He looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “Why?”
“I’m not feeling well. Will you be sure that Suzannah gets home? I don’t want her to have to leave early, and she lives so close.”
“Of course. I’m not about to abandon Suzannah just because you are.” He gave me a cheeky grin.
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and instead bid him farewell before weaving through the crowd to reach my mother and father.
“We’re ready to go,” my mother said. “Be certain to leave a little early so that you can be home at a reasonable hour.”
“We will. We always do. I’ll walk you to the cart.” I took hold of my father’s arm, walked with them to the wagon, then waved them on their way and turned back as if I was going to the dance.
It was perfect. Fynn thought I was with my parents, my parents thought I was with Fynn, and I was free to spy to my heart’s content.
I stayed in the shadows of the lane, where I wouldn’t be seen, but with a perfectly good view of the festivities.
Suzannah danced with a few young men, but whenever she was not dancing, she spent a great deal of time looking over at Fynn as he stood with his friends or danced with another girl. The next time she got up for a dance I lost sight of her, but hoped she’d come back to the same spot when it was finished.
“What are you looking for?”
I nearly jumped out of my skin and spun to see Rylan behind me.
He held up his hands in apology but was still chuckling as he said, “Sorry, sorry.”
I smacked his chest. “Don’t do that,” I hissed.
“Ouch.” He rubbed his chest where I had hit him.
I glared at him. “Don’t be a baby. I have two older brothers. That was barely a tap compared to what I could have done. What are you doing here, anyway?” I asked, realizing how ridiculous it was for him to be here right now. “You’re the son of a lord. Shouldn’t you be doing noble, lordly things?”
He was trying not to smile. “Lordly?”
“You know what I mean.”
“There may have been a ball I was supposed to attend tonight. That’s where my parents think I am. But since you spoke with such enthusiasm about the virtues of these dances, I wanted to see for myself.”
I looked at him closely, for the first time paying attention to what he was wearing under his cape. He was dressed to perfection and looked well indeed, much more formal than when he had helped me in the orchard a week and a half ago.
He would certainly stand out here if anyone saw him. “You planned to show up at a dance in the town square dressed like that?”
“I didn’t have a change of clothes in my saddlebags.”
I made a sound of disgust.
“I wasn’t planning on jumping into the middle of the dancing. Frankly, I was planning on doing some spying.” He quirked an eyebrow at me. “Much like you’re doing now.”
I opened my mouth to deny it, but there was no point, considering he had caught me crouching in the shadows. “Fine. You caught me. I’m spying on Fynn.” I looked him up and down. “What is your excuse? Having a nobleman skulking in the shadows is a bit unnerving.”
“Says the woman I found spying on her own brother.”
I rolled my eyes. “Sisters always spy on their brothers.”
“I truly hope that isn’t the case,” he said with a weighty seriousness.
“Why? Afraid of what Tayana may discover about you?”
He looked behind him. “I’m going to be looking over my shoulder for the next month.”
I snickered at the thought.
“Besides, I wasn’t planning on spying on anyone in particular. I merely wanted to see what it was like.” He looked past me, toward the square. “Honestly, it looks like a lot of fun. But then I saw you saying goodbye to your parents—” His attention returned to me. “Those were your parents, right?”
I nodded.
“Right, so I saw you saying goodbye and thought I’d come over and say hello.”
It gave me an odd sense of satisfaction that he thought a village dance would be fun. I turned my back on him to hide my smile, searching the crowd until I saw Fynn again.
“I thought you enjoyed actually participating in these things,” he said from behind my shoulder.
“I do.”
“Then why do you have to lurk in the shadows and spy?”
“I’m trying to confirm my suspicions.”
“Have you finally located the true chicken thief?”
I waved him off. “Nothing like that. I think Suzannah and Fynn might have feelings for each other.”
“And this requires you to hide like a bandit because . . . ?”
“Because I think they are more likely to act on their feelings if I am not around.”
“Ah. Pesky younger sisters do tend to kill the romance.”
I looked at him askance. “What do you know of it? You don’t have any younger sisters.”
“It’s a well-known fact.”
I turned back to my spying. “Now you’re being ridiculous.”
“First my hat, now me. Will you never take me seriously?”
“You don’t really strike me as the serious type.”
“Oh, you might be surprised. I can be very serious when the situation calls for it.”
I straightened and turned to look at him, alerted to a shift in his mood by the way he said “very serious.”
He said nothing, returning my gaze until a slow smile crawled across his mouth. “What? You don’t believe me?”
I didn’t know what to think. “I’ll have to take your word for it,” I said, though I was certain my face clearly displayed my confusion. I looked at him another moment, trying to decipher his meaning and failing.
“I’m surprised you were willing to give up dancing with your brawny fellow to aid your brother.”
My neck heated at the reminder. “I already danced with Zander.”
“And was it everything you dreamed?”
“It was . . .” What was it? “A start.”
Turning back to the sights and sounds of the dance, I hugged the corner of the building and tried to figure out where Suzannah had gone. “I can’t see her,” I lamented. “Or Fynn, for that matter. Come on. We have to move.” I turned and hurried past him and up the lane until I reached a gap in the houses where I could cut through to the next lane over.
“Kinley,” he whisper-called from behind me as I squeezed through bushes. “This is trespassing.”
I laughed. “We don’t believe in trespassing here. There doesn’t seem much point when we’re all living on top of one another.”
“I’ve been to your home. You live on a farm several miles from here.”
“But I used to live here,” I said, stepping into the lane and turning to see him trip over something and stumble out of the yard. “And I still know a lot of the families that live in these houses. It’s fine.”
“You’re dragging me into a life of crime.”
“I’m not dragging you anywhere. If you choose to follow me into a life of crime, that’s your own fault.”
“So you admit you’re a criminal!”
“Shh!” I waved a hand at him as we neared the end of the lane, where it joined the town square. I scooted closer to the building where the shadows were darkest. “Oof!” Rylan had bumped into me.
“Sorry, Lady Thief,” he whispered as he stepped back and adjusted his cape, which had gone askew. At least he wasn’t wearing the feathered hat.
“Isn’t that your friend?” He pointed and my gaze followed his finger.
Fynn and Suzannah were sitting on a bench together.
“That wouldn’t happen to be your brother, would it?” he asked.
“Yes, it is,” I said, clasping my hands together.
They were turned toward each other, and Fynn was talking while Suzannah listened. Why had I not noticed Suzannah’s feeling before? I could see it in the way she clasped her hands and leaned toward him.
She laughed, and he laughed along with her. But what about Fynn? Had he asked her to dance yet? He really should ask her to dance.
“Ask her to dance, Fynn,” I muttered to myself. “Just ask her.”
“Why is it so important that he ask her to dance?” he mock-whispered right by my ear.
“Because she wants him to.” I thrust both hands in her direction. “She’s waiting for him to ask.”
“How can you know that?”
I looked back at him. “Because I recognize that face. I’ve had that face many times.”
“Who have you wished would ask you? Besides Brawn, of course.”
I waved the question off. “Too many to count.”
“Fickle, fickle, fickle.”
“How many girls have you admired since you started noticing them?”
He crossed his arms and puffed out his chest. “You’d have to torture me for that information.”
I shook my head, constantly amused by his ability to make me smile, then turned back to watch Fynn and Suzannah. A song was ending on three drawn-out notes, and then everyone clapped as the next song was struck. “Come on, Fynn,” I muttered under my breath. “Don’t be a dolt. Ask her to dance.”
He turned toward her, and I could have sworn he was about to do exactly that when two of his friends ran over, practically knocking him off the bench as they spoke to him and pointed at something on the other side of the square. In no time at all, he had said goodbye to Suzannah and was off with his friends.
I moaned in defeat and slumped against the wall. “I never have liked his friends. All that effort wasted.”
“Whose effort?”
“My effort.”
He choked on a laugh. “You were standing here watching.”
I glared at him. “Shouldn’t you be consoling me?”
He placed a dramatic hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry your mental powers couldn’t bend your brother to your will.”
“I’d be nice to me if I were you. For all you know, I’m a sorceress.”
“Yes, because I’ve always been warned to watch out for sorceresses who were disguised as sweet, book-loving girls.”
I tried to fix him with a withering stare, but he kept looking as if he were about to laugh. I gave up on trying to wither him. “Perhaps I should go home. Clearly my magical powers are being wasted here.”
“Giving up so easily?” He tsked at me. “I would wager that if you are patient, you’ll at least see your brother returning to Miss Suzannah’s company.”
“Very well.” I sank to the ground, sitting cross-legged. “Then I shall be patient and wait. What would you like to wager?”
He hung his head. “You’re going to corrupt me with gambling, too?” He sat beside me. “What will my mother say?”
“I would imagine that since she believes you’re at a fancy ball right now, she won’t be saying anything.”
“Touché.”
I watched the dancers, glad to see that Suzannah seemed to be enjoying herself despite Fynn’s absence.
“Isn’t your brother going to notice you aren’t there at some point?”
“I told him I was going home with my parents.” I clutched my hands together in my lap and leaned forward, trying to see where Fynn had gone. “That way nothing will stand between them.”
“Except his friends and everyone else at the dance.”
“Don’t be so pessimistic. Didn’t you just say you believed he was going to come find her soon?” I nibbled on the tip of my finger, trying to see if Fynn was heading back toward Suzannah.
“I do have one question.”
I snorted. “You’ve been asking questions all evening.”
“How do you expect to get home if Fynn doesn’t know you’re here?”
I turned to look at him. “I—” Oh dear. I had no idea.
“I’m going to have to escort you home, aren’t I?”
“I’m sure I’d be perfectly fine walking home on my own.”
“As if I would let you do that.” He looked slightly offended.
“Fine, I will let you escort me home,” I said as if I would be doing him some great service. “But you’d better be a gentleman.”
“Am I ever not?”
Rylan and I spent the next hour sitting in the shadows, with the lights of torches and the sound of laughter and gaiety floating over us. We watched as Fynn did rejoin Suzannah and they sat together, talking, before Fynn asked her to dance. I had to clamp my hand over my mouth so that I wouldn’t squeal.
“This doesn’t mean they’ll get married.”
“I know, I know. But I don’t think that Fynn would flirt with her if he didn’t mean it. They’ve been acquainted for a long time, so it’s not as if he could flirt a little and then go on his merry way. At least I hope he would not toy with her that way. Despite his occasional thickheadedness, I know he would never hurt her intentionally.”
“Have you considered the possibility that you might be completely wrong?”
“Of course I have.” I turned to him and smiled sweetly. “But I hope I’m not.”
We trespassed (as Rylan insisted on calling it) through several yards as we moved from one lane to another so that we could keep Fynn and Suzannah in view.
He tore a hole in the side of his trousers when we slipped past a particularly fierce thorny bush. I felt bad, but he barely gave it a thought.
When the last song was struck up with three dramatic chords, Rylan looked over at me with a quirk of his eyebrow.
“It means it’s the last song,” I answered his unspoken question and got up onto my knees so that I could be sure . . . yes. Fynn and Suzannah were already joining the dance. I sank back down and let out a sigh. “My work here is done.”
“And very strenuous work it was indeed.”
I kept smiling, too happy to be annoyed at his teasing.
“We should probably get my horse and head back. I assume you’ll want to leave before Fynn heads home.”
“Yes, you’re right.” I jumped to my feet. “Where is your horse?”
“I left him with Jeffrey.” He headed up the road, but when we came to a fork, he turned toward me. “I’ve lost track of where we are.”
“The smithy is this way.”
We hurried to the blacksmith’s stone building, sneaking, but not really sneaking through the lanes. I stayed back as Rylan retrieved his horse and tossed a coin to Jeffrey, who touched his hat in thanks.
We walked until we reached the edge of the houses, then he mounted and leaned down to pull me up behind him.
“I’ve only been on a horse a few times,” I warned him.
“No need to worry.” He looked me over. “Have you got enough room in that skirt to ride astride?”
“I guess we’ll see.” We grabbed each other’s wrists, and I stepped on the toe of his boot to push myself up. I had worn one of my fuller skirts to the dance—it made the twirling more fun—and I was able to straddle the horse without difficulty. I had a feeling that a bit of my stockings were showing, but it was dark, so I ignored my embarrassment and hoped he couldn’t see. “I’m ready.”
“You need to hold on,” he said.
“I’m holding on to the saddle.”
“That’s better than nothing, but you should hold on to me.”
I slipped my arms around him, grabbing my wrist with my other hand. “Ready.”
He clucked at his horse, and we were off at a steady walk. I tipped my head back and admired the stars.
“Will you be at market this week?” he asked after several minutes of comfortable silence.
“I always am.”
“My candle did not make it home in one piece, so I’ll need to purchase another one.”
“Suzannah will appreciate the business.” With the mention of the candle, my mind skipped to the piece of that candle that he had carved into a wax flower, which now resided in the box under my mattress.
“Did you take my advice?” Rylan asked over his shou
lder.
“What advice?”
“About Brawn.”
I groaned. “Don’t call him that. And no, I didn’t find a way to act helpless. I wouldn’t know how.”
“Just find a time to ask him to lift something for you. Let him utilize his brawn to aid a pretty lass.”
I let my forehead thump against his back. “I’m never going to live that name down, am I?”
His shoulders shook with a chuckle. “Not if I can help it.”
Despite my wish to ignore his silly advice, I couldn’t help thinking about opportunities to ask Zander for help. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea after all.
I turned my attention back to the stars, humming without realizing it until Rylan started singing the words of the tune. I laughed and joined in, and we spent the rest of the ride singing in harmony, or sometimes out of harmony.
“Stop here,” I said before we had reached the turn that led to my house.
The horse halted, and I grabbed his arm to swing myself down.
“Oh no, you don’t.”
“What?”
“If you don’t have much experiences with horses, then I’d like to help you down.”
“Very well.”
I stayed put while he lifted his leg over Apollo’s head and slid to the ground. “Now lean on my shoulders until you can get your other leg over his rump.”
I did so and was glad I hadn’t tried to do this on my own. The ground was farther away than it had seemed, but he steadied me until my feet were firmly planted.
I curtsied. “Thank you for getting me safely home.”
“You’re welcome.” He bowed in return. “But I won’t consider you safely home until you’re inside the house. I’ll walk with you.” He gave a sweep of his hand.
“We’re practically on my property already.”
“You told me I needed to be a gentleman.”
“And you have been. Good night, Mr. Baylor.” I turned and cut through the few trees separating me from the house, only to realize that he was right behind me. I turned on him. “Are you trying to make a nuisance of yourself?” I whispered.
“The sooner you stop arguing with me, the sooner you can sneak inside. I’ll wait here and leave as soon as you are through the door.”
Keeping Kinley Page 7