Her brows arched. “Very gallant of you to offer, but I can’t let you pay for a major rebuilding project. The property transfer might not be finalized, but we both know that the cottage is my responsibility.”
“I can use my personal funds to cover repair costs so I won’t have to take anything from the estate,” he offered.
“That’s very generous of you, but not necessary.” Signy thought of the people of Thorsay, whom she’d loved and served for so many years. Knowing how much help they needed, she said, “This is not a good use of your limited funds when there are so many greater priorities. Seeds for farmers, better breeding stock, repairs to cottages that shelter whole families. Sea Cottage is more like one of the garden follies beloved of English aristocrats.”
He shook his head. “Sea Cottage is a special place. My grandmother loved it and so do you. It’s important to cherish what we love.”
“I’ve lost many things I loved,” she said flatly. “This cottage is not a good investment in rational terms.”
She looked again at the rubble around her and wondered if the cottage could ever be so special again. “It makes more sense for me to walk away and go to London. You can fix the cottage up at a better time.”
“You need to travel. You’ll probably love and hate London in equal measure, but you said yourself that Thorsay is your home. I’m learning how powerful such bonds can be,” he said, his voice dangerously persuasive. “I want to give you a good reason to return here after you’ve fed your appetite for escape.”
“It took you a dozen years to return,” she pointed out.
“I hope you won’t be gone as long as that,” he said with a rueful smile.
“Why does where I live matter to you, Kai?” she asked softly.
“When I found you last night, I thought you were dead.” His voice cracked. He drew a deep breath before continuing. “The thought was . . . unbearable. You need a chance to test your wings in wider skies, my goddess of the sea. But in the end, I want you to fly home to me.” He cupped her face in his hands, his intense gaze holding hers before he bent into a yearning kiss.
His words melted a cold, lonely place deep inside her. She opened to the kiss and slid her arms around him, dropping the cane in the process.
Each time they embraced, the sensations were more intense. More emotion, more desire, more yearning for completion. His kiss deepened, and she stepped into him so their bodies would be pressed together . . .
. . . and pain blazed through her ankle. “Owwww!”
Ramsay pulled back, startled. “Sorry! I forgot about your injury.”
“So did I.” She clung to his arms until the pain had diminished. “Could you pick up my cane? I’d probably fall over if I tried.”
“Of course.” He bent over and picked it up for her. “I seem to choose the worst possible places to try to court you. A midden, a recently flooded cottage. Next time will probably be in the middle of a flock of sheep.”
She had to smile. “I find your bad judgment about such things to be rather endearing. It makes me feel that you mean it.” She leaned on the cane. “So you’re courting me?”
“Rather badly since I’m trying to be reasonable and sensitive to your needs when what I really want to do is sweep you onto my white horse and carry you off to my castle,” he said ruefully. “Instead it was you on the white horse and you were saving me from drowning in a sea of kelp.”
“But you’re making a future for us seem more possible,” she said hesitantly. “And I think it’s not just because the old laird said you should marry me.”
“Definitely not, but this is not the time and place for a serious discussion,” he said. “Now that we’ve seen what the cottage needs, there’s no reason to linger. How about I try to get into the remains of your bedroom to collect some clothing while you look in your kitchen cupboard to see what might have survived?”
“That’s a good idea. My clothes are in a small wardrobe in the corner.” She turned and started painfully making her way back to the kitchen. “I’ll check my cupboard. The waves probably knocked it about so much that everything inside is broken.”
“It’s heavy so it might not have moved much.” He touched her cheek, then turned to pick a path through the rubble and over the fallen beam toward her bedroom.
Signy made her careful way back to the kitchen. Nothing large blocked the cupboard, though she saw that the waves had twisted it partially away from the wall.
The cupboard was about six feet high and had two doors. Water had swollen the wood, so it was difficult to open the upper door. She tugged at the handle carefully, not wanting to cause more damage. Even so, when the upper door opened abruptly, the contents within rattled. She peered inside, expecting to find broken fragments, and was delighted to see that her redware was intact. She took out the teapot, which was coated with a thin layer of silty sand, but when she brushed the grime away the dark red ceramic had its usual warm glow. The mugs and small plates were also intact. The sight cheered her amazingly.
The top shelf held drinking glasses, and they hadn’t fared as well. Two had broken and one was cracked, but the last had survived. Her small cooking aids—a mill and mortar and pestle—were sturdy and undamaged.
The door of the lower half was also stubborn, but it opened a little more easily than the top. The shelves contained kitchen items that she seldom used. The skillet and cooking pots that were in regular use had hung by the fireplace, and they might be part of the clutter that had landed on the floor. Being metal, they should have survived if they hadn’t washed away. At the moment Signy didn’t have the energy to search for them.
She bent to study the lower shelves better and spotted the buff-colored old bowl she’d found in the ruins of the old fort. She pulled it out and found it unbroken, though it was as covered with silt and sand as everything else in the cupboard.
She was brushing off the decorative grooves around the rim when Ramsay reappeared carrying several sodden garments. “Success! I’m not sure that your leather boots will survive, but most of your clothing will be fine when taken to Skellig House and properly washed and dried. I’ll bring a cart out here later today so that everything worth saving can be taken back and cleaned properly. How did you do in the kitchen?”
“Better than I expected. All my redware china and cookware survived. Plus I found this.” She handed him the old bowl.
