Moira sniffed. “He looks lost.”
“I am nae lost,” Maxwell said.
Moira nodded solemnly. “That’s what lost men say.”
Isla choked on a laugh.
Ariella bit her lip, delighted.
Mairi thrust a loaf into Maxwell’s hands before he could retreat. “If ye’re here, then ye can work.”
Maxwell stared at the bread as if it had personally insulted him.
Moira slid a serrated knife across the table. “Go on then, me Laird. Show us how ye conquer the body of Christ.”
Maxwell picked up the knife, pointing the tip at the loaf. “This has been blessed?”
Moira bit her bottom lip, as did Ariella. It was Mairi who laughed out loud first. “It’sjusta saying, me laird. Nothin’ has been blessed.”
With the easy grip of a warrior he pressed the point into the crust, willing it to yield as easy as he was used to target yielding at knifepoint. And that was his first mistake.
His first cut was too forceful. Impatient. The blade chipped through the crust clumsily and then sank deep and tore, crushing the bread instead of slicing clean.
Ariella gasped in mock horror. “Maxwell!”
Moira made a sound like a cough that might have been laughter. “Saints preserve us. He’s killed it.”
“It’s bread,” Maxwell said flatly.
“And ye’ve murdered it,” Moira replied.
Maxwell glanced at Ariella as if to say,This is what ye dragged me into?
Ariella’s eyes sparkled. “Try again.”
He grumbled and adjusted his grip.
The next slice was thin. The one after that was thick as a brick.
Moira leaned in. “That’s it. Easy does it.”
“I can carve a man in two,” Maxwell muttered.
Moira nodded thoughtfully. “Aye, and it shows. Ye’re slicing bread like it wronged ye in battle.”
Ariella laughed, bright and unrestrained, and the sound seemed to loosen something in the room.
Even Maxwell’s shoulders eased just a fraction.
He glanced at Moira and said, “If I slice it well enough, will ye stop yer yammerin’?”
Moira’s eyes widened, then she barked a laugh. “Oh! The laird has teeth after all.”
“I’ve always had teeth, Moira,” Maxwell said. “I merely save them for worthy opponents.”
Moira slapped the table. “Worthy opponent. Aye. Such as a loaf of bread.”
Ariella laughed so hard her eyes watered.
