Page 29 of Kilty Plea
Swallowing, Flora glanced at Payton, but he offered no more help than a small nod. She wanted to defend him to his family, to explain who she was and why she looked this way, but with that single announcement, he’d proven she really didn’t understand what was going on.
So, she put her hand in Anna’s and allowed the lovely woman to pull her toward the stairs, apologizing for her earlier assumption.
What followed was a strange few hours for a lass raised in a simple hut. For one thing, Lady Anna—who really was quite nice, once she relaxed—had approximately eight dozen servants, constantly coming in and out of her chambers. She was able to carry on multiple conversations at once—perhaps she’d learned that from her mother-in-law—about the upcoming celebrations, her two bairns and the one on the way, and the wardrobe Flora was to have.
Flora did her best to keep up, but kept insisting she didn’t need any special treatment. A second bath? It felt positively gluttonous, and more than a little uncomfortable, with all the women—servants and Anna alike—flitting about the room. They exclaimed over her scarred back, but Flora quickly made up a story about falling in a briar patch, because she didn’t have the energy to explain the Abbey.
“Och, of course!” Anna exclaimed. “That would explain what happened to yer gown and hose and shoes as well, ye puir lassie. They were likely shredded, along with yer skin. Well, dinnae fash, we’ll get ye cleaned up and dressed as befitting the wife of a laird’s son, soon enough.”
Anna MacIntyre was a force to be reckoned with, and more than a little gullible, was she not?
Several times, Flora tried to bring up Lenny, to ask if anyone had seen a lad like him…but she was brushed off or ignored. ‘Twas frustrating, and she found herself wondering what Payton was doing.
After a few days on the road with him—the peace and quiet—this hustle and bustle felt strange.
At last, Anna declared her ready to meet the rest of the family, and Flora had to admit…shefeltlike a lady. Her hair had been pulled and brushed and pinned up, and she wore a beautiful gown of green silk.
Her hands were still callused, her back was still raw, her skin was still chapped, her teeth too crooked, and her features too plain…but from afar, she might pass as a lady. She certainly looked ready to face Payton’s family.
What had she gotten herself into?
Payton himself met her at the bottom of the stairs, and the way his gaze raked her from head to toe made her cheeks heat. He merely offered her his arm and turned toward the great hall…but when no one else was around, he bent close enough to whisper, “How are the shoes?”
Somehow, she was pleased he hadn’t offered her empty compliments. “They fit perfectly, to my surprise,” she murmured back. “Yer sister-in-law likes to take command, for certes.”
“She gets that from Mam. My sisters are just as bad.” His warm brown gaze flicked down to hers. “Are ye ready?”
She took a deep breath. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Well then,wife, let’s start with my Da.”
Still reeling from that casual term—was he teasing her?—Flora allowed herself to be introduced to Payton’s family.
They were just as loud, just as overwhelming as he described, and the meal wasexhausting.
Toast after toast was given to Payton’s return, and hishappy marriage, and with each one, Flora felt herself sinking deeper and deeper into the bench seat. If Payton hadn’t been beside her—hadn’t been answering each toast with a good-natured salute and smile, while allowing her to clutch his hand below the table—she wasn’t certain what she would’ve done.
As ‘twas, she wondered if she was the only one who noticed the tension around his eyes.
Why was he letting his family think they were married?
The first time someone had addressed her as Payton’s wife, he should’ve stood and told the truth. They were never going to forgive him for this mockery.
His brother Daniel—the middle son, already ordained with a small flock to care for at the tower house—was the only one who Flora thought might suspect something. Oh, he’d bowed nicely enough, but throughout the dinner, he studied the pair of them thoughtfully, and looked as if he had something he wanted to say.
He never did, butfudge buckets, by the end of the meal, Flora thought she might explode from the tension.
Which would be messy.
When Payton stood and offered his hand, she took it like a lifeline, not ashamed to be seen as weak.Shitake mushrooms, she wasn’t sure of half the things he said to extricate themselves from that situation, but finally—finally—they were walking away from the revelry, and Flora felt as if she could breathe again.
“Just a few more minutes,” he murmured at her side. “Mam has aired out my auld chambers, I hope ye dinnae mind sharing with me?”
She snorted. “Ye might’ve asked that afore ye allowed everyone to think we were married.”
He didn’t reply, and when she glanced up at him, ‘twas to see his jaw tight and his gaze locked on the corridor ahead.
Was he not going to explainwhyhe’d made the claim?
