As Edith placed the apron back on the peg, Mrs. McTaggart called to her. “I’m sorry for earlier, Mistress Gallagher. I was a bit frazzled when ye found me.”
Edith shrugged and smiled. “I didn’t notice.” The kitchen at Aldmist Fell was one of the few places she felt at ease and capable. In truth, she was more suited to work at Mrs. McTaggart’s side than dine with nobility. “Thank you for allowing me to help. It was good to be in the kitchen again.”
Mrs. McTaggart tossed a leg and thigh in the heavy iron skillet on the stove, intent on her task. “I was happy to have ye. Yer a good woman.”
“For a Sassenach?” Edith teased.
“For anyone, lass. Dinna forget it.”
Six
The next daya vivid blue sky and enough sunlight to chase away the chill greeted the occupants of Aldmist Fell. Perfect conditions for an ice skating party. Fergus glided around the ice, dodging McTaggarts and Thornes alike. He was glad some of his kin had taken up Helena’s invitation to join her and her guests. Miss Gracie’s eyes had doubled in size when they’d topped the hill and she’d spotted skaters already on the pond. Her first party was a grand success.
“Fergus, look at me!” The lassie shuffled toward him, knock-kneed and as clumsy as a newborn colt, but what she lacked in coordination, she made up in enthusiasm.
Fergus skidded to a halt to allow her to demonstrate her skill. “Verra well done, lass.” Just as she did with almost everything she tried, she tackled skating without fear. Consequently, she was building up speed and approaching a tad faster than he liked. “Do ye remember how to stop?”
“No!” She giggled and flung her arms as if she were a windmill. “Help!”
Fergus laughingly scooped her up before she collided with him and carefully lifted her to sit on his shoulders. She screeched when they teetered and covered his eyes.
“Now I cannae see.”
“Sorry.” She moved her hands to his forehead, knocking his hat askew. “Take me around the pond.”
He considered it for a fleeting moment. He’d strapped on his first pair of skates when he was a boy of three. Skating was in his blood, but carrying the little miss around on his shoulders would earn him a good scolding from Mistress Gallagher. And perhaps he would deserve it too, for no matter how confident he was in his abilities, accidents happened sometimes.
“No’ the of best ideas, lassie.” He pulled her from her perch and held her upright until she found her balance. “It is high time I started using the brain God gave me.”
“You’ve been spending too much time with Edith,” she quipped.
He laughed. “Aye, perhaps that is so. I can skate with you, if you like.”
Spinning around, he took her hands and slowly started skating backward. It didn’t take long for Miss Gracie to find her skating legs as they circled the pond. “Yer a natural, lass.”
She pulled one hand free. “I want to try by myself.” Hesitantly she loosened her grip on his other hand and slid it from his hold until only their fingertips touched. “I think I can do it.”
“I know you can.”
Her beaming smile when she let go and didn’t wobble warmed his heart from the inside out. It hit him full force that he wanted to teach his own child to skate while he was still able-bodied. His mother’s harping on finding a wife and filling a nursery seemed less like a burden in that moment. It wasn’t just a duty to fulfill in the future. Fatherhood became a gentle tug of longing.
“I’m going to show Helena and Lavinia I can skate now,” Miss Gracie said, already headed in the direction of the two ladies chatting around the warming fire. “You should teach Edith. She cannot skate either.”
His gaze was drawn to Mistress Gallagher where she was huddled around the fire as well. She stood at a slight distance from the other two ladies and made a show of warming her hands. Perhaps she was allowing the sisters privacy, although at a glance, she appeared slightly uncomfortable, as if she was uncertain of her place.
As Miss Gracie approached the fire, however, Mistress Gallagher’s face transformed with the most beautiful smile. Her eyes radiated love and her joyful applause for the girl’s accomplishment rang with genuine pride. A powerful force slammed into his chest, stealing his breath.
Crivvens! The mother of his future children had been under his nose this whole time.
When Edith cheered for Gracie, Lavinia and Lady Thorne swung toward the ice. “Would you look at her?” Lavinia said. “She is in her element. I must admit she is thriving under your care.”
Lady Thorne hugged her sister. “We’ve done nothing you were not already doing.”
Edith smiled. Gracie was a true wonder, tackling new activities with little to no fear. Edith admired this quality in her, even though it increased her worry for the girl’s safety at times.
“Well done, Gracie!” Lord Thorne shouted from across the ice. He skated to the edge of the pond and gestured to his wife to join him. “You don’t want to miss skating with her. She is beside herself with pride.”
Lady Thorne smiled at Lavinia. “Will you excuse me to skate with our little sister?”
