Baird considered it. If he denied her, Davina would accept it politely. He knew she would, but it would crush something in her, something that seemed important, even if he didn’t understand why. And deep down, he knew he didn’t want to disappoint her, not when she already walked the halls of her own home with guards because he’d failed to keep his own brother safe.
“Nay,” Baird said finally. “Let her continue.”
Kenny nodded slowly. “Aye, me laird. She’ll be pleased.”
Baird looked down at her careful handwriting again, the list that was hopeful and alive.
“She’s trying,” he murmured, “tae make this place her home.”
Kenny smiled faintly. “Seems she’s making it ours again, too.”
Baird ignored the comment. He simply slid the paper over to Kenny. “Ye can sign it.”
Kenny did as urged. “Shall I bring it tae her?”
“Nay.” Baird cleared his throat. “I’ll dae it.”
Kenny blinked, then hid a smirk. “Very well.”
As Kenny left the room, Baird held the request in his hands for a long moment. He wasn’t sure he was ready to see that garden changed, but he wasn’t going to fight her on it. He stood and headed toward the door.
Baird crossed the bailey with the signed parchment in hand, expecting to find Davina calmly speaking with gardeners or perhaps sketching plans for the space. What he didn’t expect was laughter, and it stopped him short.
Davina was in the middle of the overgrown mess, with her skirts hitched up to her knees and her hands covered in dirt clear to the wrists. Her hair was tumbling loose from its pins as she tried and mostly failed to tame a stubborn patch of weeds.
Three castle children knelt in the soil beside her. Whether they were helping or hindering was hard to tell. One boy handed her fistfuls of weeds as if that were a great honor. A little girl clapped every time Davina dug up a root. Another child was using a stick as a pretend sword against a particularly large thistle.
Davina was laughing at all of it, bright as summer in this forgotten patch of winter.
All Baird could do was stare. He couldn’t remember the last time anyone had laughed in that garden.
He cleared his throat. “And what… exactly is happening here?”
Davina turned, and he could see how her face was flushed from work and delight. “What daes it look like?”
“It looks,” Baird said slowly, “as if ye’re fighting the dirt.”
“The dirt started the fight,” Davina said primly. “But I’m winning now.”
The children snorted. One pointed at a massive thorny bush. “She hasnae won against that one yet.”
Davina gasped dramatically. “Aiden, ye betray me!”
The child giggled and fell over into the grass. Baird fought a smile. He failed.
Davina dusted her hands on her apron. “Well? Are ye going tae stand there gawking, or have ye come tae be useful?”
“Useful?” Baird repeated, mock affronted. “I am the laird.”
“And I am the lady,” she shot back. “Rank nullifies. Pick up a shovel.”
That made the children burst into cackles.
Baird raised a brow. “Is that how ye speak tae yer husband?”
“Only when he’s being unhelpful,” Davina said sweetly. “If ye plan tae stand around judging, at least dae it quietly.”
This caused even more laughter from the children.
