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away,” she said.
    “Circumstances have changed. The clan made provisions for you while Ewan was away. Your home was included in the watch. You cannot expect these measures to be put in place indefinitely.”
    She chose not to reply. He was right of course. The months Ewan planned to be gone, he made arrangements to ensure her safety. She could not ask Ronan to continue at the expense of the clan, and even if she felt inclined to impose upon Ronan’s generosity, without Duncan’s support, her wishes meant little. He was her guardian. Her grip on the knife tightened.
    “How is it possible that you, a man who detests me, has control over my future?” she snapped, the sound of her growing ire unfamiliar to her own ears.
    Duncan did not look at her as he answered. “Ewan trusted me.”
    “The blind love he bore you was perhaps his only error, but I now pay for his misjudgment.”
    Her old frustration resurfaced. How many times had she spoken to Ewan about Duncan’s ill treatment of her? Each time Ewan came to his defense. Duncan was the one thing she and her amiable husband never agreed upon. Ewan refused to see how much Duncan’s indifference hurt her, and now the insufferable man was trying to force her from her home.
    She could ask Ronan to interfere and name someone else as her guardian, but then she shook her head. He would not listen. Ronan was no different than any other MacKinnon who was under the false impression that Duncan was somehow a good and decent soul.
    “Your croft is the loveliest on Mull, Brenna, but ‘tis too isolated. If you will not put your own well-being first,” he continued, “then at least consider Nellore.”
    “Do not dare to inform my decisions as a mother,” she snapped.
    He stood in her home, filling it with his height and breadth. Despite his size and honorable reputation, she knew him for what he really was—a coward. He aimed to shirk his new-found responsibility. He must know that Ewan would never wish her to relinquish their home, which also happened to be one of the most prosperous plots of land on Mull. Aye, he was a coward. Even now he did not have the decency to look at her while he presumed to advise her on what was best for her and her daughter.
    “I am not naïve. I am aware of the danger of my current situation, but I am also aware of the value of this land. I will not give up this splendor to live the life of a sad widow at the mercy of clan charity. That is not the life I wish for Nellore.”
    Still he refused to look at her. “What do you intend to do? Work the land yourself”, he said.
    “Mayhap. But I shall not discuss these matters further. They are not of your concern.”
    He turned around then and closed the distance between them. “You are my concern,” he said. “Everything about your life, every choice, is now my concern. I highly recommend you resolve yourself to this truth. I am not going away.”
    With that he bounded out the door, heading up the hill toward Gribun. She watched as he crested the hilltop, but he did not disappear down the other side as she expected. Instead, he unfolded the top of his plaid, which he laid on the ground as a blanket. Then he stretched out on his makeshift pallet as though he were retiring for the night.
    “By the saints,” she said as she stormed out of her house.
    She stood above him, “What do you think you are doing?”
    “What I’ve done these three nights past,” he said not bothering to open his eyes.
    “You’ve been sleeping here?”
    “Aye. And until you move into the village, this is where I will sleep every night.”
    “But it rained last night,” she said.
    “Aye. I know.”
    She stared down at him. Her eyes traveled across his strong calves and over the folds of plaid. His waist was narrow but then flared into a broad chest and even wider shoulders. His sleek jaw was sprinkled with black stubble and long black lashes rested against tanned cheek bones. She was suddenly struck by how handsome he