Page 39 of Deception and Desire
He shook his head. “No, ma’am. I’m an orphan.”
Fenella pressed her lips together, not allowing the sigh of sympathy to escape. She had a feeling the boy wouldn’t appreciate it. “How did you come to work at MacNaughton’s?”
“Sorcha found me one day. I was sick with fever, curled up in an alley.” He shuffled his feet. “I’d run away from the orphanage. They didna feed me enough to put up with the beatings. She took me home with her.”
“She’s a good woman.”
“She’s treated me like her own. I’d do anything for her,” Malcolm added fiercely.
Within minutes, Lachlan returned. The man waiting against the wall nodded and returned inside.
“The kegs are ready. We’ll just drive around to the side and get them loaded.” Lachlan drove the horse down a narrow alley and stopped in front of a large opening, great oak doors pushed open against the sandstone of the building. Inside were hundreds of sacks and barrels stacked along the wall. He jumped from the wagon again and showed another shorter, rotund employee a piece of paper. The foreman waved his arms and yelled at several workers. They hauled a dozen small kegs of the powdered bleach and loaded them in the back of the wagon while Lachlan introduced her to the man in charge.
As they pulled away, Lachlan handed her the paper. “Could ye put this invoice away for me? I’m no’ good at holding on to papers and such, and ye’ll need to enter this in the books on Monday.”
She opened the satchel and placed the paper inside. “Will you be making a stop each time you bring me home?”
“When I can, if ye dinna mind.”
“Not at all. Unless it’s raining.” His look made her giggle. “I suppose rain doesn’t bother you?”
“It’s how I met an enchanting lass with hair of spun gold and eyes like a winter’s sky.”
The blush surged up her neck and covered her face. “I suppose I hadn’t thought of it like that.”Drat! Is that all she could come up with? She moved on to an easier subject. “So, Ian will be gone a month?”
“Or so. It always depends on the weather and what we encounter along the way.” He nodded at the driver of a phaeton and slowed to let it join the traffic. “I think it will be closer to two. It’s been a while since he’s been home.”
“How long has the mill been in your family?”
“Weel, let’s see.” He rubbed his jaw, his calloused fingers scratching softly against the emerging shadow. “When my aunt married an English earl, he proposed a business venture with Grandda. As a wealthy nobleman, he provided the investment, not wanting to get his hands dirty. The MacNaughtons handled the daily running of the mill.”
“So, this is the second generation to run the business. Do your aunt and uncle come to Glasgow often?”
He shook his head. “My cousin is the earl now. Gideon’s a good man, and I think he’ll be more involved than his father and less narrow-minded. We’re looking forward to that.” He grinned. “I imagine my aunt will be demanding more frequent visits. The old earl wasna fond of the Highlands.”
Fenella thought of her own mother’s aversion to her own countrymen. “I’ve never been farther than Glasgow. Is your home much different?”
“As different as a kitten from a mountain lion. The Lowlands are tame compared to the Highlands.” His voice softened. “It’s a rough but stunning beauty, harsh in many ways, but a part of me I couldna live without.”
She watched his face brighten as he spoke of his home.The country was like him, she thought.Rugged yet striking.“My grandmother talks of the mountains, the fields of heather, the lochs in summer. I’d like to see it someday.”
“I hope ye do, Fenella.” His eyes held an expression she didn’t recognize, but it made her breath catch. “Now, ye’ll have to tell which home is yers.”
The wagon slowed, and she realized they had turned onto her grandmother’s street. “It’s the red brick there on the right, next to the modiste shop.”
He pulled in the horse and tied the reins. “Laddie, take the bridle.” Malcolm’s thin frame scrambled over the kegs and hopped to the ground.
When Lachlan helped her down, the warmth of his hand, the glitter in those sapphire blue eyes, filled her with an intense, fiery excitement low in her belly. A new and foreign feeling that made her legs wobble and her hands tremble. It made her feel truly alive.
She opened the door and called to her grandmother, who seemed to be waiting right around the corner.
“There ye are, my dear. Right on time,” Aileen said. She indicated the carved walnut platter on the hall table. “Ye have letters from home.”
Lachlan bowed to the older woman. “Mrs. Douglas? I am Lachlan MacNaughton. May I say it’s a pleasure to meet the woman who has such finesse in the kitchen.”
The compliment sent a slight blush to her cheeks. “Keep it up, lad, and ye’ll be getting a whole dinner from me.”
“I look forward to it.” He smiled at her as he bent over her hand, his eyes remaining locked with hers. “We thank ye for allowing yer granddaughter to work for us.”
