“Wait here,” he told her, holding the basket away as she grabbed at it. “I’ll get yer price for ye. What did ye want?”
She was confused, and a little miffed that he’d taken her pelts again, but she at least considered his question.
“A shilling a pelt,” she said. “I’ll take nothing less.Whereare ye going?”
With a sly smile, he reached out and took one of her grabbing hands.
“Come with me.”
Isadora did. She let him hold her hand as he took her back toward the village before leaving her in the small alley next to the merchant who had pinched her on the cheek. As she peered around the corner of the stall, she watched as Cam presented the basket of pelts to the merchant, who was busy eating something and getting bread and sauce all over his tunic.
When he looked at the pelts with some interest, Cam pushed the man’s hands back so they wouldn’t dirty the skins. He held them up for the man to show them the fine quality. But the merchant wasn’t stupid; he’d seen the pelts, and the basket, before. He knew they belonged to the pushy lass from the hills. When he finally shook his head at Cam, denying him the sale, Cam reached out and grabbed the man by the collar of his expensive robes. As Isadora watched with increasing astonishment, Cam muttered a few select words to the merchant and the man’s expression went from defiant to fearful all in one motion.
His head nodded.
Cam gave him the pelts and the man counted out the shillings.
Astonished, Isadora ducked back into the alleyway as Cam returned to her, holding out a big hand that contained several silver coins.
“Here ye are,” he said, putting the coins into her open palm and handing her the empty basket. “He was happy tae buy them.”
Isadora’s mouth was hanging open in surprise. She counted the coins; there were twelve. Twelve shillings, twelve pelts. Her gaze returned to Cam.
“I dunna know what tae say,” she finally said. “When I saw the man, he refused tae buy them.”
The ever-present smile was back on Cam’s lips. “Sometimes men just need a bit of prodding, ’tis all. And a strong suggestion of what will happen if he doesna agree with ye.”
Isadora looked back to the money in her hand before finally closing a fist around it. Her gaze returned to Cam.
“Ye told me once that ye werena a warrior,” she said.
She was referring back to the first time they met. Cam remembered that conversation, too, mostly because it was something that had confused him over the years. She’d told him that, being a Highlander, he needed to learn to fight as if it was part of his identity. Truth be told, that was something he’d always wrestled with, thanks to her.
“I’m not,” he said, with perhaps a little less humor given the subject. “I dinna fight the man tae sell yer pelts.”
She shook her head. “That’s not what I meant,” she said. “I suppose… I suppose I meant that ye have a presence about ye, Cam Netherton. I saw it those years ago when we met and I saw it again just now. Ye have a way about ye that is… strong. If ye were a warrior, ye’d be a fine one.”
He laughed softly as he shook his head. “I’ve no need tae be a warrior,” he said. “I can get along fine as I am. I sold yer pelts, did I not?”
She nodded. “Ye did,” she said. “And I thank ye for it.”
The smile faded from his face as he looked at her, his eyes glimmering with something suggesting warmth. That pretty lass from the vale had his interest now as she did back then. It was an attraction that, although unnurtured in years, was surprisingly strong. The childhood spark he’d felt those years ago had never died.
The spark was beginning to blaze.
“When will ye come back tae Brechin?” he asked quietly. “Will ye come soon?”
From the expression on her face, Isadora seemed to understand his inference. “I canna say,” she said honestly. “I only come when I have pelts tae sell.”
“Do ye travel through the Vale of Morning tae come here?”
She shrugged. “Sometimes,” she said. “Sometimes I take the road.”
“Road from where? Where do ye live?”
They’d gotten on to the forbidden subject again and she averted her gaze. “In the hills,” she said, which wasn’t a lie. “Ye canna go there.”
“Why not?”
