Mari set down her basket of food from the market and opened the door. It was a lonely house now without Callum in it. The MacDonell lads were about every day, trying to distract her from her grief. She could not be distracted, but she no longer cried in front of them. She busied herself putting food away and tidying up. With that done, she picked up her needlework and sat down by the window.
A faint rap at the door pulled her back from her daydream of Callum. With a sigh, she rose. Those lads would not give her a moment of peace, but she loved them for it.
Mari opened the door. There stood a ragged wretch of a man. She was thinking of how to protect herself from him, when he spoke her name. Only then, from the sound of his voice, did she know him.
“Jamie?”
He collapsed in a heap at her
