Eyebrows were raised.
“Dry patches? Ye mean, like, dry skin?” Dominic asked, then immediately narrowed his eyes again as Thomas began to laugh.
“No, Dom, I don’t mean that.”
Colby drew himself up primly. “I ammarried, Thom.”
“So, that’s a yes, then?”
“Ye wretch!”
“Where is this going, Thomas?” Dominic interrupted. “I’d like to get home before midnight.”
“Why? Do ye have a special someone at home, Dom?”
“Mind yer business.”
Thomas chuckled. He could almost feel the ale going to his head. “I don’t know what it is, but lately, no woman has been able to tempt me. All lovely women, of course. The problem isn’t with them, though. It’s with me. I just don’t feel drawn to them. Do ye ever get that?”
“I’m too busy to gawk after women,” Dominic replied staunchly.
“None but my Veronica for me,” Colby said, and he sounded entirely sincere.
“Well, I’ve had a lonely few months, and I couldn’t figure out why,” Thomas continued, picking up his tankard and swilling around the dregs. He thought about asking for a second helpingbut decided against it. “I don’t want to risk facing all these lovely single lassies and their pushy parents while I feel like this, do ye understand?”
“I understand that ye are a weak-willed fool,” Dominic muttered in that dry way of his thatshouldsound like an insult but was usually meant to be affectionate.
Usually.
“So, to avoid accidentally agreeing to marry some pampered little miss, there’s something I need to take care of first,” Thomas said, making a flourishing bow. “I’m afraid I can’t stay and drink with ye tonight, my brothers.”
“Whatever will we do?” Dominic moaned in mock despair.
Already, the ale was going to his head and Colby’s, too. Colby was giggling.Giggling.
Thomas himself felt light-headed like he was flying, untouchable.
Veronica’s home-brewed ale, indeed.This is the stuff that’s almost killed her husband and his two friends.
Thomas made a flourishing bow again, grinning at his friends, and retreated across to the door. Now that he’d decided what he was going to do, his blood was ablaze with excitement. He was keen to get back to the Keep and get it over with as soonas possible before the warming effects of Veronica’s shockingly potent ale wore off and his unearned confidence faded away.
That would only leave him with his usual levels of unearned confidence, which may not be enough.
Humming to himself, he shouldered open the door and stepped out into the night.
The cold night air did a fabulous job of sobering him up.
Thomas shivered as he trotted along, hunched over on his horse’s back. His plan seemed silly now, based on a lot of what-ifs and maybes.
Tipping his head back, he stared up at the stars. He’d always been fascinated with stars ever since he had been a little boy. The velvety-black sky stretched out as far as the eye could see, dotted with countless tiny twinkles.
It made a person feel small. Very small, indeed.
A new problem was presenting itself, too.
He could not simply walk into the Healer’s Chambers. Oh, he was the Laird of the Keep, of course, so really, hecould, but it wasn’t done. He didn’t go traipsing into his servants’ rooms without a very,verygood reason. He respected their privacy,and the Healer’s Chambers were the living quarters of Delphine and Emma. It was an unspoken rule that people didn’t go to the Chambers to chat, as it was well-known that the healers were always busy.
He'd need a reason, then.
