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Lexie slanted a glance at her, and Evanna looked around, raising her eyebrows in a question.
“What?” she asked, frowning.
“Ye like him, really.” Lexie’s voice was teasing. “Ye have one of those faces that gives everything away, Evanna. I can see ye are smitten.”
“There is likin’ andlikin’,Lexie,” she conceded. “He is a handsome man, but that does no’ make him a good one. I think he is completely selfish, if ye want tae know.” She began to cut a bannock with so much force she looked as though she was sawing wood. “He has no’ thought o’ the danger he is puttin’ us in, even though I have explained it tae him.”
Lexie took the eggs and a few slices of black pudding off the griddle and slapped them onto plates for Evanna and her father while Evanna put butter on the bread. Just as she was about to leave the kitchen with the plates, Lexie caught her arm.
“He is having a good day taeday, Evanna,” she said. “Make the most of it and stop worrying about our uninvited guest. I will see tae him; I am a bit closer tae his size! Treasure every minute ye have with yer da. Ye do not have many left…”
Evanna nodded and smiled at the woman who had been like a mother to her all her life. “I will,” she replied, then said sadly, “I don’t think he will be with us much longer, Lexie.” Then she turned away, leaving Lexie to her thoughts. Bruce had been on her mind a lot lately.
Evanna went out to where Bruce was chatting to a couple of friends who were regular visitors at the tavern. She shook his arm and smiled at Archie and Jimmy, whose friendship with her father had spanned many years. “Come on, Da, before it’s cold,” she said as she put the plates down on the table. “Ye know how ye hate cold eggs.”
Archie nodded at Evanna. “Ye know, my boy Robbie was talkin’ about ye the other day, Evanna. He was sayin’ what a nice lass ye were, an’ bonny as well.” He smiled at her as if inviting her to say something complimentary about Robbie in return. However, nothing was further from her mind since she disliked the young man intensely.
“That is very kind of him, Archie,” Evanna replied, cringing inwardly. She knew exactly where this conversation was leading. “Say ‘thank ye’ for me.”
“I will.” Archie looked at her steadily for a moment. “Ye know, he was just sayin’ tae me the other day what a fine wife ye would make. Ye have learned tae run a tavern, so a house would be much easier.”
Evanna looked up, her cheeks flaming. Even though she had been expecting them, the words came as a shock. “I have no desire tae get married for another wee while, Archie,” she told him firmly.An’ even if I did, I would not marry Robbie Boyle if he was the last man on Earth.“My da needs me here.”
“I see.” Archie shrugged. “Well, maybe ye will think o’ him when ye are ready, Evanna.”
Evanna said nothing. She had no intention of doing any such thing since Robbie Boyle was an overweight, overindulged drunk who would not lift a finger in his house or garden. Evanna was happy to work as hard as she had always done, but she refused to ever be a drudge or a doormat.
As she went to sit down with her father, the man in question entered the room. He was short, fat, and completely repulsive, but he winked at her as he sat down, and she could feel his eyes on her all the way through her meal. He seemed to be trying to bore a hole in the back of her head.
Presently her father settled down to his breakfast, and for a while, there was nothing but the sound of chewing, crunching, and slurping from his side of the table. He had always been a noisy eater, and it had long since ceased to bother her as long as he ate well and enjoyed his food. She wanted him to savor every last moment of whatever life he had left.
Despite the deterioration of his mind, Bruce was still a fine upstanding man, and Evanna’s biggest regret was that she would never see him grow old. There might even be a son-in-law and grandchildren that he would never see. She sighed as she watched him, and her heart swelled with love and sadness.
As if he had read her mind, he said, “I hope I see ye married, hen,” he said regretfully, sighing. “I know ye have no sweetheart in yer life yet, but I know ye will have one soon. I want tae see some grandbairns before I go.” His face had dropped into lines of sadness, and he was smiling through tears as he contemplated the possibility of little boys and girls running around his feet and jumping on his lap.
“Ye might still have years yet, Da,” Evanna consoled him. For some reason, the mention of grandchildren brought a vivid picture of the man upstairs to mind, and she wondered why before ruthlessly pushing the idea away. He might be handsome—so handsome that he made her body do delightful things it had never done before—but lie with him? Never!
“Aye, but what kind o’ years will they be, Evanna?” he sighed, but this time it was with anger. “I will likely be more like a bairn myself before I die.”
“If ye are, ye can always count on me tae look after ye, Da,” she promised. “I will never leave ye.”
He nodded slowly, then rose and walked out to see Daisy, who usually liked a morning snack of oats at this time. Suddenly, he looked very, very old.
Once again, Evanna was reduced to mopping the floor and serving the customers, but this time she felt utterly depressed and downtrodden. Her head was beginning to ache and she felt as though she was moving in a dream since the day had taken on a strange, unreal quality.
She was moving between the tables to go back to the kitchen when a large figure rose from one of the chairs and stood so close to her that she almost bumped into him.
Robbie Boyle smiled at her, an evil, gap-toothed expression that made Evanna feel nauseous.
“Excuse me,” she said pointedly, as she tried to push past him. However, he gripped both her arms tightly and pushed his face closer to hers, and she recoiled in disgust. The pungent smell of whiskey assailed her nostrils. It was not unpleasant on its own, but mixed with the stench of rotten teeth, it was truly repulsive. Evanna turned her head away, wincing.
“How about a wee kiss, darlin’?” Robbie asked in what he supposed was an enticing manner.
Evanna saw red. She wrenched her arms away from Robbie’s clutches and slapped him so hard across his face that he fell to the floor, yelling in pain.
“NEVER touch me again!” she screamed, then she marched out of the bar, leaving all the customers laughing, frowning, or gaping in amazement.
“I could have told ye that was goin’ tae happen,” Bruce said mischievously. He shook his head. “I don’t think ye should bother askin’ her tae marry ye, Robbie, do ye?”
