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“I’ve been ready for ten minutes.”
“Ye’ll have to wait a few more.” Angus waved at a groom standing halfway between wickets in a fielding position on the right. “Young Ian, will ye run inside and fetch me a light for my pipe?”
The groom nodded and started toward the house.
Kade shook his head. “This match isbeyondabsurd.”
“I canna properly umpire without a smoke,” said Angus.
“Grandda, you couldn’t properly umpire to save your life. Too bad Grant couldn’t be here. His calls are always fair, and he actually knows the rules.”
Angus, clearly unimpressed, curled a lip.
Gillian, meanwhile, flapped an emphatic hand at the departing groom. “Ho, Ian, get back in position. You can’t trot off in the middle of an inning.”
The poor man stopped a few yards off the pitch, looking resigned to yet another period of confusion.
Kade snorted. “She’s right, Ian. You’d best get back to your position. If this insanity keeps up, we’ll never finish.”
“What a tragedy that would be,” Kathleen drolly said.
“But I still need my turn at bat after Gillian,” Jeannie protested.
“You heard the girl.” Gillian thumped her bat on the ground.
Angus pointed at the duchess. “Verra well. But dinna be thinkin’ that I’ll be throwin’ any more calls your way, lassie. Yer on yer own, now.”
Gillian resumed her stance. “I assure you, sir, I need no one’s help to win.”
Kade retreated a few feet before taking a short run and then unwinding a fast bowl. Gillian swung hard and solidly connected, driving the ball in Ian’s direction.
Jeannie and Gillian both took off, running for opposite ends of the pitch. Kathleen blew a two-fingered whistle of support as the ball sailed over the groom’s head, just out of his reach and bouncing across the park.
“That’s an impressive whistle ye have, lassie,” Angus admiringly said.
Kade tugged on his ear. “It’s certainly loud.”
Gillian arrived at the wicket in a flurry of skirts and triumph, as Jeannie reached the opposite wicket, scoring the run.
“Huzzah for our side,” the girl cried, waving her bat over her head.
“Told you I didn’t need help,” Gillian teased Angus.
“Aye, but I’ll still be wantin’ a puff of my pipe.”
Kathleen looked at the small watch she’d pinned at her waist. “We should probably finish. It’s almost time to change for dinner.”
“True,” Gillian said, “but we did promise Jeannie a turn at bat.”
Kathleen glanced at Kade.
“Might as well,” Kade said with a good-natured smile. “Thanks to Grandda, my team has been thrashed.”
Gillian casually spun her bat. “We would have won anyway. Just ask my husband.”
“So ye didn’t need my help after all, cheeky lass,” said Angus.
The duchess doffed an imaginary cap. “Your chivalry, however, is duly noted.”
