My Heart Stood Still by Lynn Kurland (best book club books of all time .TXT) 📕

growled. "She's my wee granddaughter, and I'll not have ye distressin' her."

Iolanthe stood there staring, openmouthed. This was someone of Hugh's kin?

Ambrose looked at Iolanthe. "Well met, daughter. Come sit with us, won't you?"

Iolanthe sank into the proffered chair, unable to take her eyes from the other woman. She wasn't unlovely, Iolanthe supposed. She had an abundance of red hair, and green eyes. Those were nice enough, but there was something that struck Iolanthe as very familiar. She stared at her for several moments in silence.

Then the woman smiled and Iolanthe knew her identity before anyone spoke.

"Megan MacLeod McKinnon de Piaget," Ambrose said, pointing toward the woman. He smiled at Iolanthe. "Might I introduce you?"

Iolanthe could only nod weakly. Thomas's sister. What, by the very saints of heaven, was she doing at the inn?

"Megan, this is Iolanthe MacLeod. She's kin of mine up the way. Iolanthe, Megan owns the inn. She's just come north for a little holiday and to make certain we haven't overrun the place."

Megan laughed at him. "You know I just came to visit my two favorite grandfathers." She looked at Fulbert and winked. "And my favorite great-uncle."

Fulbert scowled at her but said nothing.

Megan turned to Iolanthe. "It's nice to meet you," she said with an easy smile. "I suppose all this makes us related as well."

The sight of Megan's smile made Iolanthe miss Thomas all the more. She wondered how she would stand looking at the woman much longer if this was the reaction she would inspire.

"Aye," Iolanthe managed. "We're kin through your mother."

"She's your aunt," Fulbert said.

"Half-aunt," Ambrose corrected.

" 'Tis all the same when it comes to ye foul Highlanders," Fulbert grumbled. "Breedin' and carryin' on till the rest of us find ye hemmin' us in on all sides."

Megan only laughed. "Aren't you married to laird Ambrose's sister, Fulbert?"

Fulbert looked primed to say something nasty, but he buried whatever it was in his mug.

Iolanthe watched Megan banter with all three men and wondered how often she had come to the inn and Iolanthe had never been the wiser. She had missed out on much by remaining at the keep all those years.

"Laird Ambrose tells me you know my brother?"

Iolanthe blinked when she realized that Megan was talking to her. She managed what she hoped looked like a smile. "Aye, I've met him."

Fulbert snorted heartily.

Megan shot him a look, then returned her gaze to Iolanthe. "How is his work going on the castle?"

"He's finished one of the towers," Iolanthe said, finding herself growing increasingly uncomfortable. "He's in New York now."

"It figures, doesn't it?" Megan asked with another smile. "I come to make sure he's surviving, and he's off on another quest."

"Does he do that often?" Iolanthe asked.

"Only when he's compelled," Megan said with a wry smile. "Generally, he climbs mountains. He works now and then when he has to. Quests only happen when his chivalry gets the better of him."

"I see," Iolanthe said, not sure that she did or that she really wanted to. Was she a quest, then? Would he tire of her and return to his mountains and his labors?

To how many women did he say the words "I love you"?

She considered that for far too long. When she forced herself to concentrate on what was going on around her, she found that Megan was making her exit to bed. Iolanthe was on her feet immediately, grateful for the excuse to bolt.

"Daughter, you have a chamber here," Ambrose said.

"Things to do up at the keep," Iolanthe said. She smiled at Megan, then fled through the door before anyone could stop her. She couldn't stay any longer. If she had to see Thomas's smile on his sister's face one more time, she would scream.

She ensconced herself in her tower chamber, stared out the window into the darkness, and wondered what Thomas was doing. Did he think of her? Did he miss her company? She closed her eyes and let the tears trickle out unimpeded.

She realized she had fallen asleep only because the soft knocking on her door finally woke her. The sun was streaming into her chamber, and its brightness made her blink several times in discomfort. The knocking continued. She sat up straighter in her chair and dragged a hand through her hair.

"Aye?" she asked hoarsely.

The door opened. Thomas's sister poked her head in just a bit. She smiled.

"Hi. I met some of your kinsmen downstairs, and they said this was your room. Can I come in?"

Iolanthe wished suddenly that she was as enamored of fine clothing as was Roderick. She felt positively rumpled in the same gown she always wore, with her hair in disarray, and her eyes still heavy with sleep. But there was naught to be done about it now. She sat up straighter still and tried to look as if such disorder was her custom.

"Aye," she said in her most regal tone. "Please come in."

Megan did, shutting the door behind her. She looked around her and smiled in pleasure. "Why, this is beautiful. What a peaceful place. You must love it here."

"I do," Iolanthe said, feeling unaccountably shy. " 'Tis the most glorious chamber I've ever seen."

"Thomas has excellent taste," Megan said, wandering about the chamber and touching things here and there. She opened the armoire door and peered at the CDs. She looked over her shoulder at Iolanthe. "Would you like me to put something in? Country? Opera? I can see Thomas's musical choices running rampant in here."

Iolanthe hardly knew what to say. There was a part of her that wanted to question Megan mercilessly, to see Thomas through another woman's eyes, to understand the parts of him he showed to his family. The other part of her was terrified to reveal that she had feelings for him. What would Megan think? Would she think her brother had lost his mind?

"Iolanthe?"

Iolanthe blinked. To hear her name coming so easily from someone who was nearly a stranger was powerfully unsettling.

But it was perhaps the thing that made her realize that