Page 19 of The Cruel Highlander's Healer
Not knowing what she was looking for, Conall leaned against one of the trees, watching with barely concealed amusement as she continued to flit about the thicket. It didn’t take long before Eliza’s mouth popped open in an ‘o’ of surprise before glancing at him with a broad, excited smile that shone brighter than a midafternoon summer sun.
God, but she’s beautiful.
Immediately, Conall silenced the thought, especially when she began waving him over.
“Come see,” she called out.
He crossed through the foliage in a few quick, confident steps. A few brambles reached out, snagging the edges of his kilt, and he felt the sharp sting of thorns scrape against his shins, but he did not slow as he made his way to her.
Her back was to him again, and as he peered over her shoulder, he found Eliza yanking handfuls of what looked like weeds out of the earth.
“What do ye need?” he grunted, trying to see what kind of plant it was that she was yanking up.
Eliza turned toward him, grinning as she held a fistful of plants out to him.
“Look!” she exclaimed, pointing to the herbs in her hand. “Do ye see how this one has small, pointed leaves and a waxy sheen?” Conall nodded. “And this one, the leaves look more like needles that are curlin’ in on themselves?”
Conall got a closer look at the plants, noticing with a little bit of a shock that they seemed slightly familiar. He was certain that he’d seen them garnishing a dish, or used in something by one of the maids. Although, he couldn’t say for certain.
He gave Eliza another nod, grunting that he noticed exactly what she’d just pointed out to him.
“Well, I need ye to go through this thicket and find as much of these two things as ye can,” she informed. “Fill the saddlebag as full as ye can. We’ll need as much of these as we can get.”
Conall nodded, walking to the other side of the clearing and beginning to forage. Every time he’d yank out a fistful, he’d bring himself to standing, casting a furtive glance over his shoulder to ensure Eliza was still there.
He’d half convinced himself that she’d shown him the herbs as a diversion, and when he turned around, she’d be gone, having disappeared into the woods that surrounded them. But every time he looked behind him, there she was, ripping out fistfuls of plants from the earth.
It took nearly an hour for them to fill the saddle bags, and as Conall placed his final bit into them, he turned to find Eliza standing not far to his right. She was whipping her hands on her skirts, a smile still lighting her face as she turned her gaze to him.
“We’ll be able to make quite a lot of tonics with that lot,” she said, more cheerily than he had seen her since the moment they’d met.
“Enough to help all of the wee ones?” Conall asked, stifling down the hope that had bubbled inside him.
Eliza nodded. “Aye. And I can teach Kate how to make it, too. So if this nasty problem rears up again, ye can handle it on yer own. Daenae need ye kidnappin’ anyone else.”
“Daenae go pretendin’ ye daenae like a wee bit of kidnappin’, lass,” Conall warned, but his typical growl lacked any of its usual menace. “I saw the way ye were lookin’ at me last night.”
“All in yer head, Laird MacKinnon,” she said, not rising to the bait that he’d laid before her.
But Conall could have sworn that he caught a slight blush to her cheeks as she turned away from him.
Without another word, Conall climbed up behind her, and the two fell into silence once more. In the few hours since they’d left the castle, the sun had fully risen in the sky and the air around them had warmed quite a bit.
As they shifted and swayed on the back of the horse, Conall was momentarily distracted by a bead of sweat rolling down the nape of Eliza’s neck.
“I want to show ye somethin’,” he said abruptly, tugging the reins so that the horse started to turn slightly to the right.
“Oh, do ye?” Eliza replied, skepticism leaching her words. “What is it, then?”
“Ye’ll see.”
He didn’t explain further, and she surprised him by not asking any additional questions. He tried not to focus on her nearness as he led their mount down a well-worn path.
It didn’t take long for the sound of splashing and laughing to fill the air. And, as they exited the forest and came over a small hill, the view of a large lake came into view.
He felt Eliza stiffen and heard her small gasp of surprise as she took it all in.
“Would ye look at that,” she said as he guided the horse to a stop.
