AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Still, it wasn’t London. For the moment, at least, she was safe.
Time to get on with it.
She straightened her shoulders and primly folded her hands in her lap. “Speaking of your grandfather, my dear sir,” she started in a disapproving voice.
He interrupted her as he took the other chair. “Ainsley, you look like you have a pole up your—”
“Royal Kendrick!”
“Spine,” he finished with a smile. “You needn’t be so formal, pet. Now, since you seem a tad worn around the edges, why don’t you sit back and relax? We’ll have tea first, and then we can talk.”
“I arrived in Glasgow this morning after almost a week on the road. I’m allowed to look a little worn out, aren’t I?” With everything she’d been through these last weeks, it was a miracle she didn’t look a complete hag.
“Ainsley, you look as beautiful as always. But you do have shadows under your eyes, and you’re paler than usual.”
She was slightly mollified by his concern but refused to be distracted. “As I was going to say, I was quite disconcerted to see Angus carting my daughter about in so casual a fashion. Surely you should have a nursemaid taking care of her, not a, er . . . elderly man.”
Thankfully, she managed to stop herself from calling his grandfather a disgusting old reprobate. The gleam in Royal’s eyes suggested he had a good idea what she’d been about to say.
“Angus is better with Tira than the nursemaids are. He certainly spends as much time with the lass as they do.”
“I don’t believe it.”
“Believe it,” he said with a wry smile. “You needn’t worry about Angus. He’s devoted to Tira, and she adores him.”
“Good God.”
“Don’t forget that Angus helped raise us after my mother died, especially the younger lads.”
“And look how well that turned out,” she said tartly. The twins, Graeme and Grant, were two of the most appalling young men Ainsley had ever met.
“You mean the twins. But they’re much better than they used to be. And you must admit that Braden and Kade are exceedingly nice, despite their youth.”
“That’s true,” she admitted. “But I refuse to believe the twins are anything less than horrible. And you, Royal Kendrick, are your grandfather’s favorite and you’re absolutely dreadful.”
His smile slid into something so warm and lovely that Ainsley suddenly felt a bit overheated.
“You don’t seem to mind,” he said.
“Don’t flatter yourself. And why are those dreadful little dogs at Kendrick House instead of up at the castle? Please don’t tell me that they’re allowed in the nursery.”
“They sleep there, actually. Under Tira’s crib.”
When she stared at him with unalloyed horror, Royal burst into laughter.
“Don’t fash yourself, lass,” he managed to gasp out. “The terriers are as devoted to her as everyone else, and they make splendid guard dogs. They don’t let anyone they don’t know within ten feet of her. If she so much as drops her rattle, they raise a fuss until someone picks it up for her.”
“Oh, Lord. My daughter is being raised by wild animals and even wilder Highlanders.”
“Your daughter is being raised by a family utterly smitten with her,” Royal said gently. “And she’s thriving.”
She closed her eyes for a moment. “Truly? I couldn’t see her well enough to tell.”
“She’s the happiest, healthiest, and chubbiest baby that ever lived. I promise.”
Ainsley’s anxious heart finally began to settle. These months away from her daughter had been torture, even with the regular if obscurely worded reports from Victoria.
“I’d like to see her, please,” she whispered.
