CHAPTER FOUR
It was beforedawn.
Cam was awake, washing his face and hands in a basin of icy water as his grandfather, in the next room, stoked the fire for the morning meal. Cam could hear the man banging around as he coughed and cleared his throat, something he usually did in the morning because his lungs weren’t very strong.
As Cam pulled on a clean tunic, one that hadn’t been ruined by his days working with the blacksmith’s forge, his thoughts drifted back to the day before, that heavenly day he’d spent with Isadora.
And his grandfather knew it.
It wasn’t as if he’d told the old man. He didn’t have to. He’d returned to the cottage after dark, when Nikolaus was already eating supper, and explained to his grandfather that he’d gone on a walk to help clear his aching head.
It had been a horrible excuse and Nikolaus hadn’t believed a word of it. Cam hadn’t, either, but he stuck to it even when Nikolaus questioned him a couple of times. After that, his grandfather said no more.
Now, after sleeping with the guilt of having lied to the man he loved most in the world, Cam made the decision to tell him everything. Pulling on his heavy boots, the ones he had paid agood deal of money for because they protected his feet against heat and sparks, he headed out into the common room where his grandfather was just putting bread and boiled fruit juice onto the table.
Nikolaus eyed him before he returned his attention to the table. “Sit down,” he said. “Ye’ll need tae eat something before I send ye off tae Brechin.”
Cam looked at him, surprised. “Ye want me tae go today?”
Nikolaus nodded, but he wouldn’t look at him. “The ore ye brought back from Albe the last time was poor,” he said. “Ye saw me trying tae work with it since ye brought it back. I need ye tae return tae the man and tell him we need better-quality ore. I think he tried tae cheat ye.”
Cam didn’t want to go to Brechin today; he wanted to go to Took’s Water where Isadora would be waiting for him. But he couldn’t tell his grandfather that.
“Does it have tae be today?”
Nikolaus stirred something steaming in an iron pot over the fire. “I need it,” he said. “I’ve a commission from one of the Lindsay men for a dirk, so I need the ore. I’d go myself if I could. If ye go now, ye should be back before supper.”
A whole day. Cam wasn’t sure what he was going to tell Isadora, but he would have to travel much faster than usual. His grandfather didn’t travel well these days because of painful hips, so he knew the old man couldn’t go. Cam could move swifter and more easily than an old man with bad joints.
He knew he had no choice.
He hoped Isadora would understand.
Lingering on those unhappy thoughts, he planted his big body on a chair in front of the table. As he picked up a cup and drank down the sweet, tart juice, Nikolaus put a bowl of warmed-over stew in front of him.
“When ye see Albe today, make sure he knows I’m unhappy about the quality of his ore,” he said. “If he’s going tae demand a high price, I want better ore from him or I’ll take my business elsewhere.”
Cam nodded as he shoved stew into his mouth. “I’ll tell him.”
“And dunna let him talk ye tae death. I want ye back before supper.”
“I’ll be back well before supper. But before I go, I want tae say something tae ye.”
Nikolaus sat down in his chair, looking at his meal. “Speak.”
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For lying tae ye yesterday. I suppose ye know I went tae see that lass again.”
“I know.”
Cam swallowed the bite in his mouth and sat back, looking at his grandfather, who was devouring his meal.
“Ye know I’m not one tae chase women,” he said quietly. “I’ve had many a lass try tae chase me, but no one has caught my eye until Isadora. Can ye not understand? She’s different. When she looks at me, my heart beats so that I feel as if it will burst from my chest.”
Nikolaus didn’t slow his food intake. “If that’s how she makes ye feel, then there’s nothing I can say about it.”
