Aidan gave his brother a pensive look. “Ye are doing all ye can to protect her.”
“I am nae sure,” Niall responded. “I have an uneasy feel for all of this.”
“We are all keeping our ears alert,” Aidan said. “The lass has agreed to nae wander about without one of us as escort.”
“Unless she decides to sneak out again.” Niall frowned again. “’Twould be just like Annie to think the danger is past and she can do as she wishes.”
“I agree that Annie is a bit headstrong—”
“A bit?” Niall asked incredulously. “I have nae met a more stubborn, willful woman.”
Aidan smiled. “So ye’ve said. But she does nae strike me as someone who will go back on her word. At any rate, ’tis naemuch more we can do. As long as Annie does nae stir up the workers again, she should be fine.”
His brother was probably right.IfAnnie didn’t stir up the workers again…but that was the real question. How long would she be content to remain docile?
It wasn’t exactly a word that described Annie Ferguson.
****
Annie hummed a little ditty to herself as she entered the office on a Thursday morning. A little more than two weeks had passed since the club’s protest in front of the cathedral and tension seemed to have died down. Or, at least, Niall was not constantly bringing the subject up.
He hadn’t insisted on accompanying her inside the office either, although she wasn’t sure if that was because she’d agreed to an escort or because he and Aidan had begun appearing on the docks to check any stock leaving the warehouse bound for one of the Henderson ships. Niall had said he was only showing his brother the whole scope of the shipping business to aid in the opening of the Skye office, but sometimes she wondered if he wasn’t counting inventory just as a back-up for her. Good lord! Kingsley was already doing that. Did men think women couldn’t count?
But Annie pushed the irritating thought aside. She wasn’t going to let anything spoil her good mood. It was a brilliant autumn day with colorful foliage still clinging to the trees. The sky was cerulean blue with only a few puffy, cotton clouds. The sun promised to warm the cool, crisp air to make the afternoon perfect. There was only one shipment of tobacco coming in this morning, and maybe once she’d taken care of the paperwork, Mr. Haines would let her leave. She’d been wanting to finish readingSense and Sensibilityby an anonymous author, because parts of it reminded her of herself. Nestling on a bench in George Square would be the perfect place to do it.
She hung up her coat and turned at the sound of the door opening, then smiled at her boss. “Good morning. Ye are just the person I wanted to see.”
He nodded his acknowledgment. “What did you wish to see me about?”
“’Tis going to be a fine day. I was wondering if I might have the afternoon off, once the tobacco is stacked and accounted for.”
“Hmmm.” Haines gave her an inquisitive look. “You are not planning to meet Kingsley some place, are you?”
Annie felt her mouth gape in surprise and closed it. Then she drew her brows together. “Nae. Why would ye think such a thing?”
“Do not take offense,” Mr. Haines answered. “Kingsley sent a messenger around this morning that he would not be coming in today. Something about eating spoiled fish at dinner last night.”
“If the man ate bad fish, why would I be wanting to see him in the first place?” Annie asked.
Haines sighed. “Never mind. I was attempting a jest.”
“Oh.” Annie felt a little foolish. “In that case, I will supervise the storing of the tobacco. The ship docked last night, so the wagons should be arriving any minute.”
“No need to involve yourself since I am here.”
Did Mr. Haines think she couldn’t do the job? “I doona mind. ’Tis a part of my job to ken everything that is in the warehouse.”
“Well, if you wish, you can assist me then.” He tilted his head to listen. “I think I hear horses out back. That should be the shipment.”
Annie gathered her invoices and followed Mr. Haines into the warehouse. Two large wagons were loaded down with a dozen barrels each. That matched her paperwork.
“Careful with handling those!” Mr. Haines said as one of the dock loaders rolled a barrel off the back of the wagon. “I do not want the wood cracking.”
“Aye,” the man grunted and shouldered the barrel. “Where do ye want it?”
“Right over here,” Annie called and gestured to the spot that Mr. Haines preferred. The worker bent his knees and dropped the barrel with a thunk that made Mr. Haines glare at him. He ignored the look and went back for another barrel while Annie maneuvered the barrel into place by rocking it from side to side.
“Careful with that!” Mr. Haines called. “If the bottom breaks, the tobacco will get wet.”
