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uncle wished? Or marrying outside the clan? Sending Angus away? She really should tell Angus, she decided, even if he considered it unseemly to speak of marriage with a man she’d only just met. He would want to know Colin was considering exiling him.
    Before she could open her mouth, as if the mention of him conjured him out of the forest, her uncle passed the half-finished hall beyond Angus’s shoulder. Angus had his back to him and didn’t see the frown her uncle directed at her. But she couldn’t miss it. Shona froze. He’d take her sitting with the auld laird’s brother as defiance, and she’d never hear the end of it. He jerked his head, summoning her.
    “I have to go,” she murmured and left Angus to wonder at her hasty retreat.
    Uncle Seamus took her arm and dragged her behind a wall. “What are ye doing with that whelp? I told ye to spend yer time with the new laird.” He nodded toward Colin. “Yer future is with him, no’ with the auld laird’s brother. Dinna let me catch ye with Angus again.”
    Shona clenched her teeth. “And if I dinna care for the new laird?”
    “Ye will marry the man I choose for ye. Unless ye would prefer to return to what’s left of yer village?” Without another word, he stalked off, not even waiting to see if she complied. His message was clear. Obey him or be left homeless. He didn’t know the real story. It was enough he knew she had no other family. No matter how she objected, he would make her marry Colin.
    Shona glanced back at Angus, hoping for…what? His notice? A rescue? But he was talking to one of the other men, the stonemason. Angus had his strong back to her, his broad shoulders out of her reach. He’d turned his attention to his responsibilities and probably had put her out of his mind already.
    If only he could help her.
    Perhaps she shouldn’t avoid him. The thought lifted her flagging spirits, making her smile. If Colin found out she was interested in Angus, surely he’d forget about her and continue looking for a bride from another clan, as he’d intended before her uncle interfered. Briefly, she imagined defying her uncle and going back to Angus to resume their conversation. But the thought of how Seamus would react to such open disobedience held her in place a moment too long. Angus walked away with the other man.
    As soon as Uncle Seamus strode out of sight, she marched in the opposite direction, spine straight with stubborn, hopeful refusal. Angus had made the first overture. It was up to her to make the second. When the time was right, she’d tell him about Colin’s plans.

Chapter Three
    Angus twisted around and stared at Shona’s retreating back. Lasses! She’d bolted, and he had no idea why. Then he saw Seamus. Given her abrupt departure, he must have summoned her. Angus shrugged. At least she hadn’t fled over something he’d said or done, this time.
    He thought back over their conversation. He hadn’t found out anything, really. She’d told him no secrets, not as far as he could tell. Nothing extraordinary. So, what made her so enticing he risked rumors in the clan and censure by the elders? He knew they’d never agree to him taking up with her, certainly not if Colin claimed her. Nor did he want to be the lesser of two evils for her. And yet…
    And yet, he couldn’t stop watching the way her hips swayed as she hurried to her uncle, or how her coppery braid fell down the middle of her back and her hands clenched into fists.
    What? Aye, her hands were clenched.
    He turned away, shaking his head. He wanted to, but he dared not chase after her. That would set tongues wagging faster than anything else he could do. Instead, he stood and spent a few minutes with the lowlander mason, Thomas, talking over the tasks remaining today, then signaled for work to begin again.
    An hour later, they’d made little progress. New lads joined the ground crew to relieve men who’d worked since sunup—including some of the other lowlanders like