Page 15 of Trapped with the Vicious Highlander
“He’s here,” Elizabeth blurted. So much for a prior warning. “The Highlander. He’s here.”
Ava opened her mouth to respond when she heard it—the slow and deliberate clip-clop of hooves growing louder, the crunch of wheels on dirt.
“Stall him. And tell Sarah to fetch Margaret.” The obvious urgency in Ava’s voice made it sound like she was on the verge of tears when she wasn't. She could feel her throat close up at the thought of having to leave the cottage this morning.
Elizabeth blinked. “What?”
“Distract him, Elizabeth. I need to get ready.”
“What do ye expect me to speak to him about, Ava?”
Ava sighed. She was putting her friend in a rather delicate position. Elizabeth was not exactly the most enthusiastic when it came to talking to men.
“I have found that all they ever want to discuss are my marriage prospects and how many bairns I can bear for them,”she had said countless times in the past.
“I’m sure you’ll think of something,” Ava responded, retreating into her room and hurrying towards her wardrobe. “You caught a rabbit yesterday—you can talk to him about that. He’s a Highlander, I’m sure he can share some tips with you.”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes and shut the door after Ava threw her a grateful glance.
Ava sifted through some of her gowns, quite hesitant about the best one to wear.
Any of them would be fine, really.I am riding with a man in a torn white shirt and a kilt.
She grabbed the last of her clothes and stuffed them into the box she had prepared the previous day.
In a few minutes, she had managed to pack every piece of clothing in her room. She looked at herself in the mirror one more time. For someone who did not have much time, she managed to make herself look presentable.
She took long breaths for a minute and then walked out of her room, mentally bidding it farewell. She walked with haste, dragging her box to the watering hole, where the carriage waited. This was about to be a rather long and harrowing ride.
Soon, she was standing in front of the carriage and the horse. She swallowed when the Highlander jumped down from the front bench and began moving closer to her. Her eyes remained fixed on him in disbelief as he approached.
“Good Lord,” she whispered.
The man walking towards her was not at all the man she had met the previous day.
This was not the man who had barged into her kitchen.
CHAPTER6
Ava watchedin wonder as Brodrick approached. He was no longer wearing his torn and bloodied shirt. His skin wasn’t visible or glistening in the sun. His beard was gone, and his hair… his hair had been neatly combed. The faint scratches on his face had disappeared—or at least they had been well treated.
He was wearing a rather dashing brown shirt, a kilt, and a swordbelt. He looked different. Gentle. Charming.
And Ava hated the pull he had on her.
“I see ye packed yer bags,” Brodrick noted, stopping only a few feet from her.
“Well, I couldn’t let you abduct the girl now, could I?”
Brodrick sighed. “I told ye I am nae abductin’ her. How could I abduct me daughter?”
“How does anyone do anything, I wonder?”
“Look, all I want is to take me daughter home. That shouldnae be so much to ask for, should it?”
“It should not, if the child recognizes you?—”
Brodrick scoffed.
