“Nay,” Ariella said, amused, “but I think she could frighten a man with a stare if she wished.”
From behind them, Maxwell’s voice rumbled, unexpectedly close. “Oh aye, she can.”
Ariella looked up.
Maxwell stood near the table, hands loosely at his sides now, watching her with an intent stillness. The kitchen noise seemed to dim around him, as if everyone had instinctively stepped back to give the laird space.
“Ye’ve met Skylar?” Ariella said, surprised.
He nodded once. “Aye, I’ve met yer Lady Crawford.”
Ariella blinked. “When?”
“At Crawford Castle,” he said. “Zander invited me to their wedding.”
Her brow furrowed, mind racing backward through memory. Crawford Castle had been full that day. Music, guests, laughter, the noise of celebration. She remembered Skylar radiant and fierce, Zander looking at her as if he could barely breathe.
But Maxwell?
“I daenae recall seeing ye,” Ariella admitted.
His gaze held hers, steady and dark.
Then, slowly, a knowing smirk tugged at his mouth.
Ariella’s cheeks warmed. “Why are ye smiling?”
He said nothing for a heartbeat, and somehow that silence felt like an answer.
The smirk faded as quickly as it came, replaced by his usual restraint. “Ye wouldnae have noticed me,” he said simply.
Ariella’s heart gave a strange little kick. “Why nae?”
Maxwell’s eyes flicked to the side, toward Ewan, toward the busy kitchen, toward the world. “Because ye were looking ather,” he said, voice low. “As family does.”
Ariella didn’t know what to say to that.
It sounded like admiration.
It sounded like longing.
It sounded like a man who watched love from the edges.
She finished tying the cloth around Ewan’s knee, keeping her hands steady even as her chest tightened.
“There,” she said, brightening her voice. “Stand up. Slowly.”
Ewan rose, wobbling, then grinned. “It already feels better.”
Ariella tapped his nose gently. “Of course it does. Ye survived.”
He giggled and limped off, already bragging.
Only then did Ariella become aware again of Maxwell’s gaze.
“Ye didnae hesitate,” he said quietly.
“He needed help,” she replied.
