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His voice was so gentle, and his expression so kind, that she longed to throw herself into the shelter of his embrace.
“Jeannie and I had another fight.”
“About her running off to the distillery and getting trapped by the fire?”
She flapped a hand. “She skimmed right over that, believe it or not. No, it was over my insistence that she return to London.”
He winced in sympathy. “That must have gone down a treat. Is it David she’s not wishing to leave?”
“In a nutshell. How she can think there’s any hope with a man almost twice her age—and a vicar, no less—is beyond me. If it were Kade, I could understand. But this infatuation with David is absolutely dotty.”
“Infatuations usually are. Jeannie is young and impressionable, and Brown has become something of a hero to her. She’ll get over it soon enough.”
Kathleen sighed. “I used to be her hero.”
“And you will be again, sweet girl.”
After casting a quick glance around the garden, he tipped up her chin and pressed a kiss to her lips. He lingered for a few moments, and it was all Kathleen could do not to press her body against his.
When he pulled back, she had to struggle to find her voice. “That . . . that was very naughty of you.”
“My fair colleen,” he murmured in a deep brogue, “I am just getting started.”
Suddenly, she felt a great deal better than she had even a few minutes ago. Kathleen had the sensation that with Grant by her side, any problem could be solved.
“Grant Kendrick, stop flirting and bring Kathleen inside,” called a crisp feminine voice from the back door.
“Good Lord,” Kathleen muttered as she glanced over her shoulder at Sabrina.
Grant rolled his eyes. “Och, Sabrina’s as bad as my twin.”
“I just need to put my gardening tools away,” Kathleen called back.
Sabrina waved an impatient hand. “The gardener will take care of it.”
“She’s fashed about something,” Grant said, taking Kathleen’s arm.
“Not more trouble, I hope.”
“What’s wrong?” Grant asked Sabrina when they reached her.
“I cannot find Jeannie.”
Kathleen’s heart banged against her ribs. “She went up to her bedroom after breakfast. When I tried to speak with her before coming out to the garden, she told me to go away. That she wasn’t coming out of her room.”
“When Mrs. Wilson brought the tea tray to the drawing room, I asked one of the maids to fetch Jeannie,” said Sabrina. “I thought she’d be hungry, since she’d not had any breakfast. But her room was empty.”
“Did you try the study? She likes to read there in the afternoon.”
Sabrina grimly shook her head. “Hannah and I have looked everywhere on the main floors. I sent Davey to poke around the rest of the house—”
She broke off when the Kendrick footman hurried toward them down the hallway. Kathleen rushed to meet him.
“Any luck?” she asked.
Davey grimaced. “Nae, miss. She’s not in the house. Me and the housemaids looked everywhere, and we couldna find her. She’s nae in the stables, either.”
Kathleen shook her head in disbelief.
