Page 74 of The Highlander's Auctioned Hellion
“Bannocks.”
“What?”
“Bannocks nae biscuits, and yes, we have some. But dinnae let the cook ken that you’ve been into her stores at night, or she will feed ye moldy bread and drippin’ for the rest of yer days.”
Callum looked about at the various pots and pans all over the surface, wondering if the cupboard he had raided so often as a child would still house the same things.
“I’ll get ye some honey to go with them.”
“Does honey go with bannocks?” Lydia asked, her brows knitting together as if he had suggested mixing jam with salt.
“Only if ye dae it right,” Callum said, heading to the highest cupboard in the kitchen where he knew the cook kept the bannocks away from the mice.
Usually, she didn’t allow him in the kitchen for any length of time, complaining that he was too big and always ‘got under her feet’. He was enjoying being free to roam—it was like being a boy again.
“Ah!” he said, as he found the jar filled with bannocks at the back of the cupboard, alongside some honey. “Here we are.”
He turned, his heart warming to see the little domestic scene as Raven strained to get to the remainder of the cream and Lydia wrestled to keep him held in her arms.
Her bare feet were curled over the bench, and he fixated for a moment on her perfect, milky white toes.
“Did you find them?” she asked. “I would never have looked in that cupboard. It is far too high.”
“I have been raidin’ that thing since I was a boy,” Callum looked down at the bannocks, a memory sparking as a slow smile spread over his face. “But there is only one place to have a midnight feast.”
Lydia looked up at him. “Where’s that?”
“Outside.”
After they had returned the kitten to the girls’ room, warm and cozy with a belly full of cream, Callum led Lydia back up the stairs toward the tallest tower.
He appeared to be in a more relaxed mood tonight, his brow less heavy than it had been in the past few days.
As they climbed upward, she could feel the soft breeze from the mountains coming down toward them, and the smell of heather in the air.
As they emerged into the darkness of the tower, Lydia could see the telescope left just where it had been before.
She was excited to show Callum the night sky in all its glory, wondering how much he would already know.
Stepping round him, she headed toward the telescope, just as Callum spread out a blanket over the stone at their feet.
“Do you not wish to look at the sky?” she asked, her shoulders lowering with disappointment.
“Aye, but I am hungry now, and ye made me climb all those godforsaken stairs.”
“I did no such thing. This was your idea.”
“Sit down, woman.”
Lydia rolled her eyes at him, but she did sit down on the rug, the cold seeping into her legs as she did so.
It was a scratchy material and not overly comfortable on the rough stone beneath. She hugged her robe around her, shivering slightly.
“Now, take a bannock,” Callum said, handing her one. “Then drizzle some honey in the center. Aye, like that. Now push the other bannock against it, and bite into it.”
Lydia glanced at him skeptically but did as he asked. The biscuit was crumbling all over the place, but the honey helped to keep it together.
The thick liquid oozed out of the inside, and as she bit into it, the result was quite pleasing. Honey burst from between the bannocks onto her tongue, and she moaned as she swallowed.
