Page 24 of In Search of a Husband
“For a governess,” Maisie added, throwing her hands on her hips like her older sister.
Very well. It was to be like that. Well, all the members of the MacInnes household were lovely.
Simply lovely.
CHAPTER 5
Gabriel rolledhis shoulders and sighed before pushing through the thick oak door of Dunsmuir Castle later that evening. It had been a long day of managing a circus he never asked for. Finn and his younger cousin, Archie, seemed determined to set what little hope he had of salvaging the distillery on fire.
It survived one fire, somehow. The exact cause had never been determined, though he wondered if his brother might have been involved. Toward the end, Tavish was at best unreliable, and at worst, unpredictable in his grief.
The inn still stood, but that and the distillery would need a lot of work and money to see it profitable. And there just wasn’t time. Gabriel nearly bankrupted himself to see the debts paid off, and that left little else to restore the family legacy.
He must find a way to make it work himself in three months, or they would lose everything.
Three months was scant time, considering where they were in Scotland. Timber and supplies alone would take a few weeks to reach them. And that was only the beginning.
His older brother had insisted Gabriel was far better suited for running the business when they were younger. And Gabriel, thesecond son, had wished for it. But it was never his birthright, and his brother loved to remind him of that growing up.
It had always been his brother’s way of guarding his connection with their father, a relationship Gabriel only just survived through. Tavish was their father’s favorite, in spite of all his shortcomings.
And Tavish’s boast meant nothing now that Gabriel was left holding on to the remnants of the Dunsmuir estate, shouldering a burden that could bankrupt him, with his brother buried in an unmarked grave.
This was his.
Whatever was left. Whether he wanted it or not.
It was nearly nine in the evening, and Gabriel still had the books to look over.
A scream split the silence filling the dark, cold walls of the castle. He glanced up toward the balcony, his heart racing in his throat. The girls should be in bed.
And no one had lit the candles.
He bounded up the stairs, sprinted down the hallway, completely unprepared for what met him.
Lorna balanced on top of her tall dresser, armed with a sword and shield that had, until recently at least, belonged in the library, and Maisie was striking a flint on the floor and tossing lit sticks into a pitcher of water.
“Ouch,” she muttered as a spark singed her finger.
“Girls!” He wasn’t sure if he was relieved or furious. He would figure that out later.
The girls screamed once more, terrified of being caught. Gabriel rushed forward, plucking Lorna down to avoid her impaling herself as the dresser tipped forward. He braced his back, bearing the brunt of the fall as the wardrobe tumbled on top of him.
Damn it.
He had spent the past year exercising after a shoulder injury. Pain ricocheted around his neck and down his back. There was no time to care for such an injury now. He had boxed several times a week, building his strength back up.
“Lorna, ye crushed Uncle!” Maisie cried from the floor.
“Do ye have any explanation for this?” he asked, biting back the groan as he braced the weight against his back and walked the wardrobe back against the wall.
They would. They always did. Not that it ever made sense.
“I’m fightin’ a dragon, Uncle.”
“Ye could burn down the house,” he scolded Maisie. “Ye never play with fire, especially inside. Ye’re no’ even a foot from bed. That mattress and those blankets would catch in a minute…”
She craned her neck up at him and wagged her finger. “Ahh, but the important thing is, I didna.”
