“Strong?” She stood a bit straighter in his arms. Did he really think that?
He gave her another smile. “Ye berated me while covered in mud. Ye took a swing at a man with a chamber pot. Ye’re strong fer sure.” Then he leaned down and kissed her forehead. “But that doesn’t mean a man can’t be tender with ye while ye heal.” Then he pressed another kiss to her temple, her cheek, right by her ear. “And don’t try to rush that healing. Yer not married yet because ye weren’t ready, not because yer lacking.”
She pressed her cheek to his. “Do you really believe that? Sometimes I wonder if I’m broken.”
“I think that about myself sometimes too,” he whispered back.
Him? The pillar of strength holding her up? But then she remembered what he’d shared about his father. “You feel like you’re not enough?”
He nodded. “We understand each other, don’t we?”
She drew in a deep breath. “I believe that we do.” What did that mean exactly? She’d never been in this position before. She’d flirted, she’d danced, and she giggled. Much like during her first meeting with Lord Price. But this? This was a bond forming between them and it was both exciting and terribly frightening.
* * *
Blake stood in the entry the following day, waiting for the party to descend. In the end, Rose had agreed to allow Daisy out for a brief outing, but both she and Colin were chaperoning. What was more, Lord Price was also going to attend. The man was a plague.
Price sauntered down the steps first, looking like a dandy with a scarlet-colored riding coat. Blake shifted, gripping his hands in front of him to keep from rolling his eyes.
His own clothes had been returned completely laundered and freshly pressed. He ran a light hand down the lapel of his jacket, glad to be in his own coat again.
Colin, Rose, and Daisy appeared at the top of the stairs, each holding one of Daisy’s arms as she gingerly made her way down the steps.
He managed to stay where he was but the need to protect her rose again and he wanted to sprint up the steps and sweep her into his arms.
She smiled down at him, a soft, shy look that appeared nothing like the woman he’d first met yesterday. This Daisy was wide open with genuine affection, leaving him breathless.
When she reached the bottom of the stairs, he started to step forward, wanting to offer his arm, but suddenly Price was in front of him.
“Lady Daisy,” he crowed. “You’re even more beautiful than you were three years ago. How fortunate I am to have found you again.”
Daisy’s smile slipped and Blake fought the jealous anger that rose in his chest. Ailish had been a passionate lover with him, but on several occasions he’d discovered her flirting with other men, and one particular time, doing far more than flirting. That’s when the passion had died, and he’d begun to wonder if his father had been right all along. Blake was too rash.
Daisy nodded. “And you as well, Lord Price. It’s lovely to see you. How have the last three years treated you?”
He gave a stiff bow. “So much better now that we’ve been reunited. You must tell me everything about your life since we parted.”
Daisy’s eyes flashed, and her chin drew back. “There isn’t much to tell.”
Satisfaction relaxed his shoulders. She’d shared her past with him, but she didn’t seem to want to share with Price. He stood straighter as he held out his arm. “Lady Daisy, Laird MacFarland has chosen an easy route for us today. May I escort ye so as tae protect yer arm?”
Price made an audible harrumph as Daisy stepped around him. “Please, Laird Abbot. I appreciate your kindness.”
The moment her hand slipped into his arm, the tension in his shoulders eased. Despite the hurt Ailish had inflicted, Daisy was a different woman. There was something deeper between them that wasn’t fickle or fleeting. He felt it.
Starting for the doors, Price moved to her other side. “I must confess that I am still in search of a bride.”
Daisy’s fingers tightened on Blake’s arm. “Is that so?”
“I remember the first night we met.” Price leaned closer. “You were the picture of feminine beauty.”
Daisy dropped her chin. “Most kind.”
Blake pulled his elbow closer to his side so that Daisy’s hip brushed his. Touching her helped calm his desire to punch the man directly in the nose.
“I’m not being kind. I’ve thought of you often.”
“Ye just didn’t bother to find her. Or help her,” he said before he could stop himself. Daisy’s step faltered.
Price paled. “That’s hardly fair. How was I to know that she needed help?”
His eyes narrowed. Had the man forgotten he’d admitted yesterday that he’d known of her predicament? If he’d liked Daisy, why hadn’t he tried to find her? “Of course,” Blake said. “My apologies.” He didn’t mean a word of that. “Ye would have swept in and rescued her if ye’d ken her plight.”
Price nodded. “Of course I would have.” He looked to Daisy. “But I am so glad to see that it’s all worked out for you. Your family is so well off and surely they’ve provided a bright future for you.”
Understanding zinged through Blake. The man was a fortune-hunter. “It’s not every day that a lord opens his lands to merchants,” he said. “I’m curious, Lord Price. Why ye’ve decided to join this business venture?”
Price glared over at him. “I am a man of business. I made that clear yesterday.”
Colin walked Rose from just behind them. “I hear you’ve purchased a seaside home,” Rose called. “Congratulations. You’re clearly doing well because, as I remember it, you only had the country estate in Berkshire. Which estate is it?”
Price ran his fingers up his face and through his hair, his hand shaking a bit. He exuded nervous energy as he shifted from one foot to the other. “You know, I am not feeling well. I think it’s the colder Scottish air. I’d like to return inside.”
“Of course,” Colin said. “Please join us for dinner, if ye’re able. Our last guests arrive this afternoon.
Price nodded and then turned back toward the house.
Rose watched him go. “That was odd. Didn’t you say he was offering land in Pembrookshire for the shipping?”
“He is.” Colin squinted as the other man left.
Blake shrugged, glad to see Price abandon the walk. “If he made a good business deal, ye’d think he’d want to brag. The man loves to discuss himself.”
Colin wiggled his brows. “That he does.” Then he stopped, looking back at Price. “Perhaps he really doesn’t feel well.”
No matter to Blake. Daisy’s hip brushed his again and he tightened with awareness.
Rose and Colin came to walk next to them. “Is he as you remember?” Rose asked, looking at Daisy.
Daisy shrugged. “I couldn’t say.”
Rose tapped her chin. “He’s as I remember. Full of himself. A strutting peacock. I’m surprised you ever fancied him.”
Something foul curled his nose. “You fancied him?”
Daisy shrugged, giving him a sidelong glance. Her fingers dug into his arm. “It was before our lives changed and we moved to Scotland. I was young.”
Her explanation made sense to Blake and he relaxed a bit. That kiss had somehow changed his feelings about her. Rather than think of her as the fire that would consume him, he’d started to believe she was the sort of steady blaze that might warm him for a long time. In short, he’d begun to think of her as his.
“Young?” Rose drew out the end of the word. “Just yesterday you called him your one true love.”
“Rose,” Colin softly, but firmly, said to his wife. “Not now.”
Blake stopped, turning toward Daisy, Rose, and Colin. Jealousy and hurt made his skin tighten on his face. He knew that he shouldn’t be upset. He had no real claim on Daisy but that didn’t stop the words from aching in his chest. Perhaps because he’d begun to believe she was different from Ailish. That Daisy was the sort of woman who
could be trusted. “It’s all right. Now is the perfect time.” He looked at Daisy, whose eyes had grown wide. “You’re in love with Lord Price?”
She shook her head. “No. I’m not.”
Her forthright answer, quiet yet sure, momentarily stopped his feelings of hurt. “So you didn’t declare him your one true love yesterday?”
Her tongue darted out to lick her lips. “I…” She looked to the ground, then back up again and he didn’t need her to say the words to know what they would be. “I did.”
His face spasmed in pain and he took a step back as her hand slipped from his elbow.
Rose moved forward. “I was only teasing. Of course she didn’t love a man she’d only met once at one of her first real social engagements. She was just eager to be settled and—”
But somehow those words made everything worse. Was he just another attempt to find her future? She’d admitted no less to him. “Have you done this before where you quickly fall in and then out of love?” His chest ached. The truth…he could admit, at least to himself, was that he was falling in love with her. If she didn’t feel the same way, it really would be Ailish all over again.
Daisy paled. “That was different.”
“What was it different?” His mouth thinned as his teeth clenched.
Colin gave him a narrow-eyed glare. “Did I miss something? Last time we were all together, you were inquiring about her health.”
“You didn’t miss anything,” Blake answered, then he spun on heel and marched toward the house. He’d made a terrible mistake last night when he’d kissed this woman, allowing her into his heart.
Chapter Seven
Daisy stared at Laird Abbot as he stormed away and tried to suppress her tears. “Rose,” she croaked. “What were you thinking?”
“I…” Rose started. A shade of pink stained Rose’s cheeks. “I didn’t mean any harm.”
Colin scrubbed his face. “Rose, darling, you can’t bring up a woman’s affection for another man in front of one who is clearly smitten.”
That made Daisy pause and some of the dread settling in her stomach lightened. “He’s smitten?”
Colin shrugged. “Isn’t it obvious? He’s concerned with helping her, escorting her on walks, jealous of the likes of Lord Price.”
Rose raised her brows, stepping toward her sister and reaching for her hand. “And how do you feel about him?”
Daisy twisted her own hands together, pulling on her shoulder, but she wasn’t certain she cared about the twinge of pain. “I don’t feel about him the way I’ve felt about any of the others. He makes me feel…” She shifted. “I suppose he not only makes me have that light feeling deep in my stomach but also safe and willing to share and…”
“Oh!” Rose cried. “You’re in love. Really in love this time.”
Love? She let out a small cry. “No. It can’t be.”
Rose smiled at that. “Now I know you are because usually you’re loudly declaring your affection.”
Daisy shook her head, heaviness settling in her limbs. “But this almost hurts.”
Colin scratched his neck. “That’s love.”
She pressed her fingers to her cheeks, the heat radiating from them almost alarming. “But I’ve only known him for a day.”
“And he swept you into his arms and kept you warm and took off your—” Rose stopped as Colin glared again.
Daisy gazed over the large lawn that surrounded the house. In the distance, the cliffs dropped away down the to the harbor.
“Hello,” a woman’s voice called. “What’s everyone looking at?”
Daisy’s head snapped up to see their friend, and Colin’s cousin, standing next to her carriage with her husband. “Oh. Thank goodness. It’s Fiona.” Without waiting, she started toward the carriage, waving to her. Surely Fiona would know what to do.
Rose fell in step beside Daisy. “It’s so good to see you!”
Fiona picked up her skirts and started making her way toward them. “It’s good to see you too.” She met them halfway, her eyes scanning both women. “What’s wrong that you’re walking so slow? I ken ye both and nothing slows either of ye down.”
Rose pointed at Daisy. “Her shoulder is all bruised because she got knocked by a horse.”
“Oh dear.” Fiona reached out and gave her a gentle hug. Leaning her cheek down on Fiona’s shoulder, she hugged her friend back. “That isn’t the half of it.”
Fiona’s gaze narrowed. “Tell me everything.”
And so Daisy did. Starting from the beginning, she told Fiona and Rose the truth about Lord Price, and how she’d somehow believed he was supposed to be have rescued her three years prior, and about the way Laird Abbott had kissed her. They walked together as Colin and Tom had their own discussion. When she’d finished, both women were silent.
Fiona finally spoke, rubbing her fingers together. “I get the impression something, or someone, has hurt him. Ye’ve told him all about yerself. Maybe it’s time to learn a little more about his past.”
“Fiona.” She stopped, staring at her friend. “You’re brilliant. You know that?”
“I try my best,” Fiona said, winking.
Rose clapped her hands. “You can surely have a private conversation with him at dinner. We’ll make sure it happens one way or the other.”
She had to hope that it did.
* * *
Blake watched Daisy as she sat in the library, chatting with her sister and Mrs. Mayweather. There was an effortless grace in all her movement that made his heart race in his throat.
He needed to apologize. Once again, he’d acted rashly when he’d walked away from the group. There’d been no promises between them. She was free to pursue whomever she chose. He wasn’t entirely certain he’d trust her with his feelings but he’d no right to be angry either.
He’d asked Ailish to marry him almost exactly two years ago. They’d had a whirlwind romance of only a few months, but he’d been swept up in her passionate nature, her zest for life. She’d go riding in thunderstorms, swig ale with men, make love in a barn in the middle of the day.
His father had warned him that she was no good. Like the rest of his decisions, she was one based on fun and excitement, not good solid principle.
He grimaced at the memory. He hated when his father was right. Ailish had appealed to his need for action and adventure, not his desire to be a strong and solid laird. He looked over at Daisy. What kind of woman was she?
She must have felt his gaze because she turned to glance at him then, her eyes holding a question.
In answer, he began crossing the room toward her. If nothing else, he’d apologize for his behavior. As he reached the halfway point, however, a fellow stopped him.
“Hello,” the man said with a smile. “Thomas Mayweather. Friends call me Tom. Nice to meet you. I hear you have some wool you’d like to sell me.”
Blake paused. As a general rule, he didn’t pay attention to the looks of other men, but even he could tell this man was handsome. Jealousy once again stuttered in his stomach. Which was ridiculous. This man was married. Still, his heart wanted to move around the man and talk with Daisy but his head knew the smarter business choice was to talk with this man. “Blake Abbott.” He stuck out his hand. “Pleased to meet ye.”
Thomas gave his hand a firm pump. “Let’s step outside and chat.”
He straightened but gave a quick jerk of his chin. Daisy watched them and he gave her a small smile, hoping to apologize without words.
Thomas led him outside into the cool evening air and started down one of the garden paths and they stopped walking when they’d reached a more open veranda. “I’m eager to see the quality of your product.”
“I’m eager to show it to you,” Blake said. “If ye’re so inclined, we can look first thing in the morning.”
Thomas nodded. “Excellent.” He clasped his hands behind his back, rocking a bit on his feet. “Now that that’s out of the way, we can discuss Daisy.”
&
nbsp; “Daisy?” he asked, drawing in a sharp breath. “There’s nothing to—”
“There are several things to say. I heard about your walk this afternoon.” Tom stepped closer.
Blake features drew tight. “I shouldnae have walked away. As soon as I have a chance, I’ll apologize.”
Tom scrubbed his jaw. “We don’t know each other, and it’s likely not my place, but I’m going to tell you something that I’ve never shared with anyone. I met Daisy the very day their cousin forced them out of the house. She wasn’t quite seventeen and, while all the girls were tearful, Daisy looked…” he looked up to the sky, “haunted.”
Blake clenched his fists at his sides. “She told me about what happened. She was verra strong.”
Tom gave him a sideways glance. “She told you. That’s a good sign.” He swung his hands in front of his body, clasping them again. “My point is that Daisy was so young and she had to be very brave, protecting her sisters when no man was there to do the job, and now…” His mouth twisted. “Now she’s scared. Frightened of being hurt again. She’s naturally vivacious so men are attracted to her, but she has yet to allow one of them close. She was so hurt. And I believe she has been choosing men whom she won’t actually develop feelings for because it’s easier.”
Blake grimaced, rubbing the back of his neck. He’d thought her fickle but that wasn’t the case, she was just afraid. Damn, he was a fool. “Thank ye fer explainin’ that tae me.” He stopped scrubbing. “I will confess tae ye that I have strong feelings fer her too. But if she’s as scared as ye say, can she return them?”
Tom shrugged. “She’ll require patience. Can you give her that?”
He coughed. Patience? That was one of the virtues he’d never had. “I can try.”
“Good.” Tom reached over, then slapped him on the back. “I’m certain with a bit of time, Daisy can see herself through her fear.”
A laird to Remember: Brides of Scotland Page 4