Wild about the Witch by Cassidy Cayman

said pitifully. “I dinna want to be in this place anymore.”
    Piper didn’t have the first clue what to do after she was rebuffed. Anything else she tried would make Catie feel worse, but standing there doing nothing tore into her heart. She could tell Lachlan had a tight, but tenuous control on his temper, his mouth firmly shut, a muscle in his jaw twitching. A heavy silence settled over them all.
    “She’s welcome to stay with us,” Evie offered in a voice so small it barely made its way from the table where she sat frozen through the outbursts.
    “Nonsense,” Lachlan snapped. “We willna put ye out. Catie can go to her room until she can ask Piper’s forgiveness and be reasonable.”
    Piper gasped. She loved him completely, but couldn’t he see how much worse he was making things? Would he be this tyrannical with their own children, if they ever had any?
    Catie’s mouth slowly dropped open and Evie rushed to assure him it wouldn’t be any trouble. Piper put her hand on his arm, urging him to let her stay, at least for a night, so they could take a breath. This seemed to outrage Catie more, that she should get what she wanted, and even worse, to be assisted by Piper in any way.
    “No. I dinna need your permission,” she said. “Ye canna lie to me and then expect me to follow your orders.” She turned to Evie and smiled shakily. “I thank ye for the offer. I shall just take a moment to gather my things.” With a glare at Lachlan and a grimace of distaste in Piper’s direction, she slammed from the kitchen.
    “Sorry,” Evie whispered.
    Piper sat down on the bench and put her head on her arms, feeling as if she’d been caught in the middle of a tempest. Catie hated her and thought she was a witch. She didn’t know what to do with that. Lachlan squeezed her shoulder and sat beside her, placing a comforting kiss on her forehead.
    “She’ll come around, love. She’s got a bit of a temper is all, and doesna mean what she said about ye.” He sighed. “She meant what she said about me, though. I didna handle it right at all, leaving the way I did.”
    Piper wanted to remind him that he hadn’t had much choice at the time, with the Glens wanting him dead and Bella needing to marry Pietro as soon as possible, but she still reeled with her own sense of responsibility in it. She’d only wanted him back with her, and hoped she hadn’t had a hand in destroying his relationship with his family.
    He reached over and patted Evie’s hand. “I hope ye know what ye’ve got yourself into,” he said.
    “Oh, I’m sure she’ll be fine with me,” Evie said. “I haven’t betrayed her in any way.”
    Piper reached over and half heartedly swatted her for that crack. Much too soon. Lachlan groaned and massaged his temples.
    “Hey,” Evie said. “Did anyone bother to ask her how  she got here?”

Chapter 8

    “I’m sorry you’re going through this, Catie,” Evie said as they pulled up to her and Sam’s little stone cottage. “I admit I only ever saw it from the one side and was always so happy that Lachlan chose to stay. I never thought about who got left behind.”
    Catie looked up from her phone and sniffed. “Nor did Lachlan, apparently.”
    “Hmph, well, love makes people silly sometimes.”
    “Silly is it? Leaving his clan and land and family?”
    Evie sighed and unlocked the front door, letting Catie go ahead of her, dragging her bag along the wood floor. She paused to admire the gallery of Magnus that lined the entryway.
    “Are you and your brother very close?” she asked.
    Catie shrugged, looking bereft. “No, not really. But he took care of things. If anything went wrong, Lachlan fixed it straight away. Everyone was glad to follow Lachlan. Now Quinn’s in charge and no one is properly scared of him, they’re just scared he’ll gamble away the profits from the crops.”
    Evie showed Catie into Magnus’ room. She’d have to find the folding cot and set it up and move the crib into her