

He hugged her tight, digging his chin into the crook of her neck like he used to do as a wee bairn. “Aye, but since ye dinna like him, I know ye willna wish to come and live with us at his clan’s keep. He said ye could though, ye remember?”

“I remember. But ye could always visit me wherever I decide to make my home,” she countered with a reassuring pat on his back. “Besides, I doubt he really meant the offer of a home to me. Folk often say things they dinna mean when they’re trying to win ye over.”

“I damn well did mean it,” Magnus declared as he stepped into the clearing. “If I hadna meant it, I would never have said it.”

His interruption startled her, nearly knocking her back on her heels. She unwound Keigan’s arms from around her neck and slowly stood, assuming a self-righteous air. “Eavesdropping is a verra rude habit.”

“It also appears to be a verra necessary one.” Magnus strode forward, his look thunderous. “I realize I have erred in many a way when it comes to Keigan, yerself, and yer sister, but I have never lied to any of ye, and I never will. I swore ye would always have a home at Tor Ruadh and the protection of Clan MacCoinnich, and I meant it.”

Keigan took her hand, his proud grin betraying that perhaps he’d had this confrontation planned all along. “Ye see? We would all be together, and then my heart wouldna be so heavy with having to choose between the two of ye.”

If the wee beastie had set this snare on purpose, she would tan his backside for him. “Keigan Ruari Maxwell—”

“—de Gray,” Magnus added.

“What?”

“Keigan Ruari Maxwell de Gray,” he said louder, saying the words slowly so she wouldn’t fail to understand them. “That is my son’s name.”

“So, it’s come to that, has it?” She shot him an angry glare, then turned her disapproval on Keigan. “Ye sided with him? Against me? Thought to trick me into doing what ye wished? Is that how ye treat someone ye love?”

“Keigan—” Magnus strode forward and pushed his way between them. His glare clashed steel with hers as he spoke with the lad. “Evander snared a pair of ptarmigans to go with the fish. Ye might help him clean them whilst yer auntie and I speak privately.”

Keigan turned and ran as though the devil himself nipped at his heels. The boy was not a fool.

“Dinna ever speak to my son that way again.” Magnus’s voice was low, but his intent raged loud and fierce. “The lad’s fear of losing ye is real. Have all yer trials hardened ye to his needs?”

“Keigan needs to know the meaning of loyalty to those ye love.” The man’s scolding grated like the cut of a rusty knife. Perhaps, she shouldn’t have spoken so harshly to Keigan, but the wee one should have just been honest with her, not set up some foolish ruse to get what he wanted. “I wouldna have said what I did if he’d had the grace and courage to talk with me honestly—as he shouldha.”

“He’s a bairn,” Magnus defended. “Ye’re the only mother he’s ever known. Not only does