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Presently, however, Lexie dusted her hands and then became brisk, turning her attention back to the eggs again. “Does Bruce want porridge today?” she asked. Then she glanced at him, frowning. “I see that he is not having a very good time at the moment.”
“Perhaps we should not disturb him,” Evanna suggested. “At least he is quiet just now.”
However, just as she finished her words, an almighty roar came from inside the tavern. Recognizing her father’s voice, Evanna rushed into the main room and found him punching the living daylights out of one of the men who were eating. No doubt the others could have pulled him away, but they were too busy laughing and cheering him on. They obviously found the sight of an older man beating up a young, strong soldier very entertaining.
The younger man was lying on his side on the floor, curled into a ball. At first, Evanna thought that he was unconscious, but then he raised his head slightly and tried to scuttle backward and stand up. There was no help from his fellows, but Evanna instinctively rushed forward and tugged at her father’s arm. It was not forceful enough to pull him away, but it unbalanced him enough to stop him from landing another punch.
“Da!” she cried. “Stop this at once!” She stood glaring at him, and he calmed down almost immediately. Evanna saw the light of awareness come back into his eyes. He looked around, confused and disbelieving, and Evanna felt infinitely sorry for him.
The young man stood up, bunching his fists and ready for a fight, and for a moment Evanna was torn. She could either vent her fury at them for being stupid enough to do nothing and take the risk of them tearing the tavern to pieces, or she could be polite and apologetic. Hopefully, this would calm everyone down since some of the men were beginning to look distinctly aggressive.
She stepped between them and asked, “Are ye hurt?” as she helped the young man to his feet. “I am so sorry, sir. My father is no’ well. What happened?”
“I just looked at him.” The man took a few steps backward. “An’ he attacked me.” He shrugged. “I did no’ say anythin’.”
Evanna seriously doubted that to be the case; she was sure that her poor, fragile father had been provoked. However, she fought down her anger and handed Bruce over to Brian and Callum, the two stockmen who did the heavy lifting at the tavern. By this time he was docile, thank God, and at least she had managed to calm the situation down a little.
“The food is on the house,” she announced to the company, forcing a smile.
Immediately a cheer went up, and one of the men, who seemed to be their leader, stood up and smiled at her. He was short, wiry, and redheaded, but he had unusual eyes. Most redheads had blue, grey, or green eyes, but these were so dark brown and so deeply set that they almost looked like holes in his face.
This must be Rowan Mulholland,Evanna thought, and shivered. She immediately saw why Fraser disliked him so much.
“Thank ye, kind lady.” He smiled wolfishly. “That is very generous o’ ye, an’ I can tell ye how tae make up any losses ye may have suffered. There is a man out there—his name is Fraser McLachlan—an’ he is very dangerous, so don’t approach him. But if ye see him, send word to Burntstane Castle an’ we will come an’ get him.” He leaned forward and murmured, “There is a good reward in it for ye.”
Evanna drew back, feeling slightly sick. The man was repulsive.
“And how will I recognize him?” she asked.
“Recognize him?” He turned to his men, who laughed. “Ye will know him because he does no’ look like anyone else ’round here, lass. He is very tall, muscular, an’ dark. He has a black beard an’ blue eyes that a’ the ladies swoon over.” He rolled his eyes. “An’ he is very strong, so don’t go near him. Ye have no idea what he is capable o’. Understand?”
“I do.” Evanna nodded. “Thank ye for the warnin’.”
“My name is Rowan,” he said, bowing.
“Evanna,” she answered, pinning a smile on her face. “If ye are from Burntstane, ye must be careful around here.”
“We will. Good tae meet ye, Evanna,” Rowan said with exaggerated politeness. He bowed in a theatrical manner, and if the situation had not been so dire, she would have laughed.
Evanna stood recovering her wits for a moment until Lexie came up behind her and put a comforting arm around her shoulders.
“Thank God for that,” she muttered. “I was just about tae intervene when ye arrived.”
Evanna giggled. Lexie was more than equal to the task of pulling her father away, but whether she could do it without starting an even bigger fight was debatable. “I am glad ye stayed out of it,” she said, relieved.
“Ye had better get on with giving that big lad upstairs his breakfast,” Lexie suggested. “I will see tae Bruce.”
Just then, Donna came in, full of excitement. “My, there are some bonny lads out there!” She was flushed, animated, and Evanna could see that she was clearly in her element.
Evanna was glad that she and Flora were there to provide a welcome distraction from the mêlée in the main room. Now that things were back to normal, they had gone back to doing what they did best: flirting outrageously with the young men. Usually she would have asked them to calm down a little, but now the men needed the distraction the pretty young ladies would provide.
She watched as Donna was pulled onto one of their laps, giggling. The young man whispered something in her ear, and she clapped her hands to her cheeks, pretending to be shocked, before giving him a little slap across the cheek, which made him screw up his face in agony as if he had been mortally wounded.
Flora was being fought over by two of the other men. Each of them had one of her hands and was pretending to have a tug-of-war between them while Flora giggled uncontrollably. Finally, one of them let go of her, and she was swept into the arms of the other one. They kissed once, then, at a signal from Lexie, she went back to her duties.
“Sometimes flirting can go a bit too far,” she remarked grimly. “We don’t want this place tae get a certain type of reputation.”
“Aye! That is all we need!” Evanna said grimly.
