“Maybe ye could be more understandin’.”
“That’s nae yer concern.”
“Ye madeit me concern when ye hired me to be her governess.” Piper’s chin lifted. “How am I supposed to teach a child who hates me? Who thinks I’m here to steal her faither’s affection?”
“She’ll come around.”Elijah crossed his arms over his chest. “Give her time.”
“Will she?Or will she just find more creative ways to make me life miserable?” Piper shook her head. “Ye need to talk to her. Really talk to her. About why she’s so angry. About what she needs from ye.”
“I daenae need ye tellin’me how to raise me own children.” His voice had gone dangerously quiet.
“Then maybe yeshouldnae have hired someone to teach them if ye’re nae willin’ to listen to what they need!”
The words hungin the air between them. Piper immediately regretted them—she’d gone too far, spoken too freely—but she couldn’t take them back now.
Elijah took a step toward her.“Ye’re here to teach them readin’, writin’, French, mathematics. That’s what the contract says. It says nothin’ about ye givin’ me advice on how to be a faither.”
“Because ye’re doin’such a wonderful job of it on yer own?” The words escaped before Piper could stop them.
“What did ye just say?”
“I said…”Piper forced herself to hold his gaze, even though every instinct screamed at her to back down. “I said ye’re nae doin’ a good job. Yer daughter is climbin’ out of windows in the middle of the night, and ye dinnae even ken about it. She’s desperate for yer attention, and ye’re givin’ her anger instead. And yer son…”
“Daenae,”Elijah warned, his voice dropping to a growl. “Daenae presume to tell me about me own children when ye’ve been here less than a day.”
“Someone needs to tell ye!Because ye’re so busy broodin’ over yer dead wife!”
Piper knewshe’d crossed a line. Knew it by the way Elijah’s whole body went rigid, by the way his green eyes darkened to something almost black.
“Ye ken nothin’about me wife,” he said, his voice deadly quiet. “Nothin’ about what happened to her.”
“Then tell me!”Piper threw her hands up. “Explain it to me! Because right now, all I see is a man who’s so afraid of failin’ his children that he’s guaranteed he will by refusin’ to even try!”
“Ye’re here to teach them,”Elijah repeated, each word clipped. “To give them lessons. That’s all. Leave the discipline and the raisin’ to me.”
“So I’m supposedto just ignore when they’re hurtin’? Just teach them their letters and pretend I daenae see the pain in their eyes?”
“Aye.That’s exactly what ye’re supposed to do.”
“Well, I cannae.”Piper’s voice shook now, but she didn’t back down. “I cannae stand by and watch children suffer when I could help them. When I could at leasttryto make things better.”
“That’snae yer decision to make.”
“Then maybe yehired the wrong person!” Piper’s frustration boiled over. “Because I’m nae the kind of woman who just follows orders without question. I’m nae the kind who’ll keep her mouth shut when she sees somethin’ wrong. So, if that’s what ye want, if ye want someone who’ll just nod and smile and never challenge ye, then ye should have said so before I signed that contract!”
“The contractye signed says ye’ll work for me,” Elijah said, his voice hard. “That ye’ll do what I tell ye to do. That ye’re part of me household, under me authority.”
“It also saysI can leave anytime I want!” Piper shot back. “So maybe if ye daenae like me speakin’ me mind, it’s nae too late to null it. To send me on me way and find yerself a more biddable governess who willnae question anythin’ ye do!”
“Is that what ye want?”Elijah took another step toward her, closing the distance between them. “To leave?”
“I want—”Piper stopped, her breath catching as she realized how close he was now. Close enough that she could see the muscle ticking in his jaw. Close enough to smell leather, pine, and something uniquely him. “I want to help yer children! I want to teach them and guide them and actually make a difference in their lives! But I cannae do that if ye’re goin’ to fight me at every turn!”
“Ye’renae here to make decisions about their upbringin’.”
“I’m nae tryin’to make decisions! I’m tryin’ to give ye advice that ye clearly need!”
“I daenaeneed advice from someone who’s been here for all of five hours!”
