“A bit of sun is good for a person.”
“Not allowed for a lady. Why, you might get some color on your delicately pale, pale skin.” She grinned when Mrs. O’Neal laughed. “I was forever being told that.”
Mrs. O’Neal suddenly looked over her shoulder and frowned. “What is he doing back home? I don’t think this was his day off. It’s Duncan’s.”
“Day off ?” Emily asked but Mrs. O’Neal was already standing and heading toward the gates Iain had just ridden through.
* * *
Iain looked at Mrs. O’Neal as she frowned up at him. He dismounted and grabbed the reins so he could walk his horse to the stable. It took him a moment of thought before he realized he had frightened her with his early return to the house.
“Nothing is wrong,” he reassured her. “I am simply done with what I wanted to do.”
“Oh. Gave me a bit of a fright for a moment. Things being as they are and all.”
“Fine. No trouble. I just thought I ought to tell Owen what I was thinking about doing and what I would put up as collateral for a loan. He didnae have a problem with it. Did tell me that if I did lose the flock he and David would not be leaving that cabin.” He grinned when Mrs. O’Neal laughed.
As he headed to the stable he noticed Emily was sitting outside watching the children play. He put his horse away and took out the small bouquet of wildflowers he had tucked carefully into his saddlebags. Frowning at them he thought they looked a little rough but he shrugged and walked back outside.
Emily was sitting alone watching the children play with the ball. Not the best setting for his first attempt at wooing her but he decided to go ahead. They could at least speak with no one listening, he decided. Sitting down beside her, he smiled at her when she looked at him.
“I brought ye these,” he said, and held out the flowers, inwardly wincing over how awkward that was and wishing he had practiced the action a few times.
Emily took the flowers and studied them. They were not what she was accustomed to and then she decided there were really no places around that sold fancier flowers. She suspected he had picked them from some field when he was out with the sheep. The poor things also looked as if they had been roughly handled. The image of Iain out in a field picking flowers for her touched her deeply and she smiled at him.
“Thank you. Are they wildflowers?”
“Aye. Got them out in the fields.” He looked at the children and found all three boys staring at him. “Why are they staring at us?” he asked quietly.
“I have no idea. I also think I do not wish to ask them.”
“Probably a good idea. One can never be sure of what a child will answer. Can ye leave while they are out here or must ye stay and watch them?”
“Well, unless Mrs. O’Neal wanders back out here, I think I have to stay. Not for her children but because Neddy is out here. He does rather need an eye kept on him.”
“Especially when he is with the older boys.”
“They are good boys but they play harder and some things they get up to can be too difficult for Neddy or he ends up tripping or falling.”
Iain decided he needed to pick a better time. He took her hand in his and lifted it to his lips to brush a kiss over her knuckles. The faint blush she tried to hide by ducking her head just enough to make her hair fall forward and hide her cheeks made him smile.
“Then I shall see you later.”
Emily watched him walk away and frowned. For the first time since she had met him he had acted a bit awkward. The flowers were nice but the way he gave them to her was a bit odd, abrupt, and with no flattering words accompanying them. It was a lovely gift but left her unsure of what he was doing.
What she wanted to do was put her flowers into water but she was stuck unless Neddy decided he wanted to go inside. Then Neddy ran over to her and wanted her to take him inside because he needed to relieve himself. Emily went inside with the boy and as Neddy took care of his personal business, she filled a little vase with water and put her flowers in it. Once in water and loosened from the snug bunch they were in, the flowers looked quite lovely.
“Pretty,” said Mrs. O’Neal as she entered the kitchen. “Iain brought you flowers, did he?”
“Yes. I believe they are wildflowers.”
“Oh, they are indeed. A fine selection.” Mrs. O’Neal looked at them more closely. “Think he didn’t handle them very carefully.”
“They are fine.”
Mrs. O’Neal just glanced up at the ceiling and sighed. “The man is trying to court you.”
“Oh, no, of course not. He just found a few flowers he thought I would like is all.”
