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golden, beautiful, sensual, brave,eyes like the sea, the sky, ever direct upon his own, filled with laughter, excitement, gravity and love.
    Annalise.
    Annalise…who had begged him to set down his arms. To rectify his war with Cromwell. Who had warned him that…there could be but a very tragic ending to it all.

2
    G ina caught up with Toni at the bottom of the stairs.
    â€œWhat are you doing?” she asked in dismay.
    â€œWhat am I doing?” Toni echoed. Now that she was away from him, from the way that he looked at her, the trembling had stopped. The strange moment was gone. He was just a man. Tall, wired, muscled, imposing—and irate that they were in what he claimed to be his property.
    â€œGina!” she said, determined that they would not be groveling idiots, no matter what the situation turned out to be. “Do you hear yourself? You’re thanking him for throwing us out on Monday, after all this!”
    â€œShh!”
    Gina pulled her along, anxious that Laird MacNiall not hear any more of her comments. They moved from the great hall, through a vast dining area and then through another door to the kitchen, a large area where a huge hearth with antique accoutrements still occupied most of the north wall.
    There were concessions to the present, however, including the modern stove, freezer, refrigerator and microwave. The huge island counter in the center of the room, set beneath hanging pots and pans, was surelyoriginal, and at one time had certainly hosted huge sides of venison, boar and beef. Now cleaned and scrubbed, it was a dining table with a multitude of chairs around it.
    The fact that MacNiall hadn’t joined them had opened the floodgates of emotion. Thayer, Gina and Kevin all accosted Toni immediately.
    â€œHow the hell did this happen?” Kevin demanded.
    â€œWe all saw the agreements! And signed them,” Toni reminded them. She looked around. These were her friends, her very best friends. Gina and Ryan, whom she’d met three years ago while working at a Florida tourist attraction. And David Fulton! Tall, dark and handsome, with the deepest dimples and warmest smile in both hemispheres, David had been Toni’s friend in college. Brokenhearted by the loss of a lover, he’d quickly rallied when he and Toni had gone to a concert with Gina and Ryan, and he had met Kevin—who had immediately fit in.
    Toni had been the loner in their group, but in a strange way that had changed when they had come to Scotland together six months ago. They had visited a castle bought by some of its clan members, who had then opened the house to visitors for whatever money they could bring in, thus affording to restore the place. And their wild scheme had hatched. If others had done it, why couldn’t they? It was possible if they pooled their resources.
    And that was where Thayer had come into the Picture to complete their group of six. Thayer was her cousin, a Fraser. A distant cousin, Toni assumed, since their respective grandfathers had been cousins, which made Thayer…exactly what, she wasn’t sure. He was certainlyintelligent and attractive, but he was some thing even more important to their enterprise—an authentic Scot. Not only was he fluent in Gaelic, he understood the customs and the nuances of doing business in the small community. He acted as their interpreter—in more ways than one.
    Her friends and her kin stared at her, almost accusingly. She stared straight back.
    â€œThink about it! Maybe he doesn’t have a right to be here. We just don’t really know, do we?”
    â€œWell, not positively,” David murmured, but he spoke without conviction.
    That MacNiall might be in the wrong, and they were the ones with the right to the place, was a nice hope. Unfortunately, none of them really seemed to believe it. Toni didn’t even believe it herself.
    â€œThe constable said that MacNiall owned the place,” Thayer reminded