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“Only in illustrations, but I think they have green eyes, also like you.”
“And like me, they have excellent night vision.” He shook out the wool cloak he’d slung over his arm. “I can see you shivering, lass. That pretty dress is not nearly warm enough for lurking in gardens at night.”
“I did bring a shawl, as you can see.”
“Och, that little scrap of fabric?” He draped the cloak around her slender form and carefully pulled the hood over her coiffure.
“Thank you. Iwasgetting a bit chilly and was just contemplating a return to the house. But I’m terrified of running into the vicar—or my sister.” She sighed. “Coward that I am.”
Grant settled next to her on the bench. “You’re safe from David. He fled posthaste after my deranged twin put a scare into him. I doubt yon vicar will be showing his face around Lochnagar anytime soon.”
“That’s one small blessing.” She suddenly started to scramble up. “I don’t suppose you know where Jeannie is? I hope she didn’t go after David.”
Grant gently pulled her back down. “No worries. According to Sabrina, she went to her room.”
She peered up at him. “I suppose Sabrina told you what happened after you escorted David from the room?”
He snorted. “Escorted him is putting it nicely. Graeme probably would have tossed him out a window if I hadn’t been there. I was tempted to let him do it, too. The good vicar is a nincompoop.”
“I cannot entirely blame him, since Jeannie is a very determined girl. She gets that from my example, I’m afraid.”
“I’m guessing you were never as naïve as our Jeannie.”
“I think losing my mother at such an early age forced me to leave my childhood behind.”
“Aye, that,” he quietly replied.
She glanced up at him, her expression hidden in the shadows cast by the hood. “Of course you would understand, having lost both your parents so early.”
What could he possibly say? That his innocence had buckled under the weight of grief? That he’d believed for too long that any chance for true happiness had died that day he’d been unable to save his father?
She slipped a hand out from the cloak and rested it on top of his. “I’m so sorry.”
“Kathleen, your wee hand is as cold as snow,” he gruffly said, tucking it back under the thick wool. “We should go back inside before you catch a chill.”
When Kade was a little boy, he’d caught a terrible chill that had almost killed him. It had taken years for him to regain his strength. The idea of anything like that happening to Kathleen . . .
He stood. “Back ye get.”
She grabbed his sleeve and yanked him down to the bench with a surprising strength. “Don’t be such a fussbudget. I’m perfectly warm.”
“Fussbudget, am I?”
“Sometimes. When you’re worried about someone.”
Grant settled back down. “Very well, we’ll stay but not for much longer. It’s the Highlands, and our nights get cold this time of year.”
“I’m getting used to it, which is an alarming notion.”
“Wait until January. This weather will seem like the middle of the summer.”
She chuckled. “Are you trying to scare me?”
“Nothing scares you, lass.”
“That is certainly not true.”
“Name one thing that frightens you—and I’m not talking about spiders, or a mouse running across your foot.”
