She leaned her body carefully over his and brough her mouth to his ear.
“I care about you too, Graham MacKinnon. More than you know.”
A satisfied smile spread across his face as she leaned back. Graham squeezed her fingers and sighed deeply as his eyes fully closed and he fell asleep.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Having spent nearly four days sleeping in a chair in the sickroom where Graham was recovering, Hope had practically been pulled out to bathe and sleep in her own room. She had been diligent in her nursing Graham back to health, and had flatly refused to leave his side until Graham himself had ordered it.
Still, as soon as she awoke in her own room, fully rested and recharged, she wanted to check on him. She crawled out of bed and rang for a maid who helped her dress into an unpretentious day gown. Doing her hair in a simple braid, she wrapped it around her head in a halo style, pinning it in place and then quietly opened the door. She stole down the hallway to Graham’s room just as Una the maid was exiting.
“Oh, my lady, he’s awake, but says he wants to sleep,” Una said. “His bandages were changed an hour ago. Dr. Barkley was just here as well, poking and prodding at him.”
Hope smiled.
“Thank you, Una,” she said, putting her hand to the brass knob. “I’ll only bother him a minute.”
Una nodded and bobbed a curtsey before scurrying away. Hope gently opened the door, which creaked slightly. She moved into the room as quietly as possible.
One of the things Hope had discovered over the last few days was that Graham preferred to sleep in while she was always up with the dawn. She had enjoyed waking up before him as it gave her plenty of time to gaze at Graham without disruption.
He appeared younger while he slept, as the scowl he so often wore disappeared. She was tempted to stroke the stubble of his jaw as she watched him breathe, but she was sure he’d try to pull her towards him if he realized she was there.
But alas, she was already too late on that front. Seeming to sense her presence, Graham opened his eyes and a small grin crawled across his face. Hope’s heart fluttered beneath his gaze.
She came around the small table at his bedside that held his medical supplies. A brown jar sat unopened next to the alcohol bowl they had been using to clean the wound. Picking it up, she brought it to her nose and sniffed. It smelled of honey and turpentine.
“Graham?”
“Mm-hmm?”
“What is this mixture?”
“It’s honey and pine resin. It’s a concoction the doctor is trying out. Honey cleans out wounds and the resin can draw out dirt. You’re supposed to swathe it over a wound to prevent infection.”
“Really?”
“Supposedly. The bee hives I have at Elk Manor are particularly good at producing dark honey. Dr. Hall got it from my own hives.”
Hope brow lifted in surprise as she lifted the jar. She held it up to the light of the window, examining its contents.
“I didn’t know honey could be used as medicine.”
“There’s plenty of uses for honey,” he said, resting back against the pillows.
She smiled at him.
“Did he say if you were able to get out of bed today?”
Graham frowned. “No. He says I should wait until the end of the week, even though I feel just fine.”
Hope lifted a finger. She had been following both doctors’ orders religiously and Graham had suffered beneath her command.
“If the doctor said no, then you shouldn’t. I’ll have a tray brought up immediately.”
“Given it an hour or so,” he said through a yawn. His eyes closed. “I shouldn’t want to be a bother.”
Hope smirked and left the room, letting him sleep. She sighed with contentment as she made her way down the main staircase. How much life had changed in only a few short weeks, she mused. Had she able to go back in time and tell herself, only months earlier, that she would soon live in the highlands with Aunt Belle and her sisters, on the verge of marriage to a handsome Scot and set to inherit an estate, she was sure her younger self would have laughed profusely.
