“Thank you,” she said quietly, then chewed on the corner of her lip, eyeing him as if debating whether or not to say what was on her mind.Nothing had stopped her earlier.What had changed?
“What is it, lass?”
Before she could answer, a knock rattled the door.“Got some water here, Molly,” one of the kitchen lads called from the hallway.
“Let them in,” Grant told the maid when she looked to him for permission.
Molly deposited her armload of goods onto the bench at the foot of the bed, hurried to the door, and waved them inside.“Did ye bring a full kettle for the fire so’s I can keep the mistress’s water good and warm for her?”
“Jasper’s got two,” Rob, the first lad entering the room, said.Before dumping his buckets of water into the tub, he paused and bowed in Jessa's direction and then at Grant.“Mornin’ to ye, mistress.My laird.”
Grant nodded at the lad, then studied Jessa, who seemed bewildered by the servant’s manners.Moving to stand beside the bed, he leaned toward her to speak for her ears alone, dismayed when she shied away.“Lass?”How could she think he would ever harm her?
“Sorry.”She backed up tighter against the headboard and rubbed her forehead.“Everything is still so messed up.”
“Do ye need more tea for yer head?”
“No.It doesn’t hurt anymore.I’m just—confused.”
He could only imagine the depths of her confusion.Mayhap her coffee would help.Those he knew who liked that black swill sometimes claimed it settled their minds.“Hester—see about hurrying the mistress’s coffee along, aye?”
“Aye, m’laird.”The maid dipped a curtsy and rushed out.
Two more scullery lads showed up, bowed theirgood mornings, and dumped their buckets into the large copper tub that Molly had lined with linen.The maid turned, twisting a cloth between her hands.“Yer bath is ready, mistress.”
Jessa's reddish blonde brows barely twitched higher, and she angled a wary glare his way.She didn’t speak, but then, she didn’t need to.Her expression spoke volumes.
“I shall retire to my solar to await ye,” Grant said with a proper bow.“’Tis naught but across the hall.Molly will bring ye over when ye’ve finished here.”
She didn’t comment, merely hugged her knees tighter and narrowed her eyes as if drowning in her troubled thoughts.
“Well, then,” he said.“I leave ye to it.”After a curt nod, he strode out the door, methodically sorting through everything he had ever heard Henry and Lachie say about the Defenders and Mairwen.The witch had overstepped her bounds this time, and he fully intended to not only regain control of his own life but put Jessa's to rights as well.He’d not deny there was something about the woman that made him ache to know her better, but he’d be damned if he forced a lass who hated him to remain at his side.
Chapter 7
Jessa ran her tongue across her teeth.They felt fuzzy, and her mouth tasted of morning funk and the nasty tea she’d had last night.But in reality, needing to brush her teeth was the least of her worries.She eyed the maid, wondering if she could get the truth out of the girl who looked extremely young to work as a maid.“Molly, is it?”
“Aye, mistress.I be Molly, and Mrs.Robeson said ye could choose between me and Hester to be yer lady’s maid.”The thin brunette tilted her angular jaw higher and patted her chest.“I have the more experience, ye ken?Hester is nice enough, but she be the newest here at the keep.”She cast a glance back at the tub.“Would ye care to enjoy yer bath now?”
While Jessa wasn’t all that sure about stripping down in front of the maid, she wanted to wash since she hadn’t showered since yesterday morning, which felt like eons ago.Remembering how she had grumbled about the cottage’s poor water pressure, she wished she’d been more thankful for what she’d had at the time.Now, she was reduced to bathing in something better suited for watering livestock.Life had handed her quite the lesson in gratitude.
She clambered out of the bed, then skittered to one side as Molly hurried forward and reached for her.
“Forgive me, mistress.”The maid backed up a step, wringing her hands.“I only meant to help ye with yer shift.”
“It’s all right.You didn’t do anything wrong.I’m just a little jumpy.”
“Himself said ye had survived a terrible ordeal.”
“Himself?”Jessa had a pretty good idea who Molly was talking about, but it never hurt to be sure.Especially since she still hadn’t figured out this alternate reality Mr.MacSexy had manufactured.She untied the nightgown and pushed it to the floor rather than slipping it over her head.She preferred to keep her line of sight clear at all times.
“The laird,” Molly said while steadying Jessa to help her step into the high-sided tub.“Is the water warm enough, mistress?Ye want I should heat it a bit more?Jasper brought us two fine kettles that I’ve got warming over there on the fire.There’s plenty.”
“No, it’s good, thank you.”Jessa bundled her hair on top of her head, then was at a loss for how to get it to stay there.All her hair clips and ties were at the cottage or Mairwen’s massage therapy room.“Do you have any clips or barrettes?Or a scrunchie would be awesome.”
Sorting through one of the baskets, Molly paused in her digging and frowned.“Forgive me, mistress, but I dinna ken what ye need.If ye tell me what troubles ye, I am sure I can sort it out.”
Well, of course, the maid wouldn’t know about those things.Molly had been trained or brainwashed into living and believing all things 1785.“Something to hold my hair up so it doesn’t get wet?”
