“Let the boy be, Zeke. He needs a break to recoup his arm.” The earl waved a dismissive hand. “As for me, I’m starved. Let’s to lunch. Zeke, go and fetch the basket.”
Zeke shook his head in disbelief, eyeing Kit meaningfully.
Kitty spoke up. “No, my lord, I can—”
“Nonsense, Kit. Zeke, you said yourself the boy’s overheated. Kit and I will have a seat in the shade. Lend me your arm, Kit, there’s a lad.”
Kitty shot the earl a reproving glance as she fell in step beside him.
He winked at her. “Bring the blanket first, Zeke, if you don’t mind. We want to sit under the hawthorn without getting dirt on our trousers.”
***
As the earl and his grandson supped, Kitty did her best to disappear into the background and Lord Thurgood seemed only too happy to allow her to do so.
He sat with his back to her while devouring his meal and grilling the earl—on his overall health, how he’d been sleeping, whether he continued to work so many hours on the estate or if he’d handed some of his duties over to the manager as Zeke suggested before he last sailed.
His obvious affection for his grandfather quite charmed her, though she maintained a mask of indifference in the event he deigned to glance her way.
Her ears pricked up when Lord Claybourne asked about his upcoming travel plans.
“The American West is next on the docket,” Thurgood said. “I believe I mentioned a gold mine I’ve a mind to purchase.”
“Once or twice. Just when do you propose to make this journey, Zeke?” Lord Claybourne demanded, sounding weary.
“Soon,” Zeke hedged, ripping off a hunk of bread from the remaining loaf and stuffing it into his mouth.
“What is it with you and mines?” The earl splashed a portion of wine into his goblet.
Kitty wondered the same thing.
Zeke considered the question for a long moment, rubbing his chin with his pointer finger. “I suppose I enjoy mining because”—he paused—“because of what mines produce. We can hold it, measure it, count on it to stand the test of time, and once it’s ours, no one can take it away.”
As if sensing he’d given some secret part of himself away, Zeke cleared his throat and muttered, “Or something to that effect.”
“There are other things in this world even more substantial than gems and metals,” the earl said softly.
If Zeke heard him, he made no comment. “All I need now is a bed.” He set aside his empty plate,leaned back on his elbows and stretched out his long legs.
Kitty’s hand paused halfway to bringing a piece of cheese to her mouth. Her gaze grazed over his well-shaped calves to the contoured muscles of his thighs visible through the fabric.
As if he sensed her eyes on him, Zeke glanced over his shoulder at her.
She shifted her focus away in the nick of time. What in the world was wrong with her? First she’d stared at his arms, now his legs. Arms and legs. Everyone had them.
“My lord, how many times did you bring Caden and I out here to shoot, fish, and hunt? Too many to count, I’d wager.”
She heard the smile in his voice and found herself smiling along with him.
“Too many indeed. Do you recall the times your father joined us?”
The tentative note in the earl’s voice drew Kitty’s gaze back to the two men in time to see Zeke snatch a piece of grass from the ground and fling it back toward the earth.
“I recall the last time. One of the few family outings Father bothered attending after Mother—” Zeke slammed his mouth shut so hard Kitty heard the clash of his teeth.
She averted her gaze, but not before she glimpsed the flash of pain in Lord Claybourne’s eyes, and no one could miss Zeke’s simmering anger. What had he meant to say before he stopped himself?
She knew little of his parents’ history. The earl’s son, Zeke’s father, had died some time ago, as had his mother. But Kitty had no inkling as to the details. Whatever the case, it appeared neither Zeke nor Lord Claybourne had fully recovered. She could relate all too well.
