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“But you suspected otherwise, didn’t you?”
“We were getting married. He kept asking me about my finances, my expenses, all about my engagements. But I figured it was because he was interested. That’s all. But I have to know. Why do Cearnach and Baird dislike each other? Cearnach would never tell me. He’d just say Baird wouldn’t be right for me.”
“Do you remember back in 1779 when Cearnach and the rest of us went to the port city of St. Andrews on a buying trip, right before you and your family moved out of the area?”
“Aye. Cearnach promised to buy me hair ribbons.”
“See why we thought the two of you were sweet on each other? We learned that the Hawthorn brothers were being hanged at the behest of Lord Whittington, who claimed they had stolen a couple of his merchant ships and murdered some of his men during the battle. We wanted to know if the Hawthorn brothers had any of our merchandise on board that they had stolen from us the previous year—then we saw Elaine.”
“The hanged men were Elaine’s uncles,” Calla whispered.
“Aye. And you recall that we chased after Elaine, though at the time we didn’t know her name. Cearnach had been the closest to reaching her when we became embroiled in a fight with men on the street. We discovered later that Baird and his brothers and their cousin were responsible for delaying us. Cearnach lost his hold on her, and she disappeared.”
“I remember seeing Cearnach after that. He wouldn’t talk about it. He felt something for her, more than just wanting to protect her. I knew it with all my heart. I felt terrible for him, but he didn’t wish to speak of it,” Calla said.
“Aye. He searched and searched for her. But he never could locate her, and then he discovered she’d returned to America, and he assumed she was safe back at home.”
“But she wasn’t.”
“Nay.”
“So…that was the only reason he was angry with Baird? That he and his kin had started a fight and stopped Cearnach from reaching Elaine?” Calla asked.
“Part of it. Some of it was that the McKinleys were vigorously searching to take her into their clan, and whatever their purposes, it wouldn’t have been for good. To learn where the stolen treasure was hidden. To force her mating with one of the clansmen to gain her parents’ properties. They were all pirates. The whole family. Cearnach later learned that Baird was the one who instigated the whole thing back then. Baird was the one who learned her uncles were there, reported them to the lord, and set a trap for them. Then Baird and his kin went after Elaine. Baird was just as angry that my brothers and I were trying to locate her to keep her safe—from the likes of them.”
“Like Cearnach tried to protect me from Baird.”
Guthrie nodded.
“Except with me, as far as Baird was concerned, it had nothing to do with pirating.”
“Aye, which is why Cearnach would never have mentioned that specific instance to you. You left shortly after that to live in England with your parents, and when you moved back to the area to return to your roots here a year ago, Baird’s interest in you would have been for other reasons anyway. Cearnach didn’t suppose his mentioning what had happened so long ago would influence you one way or another. You have to admit you stubbornly refused to listen to all his other talks.”
She took a deep breath. “Aye. He did tell me about their pirating ways, but that was so long ago, and Baird had been into legitimate businesses for a couple of hundred years or so. I…I’m not sure if what he did to Elaine’s uncles would have swayed me for certain, since they also had been pirates, and that was sometimes how their pirating way of life ended. But…Cearnach should have told me. It might have influenced me.”
“Aye, lass. I agree.” He wished he knew how to stop Baird from pestering her without it coming to a fatal showdown. Guthrie fetched more paper towels and wet them to finish cleaning up the spilled milk so they could return to bed. He knelt down and began to wipe off the milk that had splattered Calla’s robe.
Calla instantly grew flustered. Already his kin were talking behind their backs as if the two of them were courting. If anyone caught them together like this…
That’s when she heard footfalls. She thought Guthrie would immediately stop washing the splotches of milk on her robe. He didn’t. When Duncan walked in and saw Guthrie on his knees at Calla’s feet, she knew her face had to be rose red, as hot as it felt. “I dropped a glass of milk,” she quickly said, noticing Duncan was dressed the same as Guthrie, only his boxers were navy blue. “Don’t come any closer. Your feet are bare. You might get cut.”
Duncan looked pointedly at Guthrie’s bare feet.
“He wouldn’t listen to me and apparently likes to live dangerously,” she said, annoyed. She glanced down at Guthrie, still wiping off her robe, and she was certain she didn’t have one more spot of milk left on the fabric. “Didn’t you get it off already?”
“Turn around and I’ll check the back.”
Now she knew she had to be flaming red all over. “That’s okay—”
“You don’t want the milk spots to sour,” Guthrie said, sounding determined to humiliate her further in front of his brother.
“I’ll…come back later,” Duncan said, and he quickly left.
She swore he was stifling a laugh. “Guthrie,” she said, exasperated, but he put his hands on her hips and turned her so he could wipe off the rest of her milk splatters.
She had dropped the whole eight-ounce glass of milk, but surely she didn’t get that much on the back side of her robe. His strokes were way too intimate, not just a rough brush-down of the fabric to soak up the milk. And they were way too high, to her way of thinking.
Before she could object, he bent down to wipe off her slippers.
Then he continued to mop up the floor. “I have important business to take care of tomorrow, and whoever Ian sends to watch over you will be perfectly competent, even if the toga wearers are bearing spears,” Guthrie said as if he hadn’t just completely embarrassed her.
When they were done, Guthrie poured both of them a fresh glass of milk. “Is anything else bothering you? The accommodations are all right? The bed is comfortable enough? The room’s sufficiently warm?”
“Aye.”
“You were just thirsty?”
