Gavin watched warily as the Highlander brought a shaky hand to his bandaged head. Seeing the man’s bloodshot eyes snap at him with a look of contempt mixed with disbelief, Gavin questioned his own decision to break the news to his injured guest so soon. He knew how taken John Stewart was with Joanna. Yesterday, behaving like some abbey school boy, Athol had never taken his eyes off of her--not from the moment they began working their way back up to the keep. Gavin was willing to ignore it then, but something he could not quite identify--something he had no wish to identify--had made Gavin anxious to put an immediate end to the Highlander’s attentions to his future wife. “You jest,” Athol growled, finally finding his voice. “This talk of marrying Joanna--this is just your miserable sense of humor. Tell me that is all ‘tis.” “Nay,” Gavin put in determinedly, holding his ground. “I’m planning to marry Joanna MacInnes. ‘Tis the right thing to do, all things considered.”
