Page 18 of Trapped with the Vicious Highlander
She turned to him, a puzzled look on her face. “Innocent or not, I wouldn’t wish for anyone to see their home destroyed before their very eyes.”
Brodrick nodded. He should have known better.
Before he could speak again, Ava pulled out a parchment, her eyes steady on Margaret. “Look at what I got for you, Margie.”
Brodrick scanned the parchment before Margaret took it. On it was a giant rectangle split into several boxes. In each box was the name of an animal.
“So we have gotten to the part of the country where we get to see several animals cross the road,” Ava continued as Margaret’s grip tightened on the parchment. She took a quill and inkpot out of her box and handed them to Margaret as well. “I want you to draw a line on any animal you see and tell me how many of them you see. Can you do that?”
A weak smile tugged at Margaret’s lips.
Ava nodded. “Good.”
They watched several animals pass by as they rode on, and every time Margaret saw an animal that corresponded to one on the parchment, she would grab her quill and draw a line over the box.
One time, four rats scurried across the dirt track as the carriage approached.
“Now, how many rats did we just see?” Ava asked immediately after the rats disappeared.
Margaret placed the parchment on her lap and raised her hand, displaying four fingers.
“That is correct,” Ava responded, and a smile crossed Margaret’s face.
After the girl had finished crossing all the names on the parchment, Ava started another game. This time, she would point at certain flowers as they rode and ask her to tell the number of leaves or petals on them. Margaret got them correctly every time. She would either count on one hand if the number was less than five or on both hands if the number was higher.
Brodrick studied Ava intently. He didn’t need anyone to tell him that this woman held a great love for his daughter. She was patient and kind to Margaret, and he couldn’t believe that such a woman existed.
As Ava waited for Margaret to finish counting, she turned to Brodrick and caught him staring. She could see his cheeks turn slightly red as he turned away at the very last minute.
“Apologies,” he muttered, his voice low and measured.
“It does not matter,” Ava responded.
Margaret raised seven fingers, and Ava nodded once again, clapping her hands.
“We are getting closer to MacDunn,” Brodrick suddenly announced, a hint of tension in his voice.
Ava didn’t know if she needed to prepare Margaret for anything out of the ordinary. She did not know the best way to ask Brodrick about that either without him getting offended. Instead, she turned to Margaret, a wide smile on her face, one she hoped came off greatly reassuring.
“Are you ready to see your new home?”
Margaret nodded, the weak smile returning to her face.
The rest of the ride was silent, almost in a way that seemed to anticipate something rather inevitable. Ava felt her skin prickle as they rode down the last lap of the journey.
What was she going to face at Castle MacDunn? Disagreeable family members? People who would think she was trying to steal Margaret? People who would make fun of her size?
The latter, she had gotten used to over the years, but for some reason, she couldn’t help but wonder if things would get worse.
* * *
The carriage finally rolled to a halt, its wheels digging into the wet soil with an air of finality.
Brodrick turned to Ava, a gentle expression on his face. Something about letting her see his castle stirred some kind of anticipation in his chest. The look on her face was no longer worried. He could see that she was genuinelyterrified. He wondered what experience she’d had in the Highlands to warrant such fear from her.
“We are here,” he announced smoothly.
He stepped out of the carriage first and then reached out his hand. For a second, Ava stared at him and then at his hand, and Brodrick wondered if she was going to make this difficult as she had made everything else.
