“Please,” Katie said. “It’s a short walk.”
“Nay,” Alex said. “Ye have been good for one morning. The day isnae over.”
Bettie edged closer. “Just to the dressmaker’s and back.”
Katie followed her. “Please, Da. We need ribbons.”
“Plenty of ribbons,” Bettie said.
“And sweets, too,” Katie added.
“Ye daenae need ribbons,” Alex said.
“We do,” Bettie insisted. “Our hair looks lonely.”
“Our hair misses color,” Katie said.
Alex pressed his lips together. “I am certain yer hair will live.”
He watched them very closely. It was like they realized their plan of simply asking wouldn’t work and sprang into actionimmediately. Bettie took his hand and pulled it once. Katie put her cheek on his sleeve and sighed like a cat by a fire.
“Please,” they said in unison.
“Nay,” he said, less firm.
Erica, who was watching the whole thing, remained still beside them, a smile lingering on her lips. The twins suddenly turned to her, the same pleasing looks on their faces, and Alex knew there was no turning back. She could not resist them.
“It could be fun,” she eventually said with a shrug, and Alex rolled his eyes. “It’s a short walk. The market isnae far.”
“Aye, it isnae,” Bettie agreed.
“We can go and come back soon,” Katie said, holding her thumb and finger a breath apart.
Grandmamma lifted her cane an inch. “It isnae exactly a bad idea for the four of ye to walk to the market and back,” she said mildly.
Calum, who stood at the far edge of the tree stump, did not hide his grin. “I can spare two men to follow ye if need be.”
Alex looked from one face to the next and saw he had been outflanked. He held the line for show. “Fine.”
The twins erupted into a series of happy screams. He raised his hand almost immediately to quiet them.
“Nay running. Nay darting off without me permission. If I say home, we turn back at once.”
“Aye,” both girls sang.
Erica nodded her head. “Aye,” she said.
“Fine,” Alex muttered. “We go.”
As the twins continued to celebrate, Alex felt the truth settle cold and clear. It reached him from the faces, from the nods, from the way the guards around him all smiled at his decision.
This arrangement did not look temporary. And with every passing moment, it felt even less so.
CHAPTER 18
The market openedwide and busy, with voices overlapping and merchants calling prices.
Erica watched as fabrics moved in clean sheets while the wind pulled at the corners. Children ran between stalls and came back when their mothers called, and pigeons picked at grain near the well and lifted only when a boot or a cane or even the wheel of a cart came too close.
