Page 10 of Dark Side of the Laird
He chuckled. “Only trying to lighten your mood. Where are ye headed?”
“To the gardens to help with picking and other womanly duties.” I couldn’t help the sarcasm that dripped from every word.
“Womanly duties? I’ve never heard ye describe gardening in such a way before.” He steered me through the great hall. “Is it because ofthewoman?”
I stopped and faced him. “Do you think—” I couldn’t finish. Couldn’t ask Ewan. He wouldn’t know the answer and he rarely, if ever, talked about his laird’s choices.
“I think ye’d do best to steer clear of her.”
I nodded. “Good advice.”
Ewan stepped closer and spoke in low tones. “I dinna know her well, but her family is dangerous, so I’m inclined to believe she is dangerous.”
I frowned. “Has the security alert increased?”
Ewan raised a questioning brow. “If ye’re talking about reinforcements, aye. We’ve had to with her here. The lady could decide to find a way for her uncle to gain entrance.”
“You don’t trust her,” I stated.
“No one does.” The way he said it, as though it were common knowledge, was a comfort to me.
Maybe I wasn’t as alone as I thought I was.
I chewed my lip and glanced toward the doors to the kitchens. “What am I supposed to do?”
Ewan was silent for a moment, and then he said, “I think ye should just go about your day. Do the things ye normally do. When faced with a situation ye canna change, ye must adapt.”
Not comforting in the least. I wanted to change the situation. Wanted to change Isabella’s location. Not adapt to it all. I lifted my chin. “Sometimes, we have to make our own fate.”
“And sometimes, we have to let fate lead us.” Ewan looked serious as he studied me.
“Huh.” I patted Ewan’s arm and forced a smile. “Thanks for the pep talk.”
“Pep?”
“Never mind.” I left Ewan in the great hall and made my way toward the kitchens.
Walking through the kitchens, the scent of bread baking and stew simmering normally would have made my mouth water, but not today. I was still too nauseated from my encounter with Isabella. I smiled at the women chopping carrots and onions, kneading dough and stirring up concoctions in bowls, as I made my way to the back door and into the gardens, more disturbed now than I’d been before talking to Ewan.
When I was tossed back in time, I’d made the best of it—okay, more than made the best of it. I loved being here with Logan. Yes, I missed modern conveniences, like showers, Starbucks, soft toilet paper and condoms, but I was willing to give those things up in order to be with him. Willing to offer my advice—albeit in a concealed sort of way—on ways to do things better, such as the green house, or washing hands and covering one’s mouth when coughing.
The sun was out, defying the chill the wind that blew at a brisk pace. I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep breath of fresh air. I’d thought Scotland’s scent was clean and fresh even in modern times, but five hundred years in the past, it was even better. Almost like breathing in one breath could heal any ailment.
The chattering of the clanswomen broke my short interlude. A dozen or more of them were bent over the last of the garden crops to be harvested, their hands covered in dirt, baskets full of radishes, carrots and other root vegetables.
“There ye are,” Cook said, a frown on her face as she approached. Her hair fell around her face in gray batches from her bun and a smear of dirt spread across her nose. “We’d gotten used to your help and we thought now that a lady had arrived ye’d be up visiting with her instead of down here with us.”
I smiled at her and took the basket. “You’ve no reason to fear me not coming to help. No matter who is visiting, I’m always willing to do my part. Besides,” I said, “I really do enjoy your company, too.”
Cook frowned, she’d not said she enjoyed my company, but I knew that was what she meant. The woman was hard, well-worked, but beneath her bluster, she had a big heart.
“Well, get on with it then. Onions need to be picked.”
“With pleasure.”
I headed toward the rows of onions, and bent down, ready to dig in the dirt for the thick bulbs. The woman beside me, nudged me with her elbow.
“That’s the laird’s betrothed, that woman, is it not?”
