Feeling an odd fluttering in her belly, she dipped her head.
She moved about the group, offering food and drink to those settled about the fire. A much more enjoyable job with appreciative smiles and words of thanks from their visitors. Lachlann stopped in front of her and accepted the mead. The fingertips that grazed her hand were warm.
His voice quiet, he said, “My thanks.”
“Ye’re verra welcome,” Domelch answered in a loud voice over her shoulder.
Lachlann tipped his head before raising his eyes to Ethne. They sparkled with humor, and her breath caught.
“Is there anythingIcan help ye with?” he asked in a deep rumbling voice.
Her wide grin made her feel ridiculous, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself. She shuffled her feet. “Nay. Um…but thank ye.”
“Ethne!” Domelch’s impatient tone startled them both. “See to the fish. Then a bath.”
She flashed Lachlann a shy smile before returning to her work.
“And how did ye find our rough seas this morning?” Malcolm’s loud voice filled the small space as he spoke to no one in particular.
Niall chuckled. “I am not certain we were much help to yer wife. Highland Scots are not known for their open sea fishing skills.”
“Now, if ye’ve a loch nearby…” Aldred added without finishing the sentence.
“’Tis true enough.” Niall took a sip of the mead. “And the fowl. What are those dark-winged creatures?”
Malcolm seemed content to answer the pilgrim’s many questions about the area. Ethne saw to the fish and the heating of the water for the bath. As long as she remained beside the fire and worked, she was not included in the conversation, but whenever she glanced up, she found Lachlann’s eyes on her.
Finn kept to himself, saying nothing to the others. If anyone else noticed his sulking, they showed no sign of it. The boy needed some cheering up. When she was going for more water, she dropped down to his level and spoke quietly, “Finn, come with me.”
Finn raised sad eyes to her, shaking his head. That broke her heart.
“But I need yer help, little man,” she implored.
“I will help ye.” Uradech stood, shoulders back, big belly hanging over the belted waist.
She rose slowly, her body aching and tired. She gave him a tight smile. “I dinna want yer help.”
“But ye asked the boy—”
“The boy has a name. ’Tis Finn.”
The room went quiet. Her sharp words hung in the air. The weight of every eye on her needed no confirmation.
With her last speck of patience, she said, “Finn can help me.”
“Then I will help Finn.”
Memories of the man’s earlier threat to the child had her seeing red. “Finn does not needyerassistance. Not now. Not ever.”
“Ethne!” Domelch stood, her face pale. “Ye overstep yerself when ye speak so to my brother.”
Lachlann shifted beside the door where he had been standing. Ethne’s face heated. She had had enough. Enough of the backbreaking work of lugging water, while Domelch sat on her gilded stool. Enough of the relentless heat from the open flame heating the water, while Domelch dazzled their visitors with her beauty and wit. Enough of the leering gazes of Domelch’s brother every time Ethne bent over to lift the iron bucket or check the temperature of the water, while Domelch waited impatiently for her to finish filling her tub so she could take a pampered, luxurious soak.
With dripping sweat covering every bit of her stinking body, Ethne turned on Domelch. “If ye dinna keep yer beloved brother away from me—”
The woman gasped, then her mouth slackened and just as quickly slammed shut.
“Tell me,” Domelch demanded, “what will ye do,littleEthne?”
