Page 14 of The Highlander's Alluring Spy
Alive. Awake. Magnolia had saved the girl. Relief flooded her, and even though her body shivered in the cold, it was the most enormous relief she’d ever felt.
“Are ye all right, chook?” a gentle, soothing voice echoed in her ears, speaking to someone other than her. Magnolia opened her eyes to see the Laird himself holding Elaine close, anxiously checking her over for injuries. “Are ye hurt?”
Elaine coughed a few more times, but when she spoke, her voice sounded blessedly normal. “Nay, Dadaidh. Maggie saved me!”
Magnolia was suddenly caught in Nathair’s intense green stare. “She did, did she?” Nathair asked slowly. He turned and handed Elaine to a maid standing next to him, who looked pale and shaken. “Go get the bairn dried aff and changed into somethin’ dry, please.”
The maid nodded. Magnolia struggled into a sitting position as Elaine was carried away. She saw old Sandy standing a little further back, anxiously watching, and tried to give him a reassuring smile. Still, her eyes were drawn back to Nathair almost instantly.
He shrugged off his cloak and handed it to her. “Yer in yer underthings,” he said, sounding a little embarrassed.
Despite everything, she chuckled. It felt very odd that such a great, brawny Laird should be frightened by some petticoats. Still, she was grateful for the warmth as she wrapped the cloak around her body, and she allowed him to help her to her feet.
His hand was warm, secure, and a strange comfort flowed through her at his touch. “Thank you,” she told him. “I am so sorry, My Laird. I took my eyes from her for just a moment, and I thought—"
“Hush,” he told her. “Nae apologies needed. Ye saved me daughter’s life. I should be the one thanking you. Are ye grand?”
Grand.
Magnolia couldn’t help but smile slightly. She loved these strange Scottish expressions. “Yes, I’m quite all right,” she replied. “I think we were all just given a fright.”
They stared at each other for a moment, green into blue, and there was a sudden frisson of…something. Magnolia felt herself get lost in those eyes, in the mystery they hid, in the love they unabashedly showed for his daughter. She suddenly wanted to know more. She wanted to know everything.
That was when it hit her. Why should she not know more? Questioning servants and the staff was clearly getting her nowhere.
Perhaps the best course of action was to befriend the source directly. If she happened to find him rather visually appealing while she worked, well, that was only an additional perk.
Her mission still played clearly on her mind. Handsome or not, Nathair was potentially a threat to her home. To her father. So yes, she would play nice for now–and then she’d find out all the secrets this Scotsman was trying to hide. She would make him her friend to find out if he was actually her enemy once and for all.
They were caught in each other’s gaze for a moment longer, but then Nathair looked away. “I need tae go check on the bairn. Take the rest o’ the day aff. As thanks. And as the morra’ is Sunday an’ I’ve got the day off for once, I willnae need ye.”
She shivered as he looked away, feeling strangely like something had been torn from her as his eyes left hers. She realized what an astounding gesture he was offering her. A whole day-and-a-half to herself! She could get so much done in such a significant amount of time, and only three days after she had started to work!
She smiled at Sandy, who was still watching nervously, and then back to Nathair. “I appreciate it, My Laird. Thank you.”
Nathair glanced at her one more time, and then put out his hand as if automatically, removing a strand of wet hair from her face and tucking it behind her ear. Magnolia swallowed as the gesture seemed to resonate all the way through her.
“I told ye. Nae thanks,” he said softly. Their gazes burned into each other for the most prolonged moment of Magnolia’s life. Then he coughed a little awkwardly and dropped his hand. “Away ‘n get dry, Miss Magnolia.”
He turned away, walking over to say something to Sandy, and Magnolia stared after him. It was the first time he’d used her first name.
She shook her head. Water must have logged in her brain to be making her think in such a manner. She pulled his cloak tighter around her and made her way back to the castle, where warmth and safety awaited in her rooms.
* * *
Nathair couldn’t stop thinking about her. He hadn’t since the moment he’d seen her from the dais, and it was only getting worse. He couldn’t understand what it meant, or what he was supposed to do about it, or why he felt quite so guilty.
Magnolia was a fair, bonny lass, but he’d seen lassies like that aplenty in his life. His late wife had been the bonniest of them all. There had been no shortage of opportunistic daughters of Lairds since Catrina’s death. They’d often visited, trying to win the place of the next Lady.
He’d turned them all away, though. Pretty faces did not interest Nathair, not anymore. So it wasn’t that. That wasn’t why Magnolia wouldn’t leave his mind.
And aye, she’s got a pleasant wit about her. She kens how tae be amusing but no cross that line into crassness. And she’s nae half charmin’ the castle staff, as well. Especially after her loch rescue yesterday.
Everyone who mentioned her seemed to have something positive to say; a first for the many nannies Nathair had tried to retain for his beloved daughter. Magnolia was intelligent and pleasant, they told him, and gentle too. Kind. Happy. Easy to talk with. Fitting well into the castle despite her odd English twang.
More than that, perhaps most importantly, there was the way she was with Elaine. He’d never seen his girl take so suddenly to anyone else, but she could not stop talking about her ‘Maggie’ with the strange accent. Every night as he tucked her into bed, she’d excitedly tell him stories about the fun things they’d done that day.
She’d talk endlessly of the strange and fun English games Magnolia kept introducing, of the new toys she’d show and the stories she’d tell. It felt odd to say, but in only four days, he’d felt some sort of mothering instinct from the young English girl.
