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Muttering under her breath, she cast a glance over her shoulder to be sure the boys weren't looking, and then quickly tugged the wet shift off and even more quickly tugged the gown on in its place. Of course, in her panic not to be caught naked, she didn't think to dry herself first. It made pulling the dress on a bit difficult since the soft cloth tended to cling to her damp skin. Edith managed it after a bit of a struggle and then huffed out an exasperated breath and quickly used the linen to dry her hair as much as she could.
Once that was done she recognized her next problem. She had no brush to tame the wild strands of hair that were now no doubt a ruffled mess. Slinging the linen over the tree branch to dry, she quickly ran her fingers through her hair, trying to tame the mess the red strands were no doubt in. She then snatched up the soap, her wet chemise and the discarded gown she'd been wearing when they arrived and made her way to the furs where the men waited.
"Yer turn," Edith said brightly as she reached them.
Niels was immediately on his feet, but paused as he turned to look at her. When his eyes widened slightly and his lips twitched, Edith knew her hair was probably a terrible mess. Sighing inwardly, she dropped to sit on the furs and waved them away. "Go take yer bath. The water is fine."
Ronson was off at once, stripping off his braies and shirt as he went. Niels was a little slower to leave, but after saying, "Go ahead and start eating, we'll no' be long," he scooped up fresh clothes for Ronson, and a neatly folded shirt and fresh tartan for himself and turned to make his way down to the water's edge.
She saw him reach to his tartan and then it suddenly dropped away. Niels was left standing in nothing but a shirt that didn't quite cover his bottom. Edith gaped briefly, following the curves of his behind, and then promptly turned her back to the water to give them the privacy they'd afforded her. But it was hard. While she'd bathed in absolute silence, Ronson and Niels did not. The boy was laughing and chattering away and then squealing when Niels apparently splashed him. Edith was hard-pressed not to turn and see what was happening.
It was only when Niels called for Laddie that Edith glanced around and noticed that the dog was still lying curled up beside the furs and hadn't followed them to the water. The dog opened one eye and then closed it again and pretended not to hear. She wasn't surprised. Laddie hated baths. At best he suffered them and then went wild, shaking the water off and rubbing himself up against anything and everything he could to try to dry off afterward.
"Laddie," Niels growled in a warning tone, and the dog huffed miserably, but stood and moved slowly and reluctantly toward the water, his head and tail down. Chuckling to herself, Edith resisted the urge to turn and watch what would happen next, and simply listened. If he were true to previous baths in the loch, she knew Laddie would stop at the water's edge and have to be dragged in, and then would need to be held there else he'd rush out at the first opportunity. But that he'd then try to climb onto whoever was bathing him to get out of the water.
Judging by Ronson's laughter and Niels's curses that was exactly what the dog was doing, she decided moments later, and risked a glance over her shoulder. Laddie was on his hind legs, with his front paws on Niels's chest, trying to lick his face. Niels was twisting, trying to avoid the dog's tongue and then staggered and fell under the water, taking the dog with him.
Edith started to rise, concerned the dog would unintentionally drown Niels. But he popped up at once and stood, water pouring down his sculpted chest to return to the river where it reached his waist.
Edith swallowed and sank back to the ground, her wide eyes traveling the same hard curves as the water. Had she really thought him just handsome enough? She wondered. The man was magnificent. He surely wasn't the first man she'd seen bare-chested, she had three brothers, and there were hundreds of soldiers at Drummond, but none of them looked as perfect as Niels Buchanan did in that moment with the sun making the drops of water on his naked chest sparkle like diamonds. He was beautiful.
"Come here, Laddie," Niels ordered and actually patted his chest. He also braced his feet though. Edith could tell that by the way he shifted just before Laddie lunged upward, bracing his paws on his chest. He normally would have tried to climb out onto Niels then, but Niels grabbed the dog's paws on his chest and growled, "Stay."
When the soaking dog just looked at him pitifully, Niels took the soap Ronson had been holding and began to lather the beast. He glanced her way as he did, and Edith quickly turned her back once more, her face heating up at getting caught looking.
Sighing, she peered over the food laid out on the furs. Apparently the cherry pastries hadn't been all Niels had brought from the castle. The picnic he'd packed was an impressive layout. There was a whole roast chicken, cheese, bread, apples and more cherry pastries. Despite Niels's suggestion she start eating, Edith hadn't. She'd planned to wait for them to join her, but when her stomach growled hungrily, she decided an apple wouldn't hurt while she waited.
Edith was nearly finished with her apple when a nearly ten-stone, soaking wet Laddie suddenly rushed her and crawled into her lap. Squealing, she fell back and then tried to push him off as the dog attempted to dry himself on her dress.
"Laddie," Niels barked.
The dog froze at once and then rushed off back toward the water. Edith twisted her head slightly to look after him and gaped when she spotted Niels on his knees in naught but his shirt, folding pleats into his plaid by the water's edge. Ronson was busy pulling on his braies, but Niels caught her looking again. When he winked at her, she snapped her mouth closed and sat up abruptly so that her back was to them again.
Edith then busied herself looking for the remains of her apple. It had landed beside the furs. She picked it up, wrinkled her nose at the grass and dirt on it, and then set it down next to the furs again with a little sigh.
Chapter 5
"Ye did no' eat."
Edith glanced around at that comment and managed a smile as Niels led Ronson and Laddie back to her.
"Nay. I thought to wait fer the two o' ye," Edith murmured as Ronson rushed ahead to join her on the fur.
Laddie tried to follow, but Niels barked, "No!" bringing the dog up short. "Sit," he ordered, and Laddie sat down beside the furs where he'd been earlier.
"Good boy," Niels praised, petting the dog as he walked past to claim a spot on the furs.
Edith shook her head slightly. Laddie was a good dog, but rarely obeyed anyone as quickly and well as he appeared to listen to Niels. She usually had to repeat an order at least once or twice before the dog obeyed her, and he hadn't listened to her father and brothers at all. It was why he'd ended up her dog instead of one of the hunting dogs.
Niels picked up the bag he'd brought all the food in and dug out a large bone for Laddie. The dog stood up at once, immediately drooling.
"Sit," Niels said firmly. Laddie sat, and Niels gave him the bone with another, "Good boy."
The dog grabbed it and dropped to lie on the ground, holding it between his front paws as he began to gnaw on the end.
"So that's how ye make him behave," Edith murmured with amusement. "Ye bribe him with bones."
"Nay. He's a good dog," Niels said, turning to survey the food between them. He reached for the chicken, broke off a leg and offered it to her. "There's mead in the skin there. Help yerself."
"Thank ye," Edith murmured, accepting the leg.
The three of them ate in a companionable silence and Edith found herself imagining that they were a family, sharing a meal after a swim: mother, father and son. After they ate, they would ride back to the keep and--
She stopped herself there, because the keep would not be her home for much longer. And Niels wasn't her husband or ever likely to be, and Ronson was not her son. Laddie was the only one of the three that belonged with her, and that might not be true for much longer. Not if she ended up at the Abbey.
"What's making ye frown, lass?" Niels asked suddenly.
Edith quickly forced a smile to her lips. "I wa
s just thinking, m'lord."
"About what?" he asked.
"Nothing of import," she lied with a shrug and then changed the subject. "So, Saidh is happy and huge with child. But neither ye nor yer brothers said much about Murine and Dougall. Is all well there?"
"Oh, aye," he smiled faintly. "They seem very happy now that everything is settled. Although Dougall's complaining about all the travel they have to do."
"Travel?" she asked with surprise.
"Aside from Carmichael, they have her brother's castle and people in England to oversee," he said and explained, "She inherited Danvries when he died."
Edith's eyebrows rose. "So she went from fearing she'd have no home to two castles to run?"
"Aye," he grinned. "But it means a lot o' travel back and forth until they decide on what to do about Danvries."
"What do ye think they'll do?" she asked curiously.
Niels considered the question, and then said, "Probably get one o' me brothers to run it fer them. At least until Dougall has a son old enough to take over."
"Not you?" Edith asked curiously. "Ye're the next oldest are ye no'?"
"Aye, but I've plans o' me own for the future," Niels said solemnly. "At the moment, I'm helping Aulay at Buchanan. Well, no' right this minute, obviously," he added wryly. "But when matters are settled here I'll go back to Buchanan and my position as his first."
"It was good o' him to let ye come check on me fer Saidh," Edith said quietly. "I shall have to write and thank him."
"There's no need. He does no' ken I'm here," Niels said with amusement, and then explained, "We kenned when we were young that Aulay would inherit Buchanan and the rest o' us would have to make our own way. But me parents did no' leave us beggared. They left us each some land and some coin, and helped us decide what endeavor we wanted to pursue to earn more. For Dougall it was horses. He always loved the great beasts and he had an eye for 'em. He was always able to tell which would sire the best colts and which mare would birth the best and so on."
"And what was yer endeavor?" Edith asked curiously.
