The baker’s son was seated outside the bake shop when they drew up in front of it. Rob hopped out immediately, and then came around to assist her down. “Is that him?”
“Yes,” Fiona whispered. “Look at his slovenly appearance. His apron is dirty. His father would never allow this if he were here.” She peered into the bakery to confirm the father was not inside. “What is going on here, Holland?” she demanded, steeling her spine and tipping her chin up to look every inch his superior. “Did your father authorize you to change suppliers?”
The baker’s son rose slowly and cast her an insolent glower. “Irun this establishment now. No one tells me what to do.”
“Where is your father?”
“The shop isn’t his anymore. Ye’re not to bother him, m’lady.”
“That isn’t what I asked you. Where is he?”
The son shrugged. “Home.”
She turned to Rob. “We can walk there. He lives close by.”
Rob did not look pleased, either. But Fiona could not ignore a longtime customer. What if the man needed her help?
She marched around the corner to a small house just off the high street and knocked on the door. The baker himself answered, and he did not appear to be suffering at all. “Mr. Holland? Why is your son in charge?”
“Good morning, m’lady. Is he already giving you headaches? I was afraid this might happen, but did not expect it so soon. You see, I gave the shop over to him just last week.”
“Why? You do not look ill. What happened?”
The man gave a jovial laugh. “Indeed, I am in the pink of health. But I’ve amassed a tidy sum over the years and thought I would do a bit of traveling while I had the chance. I gave my son the shop and this house. It is all his to tend now, although you and I both know he will lose everything within the year if he does not change his slovenly ways. But that is his lookout now. He’s full grown and has never done anything for himself in his life. It is time he learned.”
A pretty, older woman came from his parlor to join them at the door. Fiona recognized the butcher’s wife, who was recently widowed, although she did not look much like a grieving widow. “Mrs. Fallow?”
“Would you care to come in, my lady? And you, good sir? You are most welcome as well. I shall put on the kettle for us.”
Fiona shook her head. “Thank you, but we are in a hurry. However, I wanted to make certain Mr. Holland was all right.”
“Very kind of you, m’lady,” the widow said, smiling up at the baker. “We shall be traveling together. Pooling our resources for this next adventure. I daresay we are both well and happy.”
Fiona let out a breath. “Then I wish you a most pleasant journey, wherever your hearts may take you.”
After exchanging a few more pleasantries, she and Rob walked away. “Wipe that smug grin off your face,” she said.
He held out his arms as though innocent. “What did I do?”
“You are giving me that ‘I told you so’ look and silently chiding me for meddling in the baker’s business.”
“Youweremeddling, but you were also concerned for him. I’m glad his story had a happy ending.”
She nodded. “Yes, but his son is a toad and will destroy everything this man has built up over a lifetime of toil.”
“It happens to the best of us, Fiona. Wastrel offspring are the bane of too many families to count. Wealth and title does not spare them from the ills of stupidity or sloth. Look at my own family. How did we come to this end? I am the last surviving male heir when there ought to have been five or six in the Durham line ahead of me and another two or three after me. Of the ones who came prior, not one of them died honorable deaths. One drowned, another died in a duel, two of them fell off their horses and broke their necks because they were reckless or drunk, and another died of an unnamed disease probably caught while in a brothel.”
He sighed and shook his head. “That does not even take into account the Durham men in my grandfather’s generation. He had three brothers and a host of male cousins. I suppose some of them died honorably on the field of battle and others simply died natural deaths from old age. But they had more than their share of scandals.”
“Not you, however. You were perfect, Rob. You have never taken a step out of line. I’ve never met a smarter man or one with better common sense and noble valor. You behave honorably at every opportunity.”
He ran a hand through his hair in consternation. “You call this love fest you and I are indulging in nightly honorable?”
“Yes.”
He laughed. “If you say so. But I don’t think my sticking my…myself in you at every opportunity is something I wish to boast about.”
“Are you ashamed of me?”
