Caught by the Scot (Volume 1) (Made to Marry) - Softcover

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New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Karen Hawkins writes novels that have been praised as touching, witty, charming, and heartwarming. A native Southerner who grew up in the mountains of East Tennessee where storytelling is a way of life, Karen recently moved to frosty New England with her beloved husband and multiple foster dogs. The Dove Pond series is a nod to the thousands of books that opened doors for her to more adventures, places, and discoveries than she ever imagined possible. To find out more about Karen, check in with her at Facebook.com/AuthorKarenHawkins, on Instagram @KarenHawkinsAuthor, and on her website KarenHawkins.com.

 

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Caught by the Scot

1

Conner Douglas slammed his glass onto the heavy oak table. “Bloody hell, nae! I will nae do it!”

Lachlan Hamilton, the Duke of Hamilton and Conner’s brother-in-law, stared out the castle window at the rocky cliff overhanging the cold, gray sea. “?’Tis nae a question,” he said shortly.

Conner knew what lay on that cliff. Under a giant oak was a grave, the dirt freshly turned from the burial they’d attended not an hour ago.

Och, Anna, why did you leave us? A wave of grief hit Conner like a hammer and he had to swallow twice before he could even breathe. His only sister, gone. “Hamilton, ’tis too soon. You cannae expect us to—”

“I do and I will,” Hamilton snapped with a look of blazing fury. “You and your brothers will find wives within the next three months or you’ll nae touch a penny of your inheritances.”

“You’ve nae that authority.” Jack’s voice was heavy with rage.

Conner eyed his oldest brother with unease. Jack was not called “the Black Douglas” for naught; his temper was as dark as his midnight hair.

“I am the executor of your sister’s will,” the duke said grimly. “Do as Anna wished and find wives, and I’ll grant you each your portion of the inheritance. Guid wives, too—nae tavern maids, nae actresses, and nae soiled doves, but women of quality like your sister.”

Conner ground his teeth in anger, not just at the terms of the will, but at life. One week ago he, Declan, and Jack had sailed here, to the Isle of Arran, in high spirits after receiving word that their sister Anna was delivering her baby. They’d expected to be met at the dock by their brother-in-law, jubilant with news of a bonnie lad or lassie. Instead the butler awaited, his pale face and trembling mouth delivering his wretched news for him.

Conner curled his hands into fists and pressed them into his thighs to stop the pain. Anna, who had raised all three of them when their parents had died eighteen years ago in a carriage accident, was gone.

God, Anna, what am I—we—to do without you? His eyes burned and he swiped at them with an impatient hand. He and his brothers had been blessed with a strong, capable sibling who had become more mother than sister. And even though he’d been on his own for years, without her, he was as lost as a ship without a rudder.

Declan scowled at Hamilton. “Three months to find a wife? ’Tis nae long enough.”

“Then make it four months, but nae a day more. And dinnae argue, for I’m being generous in giving you that.” The duke turned from the window and planted his feet, facing his three brothers-in-law. “So go. The lot of you. And dinnae come back until you’ve properly wed.”

“Nae,” Jack snapped. “You’re trying to force us to bend to your wishes, nae Anna’s.”

The look Hamilton gave Jack was as bleak as night. “You think I give a damn aboot any of you? If I had my way, I’d give you your blasted portions and send you off so you’d bother me nae more. But Anna wanted you settled and thought this would serve.” He glowered at them all. “Do as your sister asked, or the family fortune will be distributed to others.”

Conner picked up his glass of whisky. “I’ve never wished for the damned money, anyway. Keep it.”

Jack’s dark look disappeared at Conner’s words. “We’ve made our own way withoot it. Why would we wish for it now?”

Hamilton’s brows climbed, and he said in a suddenly silky tone, “Indeed? You’d have the Douglas fortune gifted to the Campbells, then?”

Conner choked on his whisky. “The Campbells? They’re our greatest enemies!”

“Are you daft?” Declan demanded.

Hamilton fixed a frosty gaze on them. “I’m doing as Anna asked, unpleasant as ’tis. She was tired of your spendthrift ways—”

“We pay our own way, and always have,” Conner protested.

“Aye, through pirating and thievery and smuggling,” the duke snapped, his jaw set. “Nae to mention the gambling and whoremongering and scandals. Nae wonder Anna despaired of you.”

A twinge of guilt hit Conner. Anna had always worried; but wasn’t that what sisters did?

“Come, Hamilton, dinnae be hasty,” Declan said in a soothing tone. “Anna’s death is—” His voice broke, but he swallowed hard, and added in a husky voice, “None of us are oop to facing life right now. Let’s nae make any decisions whilst we’re struggling to catch our breaths. Give us a few months to think aboot this, to find a way to answer her wishes.”

“She said three months, and oot of respect for your grief, I’ve added a month. But that is all I’ll give you and it’s bloody well all I’ll say aboot it.” Hamilton waved a hand. “Go. And dinnae return until you’ve done as Anna wished.”

Declan spread his hands. “Hamilton, be reasonable. We just need—”

“Reasonable?” Hamilton’s voice was quiet, yet it thundered through the study. “I just lost my wife, the only woman I ever loved, or will love, and I’m left with a babe to raise on my own. Right now, the whole world is cold, cruel, and bloody unreasonable.” His gaze flickered over all of them. “Now go. Dinnae marry and I’ll give your funds to the Campbells. I dinnae care who has it.”

“Hell will freeze before a Campbell touches Douglas gold!” Furious, Jack started forward, but Declan grabbed his brother’s arm and jerked him back.

Hamilton’s mouth had gone white. “Dinnae test me. Today of all days, I’d like nothing more than to stomp the life oot of someone. Fate owes me that satisfaction, if nae else.”

Jack made as if to rise to the bait, but Declan said sharply, “Whatever Anna wished for, it was nae an argument. She hated it when any of us disagreed.”

There was a moment of heavy silence, emotions too raw to ignore thickening the air. Somewhere in the distance a door slammed, followed by the faint cry of a baby.

The duke turned toward the cry, all color draining from his face. His shoulders sank and he took an involuntary step back, as if struck by a sword’s blow.

As the baby’s cry was hushed by the soothing voice of a nanny, the duke leaned heavily against the wall, his head down, his breathing harsh.

As if the wind has left his sails. Conner cleared his throat. “Perhaps we should go to the babe and—”

“Nae,” Hamilton said harshly. “He is with the wet nurse. She will care for him.”

Jack’s brows lowered. “Hamilton, dinnae hold the lad at fault for Anna’s death. He did naught but be born.”

“Of course I dinnae blame him,” Hamilton snapped, his voice raw. “If anyone is at fault for Anna’s death, ’tis me.”

The words hung in the room.

Conner shook his head. “?’Twas the cruelness of nature, Hamilton, but nae more.”

Hamilton slowly...