The Legend Mackinnon (49 page)

The three MacKinnon brothers pulled the three Claren cousins into their arms, their kisses a binding promise to her testament of their future.

Duncan was the first to break free. He swung Maggie into his arms. His brothers followed suit. Delaney, Maggie, and Cailean laughed and held on tight.

“I believe that chapel will be booked full this afternoon,” Duncan said. He looked to Rory and winked. “Then the only question will be who shall be the first to propagate the clan?”

Maggie touched his cheek and pulled his face to hers. “I can answer that question.”

Duncan looked as if he’d been struck over the head with the flat of a mighty claymore. He all but staggered. “What is it yer sayin’, my Maggie?”

“I’m sayin’ that is pretty sure I am that yer goin’ t’ be a da, Duncan MacKinnon.”

He placed his hand over her stomach, a look of rapture and wonderment creasing his face. He lifted his head and turned to the rest of them. “We are all blessed.”

Then his face split into a wide grin as he thrust his fist into the air. With a mighty shout that rang in the hall for long after it was done, he cried, “Long live the legend!”

L
achlan looked down and watched the unfolding scene below him. He could scarce believe it. He hadn’t understood himself what it was he sought when his time to ascend had come, other than to right the wrong that had surely happened between him and his beloved Louisa.

He could only leave behind all he had found in hopes it would find its own way. He could not have dreamed in his wildest imaginings that it would unfold as it had.

Love was an elusive sprite that did not always guide its subject down the right path. But succeed they had. And in glorious fashion. Without their boundless love for one another, the curse could never have been reversed. The three couples were well and truly matched.

He could well imagine the joy Cailean would take in sharing her travels and discoveries with John Roderick. He would help her to discover a world she’d never have found on her own, and the knowledge they would share with their eventual offspring warmed his heart.

Alexander and Delaney would also take no small amount of joy in bringing a shiny new slice of peace to a world they
both knew could be fraught with ugliness and hatred. He had to wonder if they would not work for that greater cause a while longer before starting their own family. The troubled spots of the world would be well warned that there was a formidable team about to enter their lives, and make the wreaking of global havoc much more difficult to achieve.

Och, and the final couple, Duncan and Maggie. His heart warmed to overflowing when he looked down upon them. Aye, there would be MacKinnon-Claren offspring to fill this world and these two would play no small role in that endeavor. Stonelachen’s great halls and winding passageways would be filled with the ringing laughter of children yet again. Perhaps their destiny lay in finding a place for Stonelachen in this modern world. He could not wait to witness it.

Now the Legend MacKinnon would begin a new arc in its existence. A glorious path into a future filled with the happiness and fulfillment of future generations of each clan and their joined progeny. Aye, his eternal contentment was assured. He could finally rest in peace.

Motion caught his attention and he reluctantly pulled it away from the tearful and ecstatic unions as the three couples became man and wife in a wondrous joined ceremony, steeped in the traditions of both past and present.

He shifted his observations outward across the heavens and was stunned beyond thought and deed by what he saw. He’d been so overjoyed with the earthly successes, he’d not given thought to the otherworldly effect their achievement might have.

He observed in awed silence as Claren souls, dozens, nay hundreds of them, crossed what once were unbreachable divides to be joined with their MacKinnon mates. The heavens rang out with the wonderment of true love rediscovered. And from the midst of the convergence, a woman’s earthly image emerged.

It could not be. He could not withstand the illusion were he to discover it were only that. “Louisa?”

She smiled upon him and filled him with a warmth he’d thought never to feel again.

“Lachlan. My dear, devoted Lachlan. At long last.”

Och, dear glorious God in heaven but it was her. He cried tears he could not feel, but knew them each and every one as they fell.

She came to him and it was a blending of souls, a supreme fulfillment. He had reached the highest pinnacle. True peace and eternal happiness.

They looked down upon those who had made possible this ultimate glorious gift.

“Long live the legend, indeed.”

Romance novels have always celebrated the power, fortitude, and resilience of women. I am very fortunate because I’m surrounded by a number of real-life heroines. Without them, this book could not have been completed
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This book is dedicated to Susann Brailey, Jean Hobday, Cassie Goddard, Linda Hayes, Jill Shalvis, Wendy Chen, Jean Brashear, Carmen Ardura, and Leanne Banks
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And because no heroine worth her salt goes through life without a wonderful hero by her side, this book is also dedicated to my personal hero, my husband Mark. The quest continues
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Nationally bestselling author, Donna Kauffman loves to travel. Usually this involves a passport and plane tickets, but she has always believed that some of the best adventures can be found between the covers of a book. Born and raised in Maryland, Donna currently lives in Virginia with her husband, two sons and two Australian Terriers.