“I never thought I’d find plowing so invigorating to watch.” Rose’s teasing voice carried through the spring winds. Sinclair pulled Charlie’s reins and turned to find Rose sitting on a drystone wall. His heart kicked up at the unexpected sight. He hadn’t seen her in over a week, and it seemed like he’d yearned for her more each day. He’d missed their nightly planning sessions so sharply that he’d started a notebook full of suggestions he wanted to develop further with her. But it wasn’t just her keen mind that he’d yearned for. It was everything. Her laugh. The faint floral scent she wore. The way her eyes flashed when she had a brilliant stroke of an idea. The touch of her hand. The feel of her lips.
He had another list in mind—one he wouldn’t dare write down and not just because it was filled with secret places to explore where Reggie might have stowed his actual report or where spies might be meeting. The sites possessed a second benefit of being decidedly private and perfect for a kiss or two or three.
“You’re back two days earlier than you thought you would be,” Sinclair called, unable to keep his mix of excitement and concern from his voice. As glad as he was to see her, he hoped that trouble hadn’t driven her back to Hamarray. “Did you walk here from Muckle Skaill yourself? Are you sure it’s safe for you to be by yourself?”
“My friend Percy flew me back on his seaplane,” Rose said. “It saved us the ferry ride, and I wanted to make sure that I was here for theinaugural peat cutting on Hamarray. Myrtle is staying on in Edinburgh for a few days more. She’s knee deep in research, and she wants to poke around the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland a little more. And no, I didn’t waltz over here myself—as I knew you and Myrtle would have my head. Percy was with me as far as Widow Flett’s. Astrid is taking him on a bird-watching tour.”
A new hint of unease slipped through Sinclair’s happiness. It was not the mention of Rose’s male friend but of the aircraft. Aye, he’d seen the contraptions in the sky since the British Navy had conducted test flights in the vicinity, but he’d never even thought of flying in one himself. He and Rose were of two worlds, like billiard balls on a collision course that would ultimately lead them to ricocheting away from each other. Yet in this moment with her in front of him, perched on the stone wall like a lass from the isles ... their being together just felt right.
“I’m glad you’re back early, then. I’ve missed you, Rose.”
A beautiful smile broke over her face at his words. “I’ve missed you too, Thorfinn.”
Charlie stamped one of his fringed feet, clearly not impressed with the humans’ flirtations. Sinclair patted the horse’s withers. “Now, Charlie, you know you’ve been after me for a peedie break from cutting the sod.”
The pony tossed his head and glared.
“You’re never one to be satisfied, are you, boy?”
Charlie wheezed out a heavy sigh, and a moment later, Rose’s laughter floated over to them.
“Perhaps it’s time to stop wasting your charm on a cantankerous equine,” she called.
Charlie whinnied and stuck his speckled nose into the air as Sinclair began to walk away. He ignored the pony’s theatrics. The old boy might put on a bit of a show, but he was too lazy to do anything but stand there until ordered otherwise.
Sinclair glanced around. They were in a pasture surrounded by two gentle hillocks. Although not steep, the slight swells did obscure them from view. Stepping up to Rose’s knees, he bent over and pressed a quick kiss against her lips.
Rose wrapped her legs around his waist despite her heavy skirts. Her hands looped around his neck, pulling him close. The smell of the overturned soil mixed with the sweet perfume she always wore. The odors should have warred against each other, but instead they meshed—mud and flowers—the harbingers of spring awakening.
Sinclair had spent his whole life searching for a place to belong, and he’d never thought he’d find it, even temporarily, in the arms of an American heiress who treated seaplanes as a matter-of-course method of travel. But being with Rose just felt natural to him—exciting, to be sure, but also miraculously ordinary.
“I can only rest for a brief spell, lass.” He laid his forehead against hers, wishing she could whisk them away onThe Briarto the sea cave or to another secluded location on his secret list. “I want to finish plowing this field before sunset. I hope to get the corn in soon with the weather being so fine.”
“Corn?” Rose wrinkled her nose. “I thought you were going to plant bere barley. I didn’t know you grew an American crop.”
“It’s our general word for grain,” Sinclair told her, and because he couldn’t resist, he lifted one of her hands to his mouth. After flipping it over, he pressed a kiss to the sensitive skin at her wrist. She rewarded him with a shiver.
“Mmmm, if this is how you teach me your language, please continue.” She closed her eyes and tilted her head heavenward. The bright sunlight caught her, and she looked like the very angel she was always claimingnotto be.
Sinclair groaned, wishing he could give in to temptation just this once. But he didn’t have that luxury. “When the planting is done, lass, when the planting is done.”
Her eyes fluttered open, and she smiled. “I will hold you to that, mister.”
“Mayhap you can spare some time to visit us for dinner tonight. Freya always is happy to set an extra plate for you and for your friend Percy if he wishes to join us like Miss Morningstar does. Afterward we can discussallof our ventures.” Even if Sinclair couldn’t touch her, he liked having Rose near, and he wanted to learn what she’d discovered about cryptology in the Central Library.
“My research regarding ourprojecthas proved fruitful, and there are a few tricks I want to try.” Rose hopped off the wall to stand next to him. “As the message was left for you, then the path forward must also be connected to you.”
Clashing duties once again tore through Sinclair. He wanted to drop everything to finish his brother’s last quest and root out the spies, but his family needed the spring crop in the ground if they and the animals were to eat this winter. The weather was fair today but might not be tomorrow. “I can assist as soon as the sun sets, although I can pause long enough to see you safely back to Muckle Skaill.”
“I’ve arranged for Young Thomas to plow for you. He’s just finishing up the work he was doing at the mansion. He should be here shortly.”
Sinclair adjusted his eye patch, loath to accept help, especially since Young Thomas was making good money helping with the renovations. “Don’t guilt the lad into helping me just because I did his family a couple of good turns when he was away last year. His parents are relying on those wages you’ve been paying him.”
“I’m still giving him his salary for today.”
Sinclair didn’t know how he felt about that. “That seems a bit too much like giving me charity, even if it’s indirect.”
Rose crossed her arms and dipped her chin. “Thorfinn, it is a division of labor, one you may need to get accustomed to. Right now, I require your expertise. It happens to involve our otherproject, butanother time it could be purely about the estate. Consider this part of your compensation as land agent.”
