Page 41 of In Search of a Husband
Kate was about to disagree when a knock shook the back door. Finn held his hand out to her, shaking his head.
“Could be the constable. He’s been poking around since the fire.”
Again, a knock shook the door. “Let me in, Finn Wallace!” boomed a man’s voice.
Kate pushed back in her chair, grabbing the rolling pin off the tabletop, then cracked the door open.
“May I help you? We’re closed.”
“No’ for me, English.” The older, pot-bellied man pushed through, shoving her back against the wall. She gripped the rolling pin, anger swelling up in her chest.
Finn stood, holding his cup of tea in his hands. “What are ye doin’ here, Duncan?”
“I warned ye no’ to expand the distillery. I warned ye that the still ye have are the only ones ye can operate.”
He shook his head. “I decide that. I’m a partner. Ye’re not.”
“Partner to Gabriel?” The man guffawed. “Ye’ve drunk away any smarts in that head of yers. Just like yer father. Ye’ve nae right to be a partner in any business. And we all ken Gabe was the one to sort out any trouble. Maybe a bit too well…”
“Excuse me,” Kate said, coming to stand next to Finn. “I don’t believe you told me why you’re here. We’re closed.”
The man sneered. “Tell Gabriel I’m givin’ him a month to reconsider. It’d be best if ye urge him to do so. He might have nearly killed a man with his fists at eighteen, but I’ve an army of Highlanders ready to take on the laird of Dunsmuir Estate.”
Killed a man? Kate tried to hide her shock, nodding once before walking over to the worktable to continue making the pie.
“Dinna come back, Duncan. And ye best keep the girls out of it. I ken how ye operate,” Finn shouted, moving his boot enough for her to see the hilt of a blade strapped to his ankle.
The door slammed shut, and she exhaled, throwing her arms wide on the worktop to catch her breath.
“What was that, Finn?”
“Christ, one more thing to pile on top,” he mumbled. Finn scratched his brow. “That was Duncan McQuarrie comin’ to collect.”
CHAPTER 9
September slipped away far too quickly,and now everything was washed in brilliant hues as the leaves changed color and the weather turned cooler and rainy.
Gabriel didn’t care much about the scenery. He had arranged to talk about building new stills behind the inn with Finn and Archie, and he was late.
Kate crossed her arms and lifted her nose. “Now is the perfect time to talk about it.”
The hound she had rescued only a week earlier barked and charged the small tree full of birds, scaring them into the sky. They scattered into the gray morning in a quick burst.
“No’ now!” Gabriel strode away, fuming.
It didn’t matter what she wished to talk about. She had interrupted his swim.
He worked the buttons on his shirt and vowed to have a boxing match with near anyone in the village brave enough to challenge him this evening. Landing an uppercut would be satisfying.
“I am here because you asked me to be.”
That woman… that woman and her damn sunshiny integrity.
“I hired ye as a governess,” he shouted back, crossing the bridgeover the moat. “And my niece is wearing pants!” The dog yipped again, nearly tripping him as it raced around his legs. “I should dismiss ye.”
“You can’t afford to lose me.”
Wasn’t that the inconvenient truth? Christ, Gabriel craved her. But he would never give in to that need. He couldn’t.
