“It is to me.” He leant toward her and stroked a finger over her cheek. “It’s my hope that you will be happy here too.”
His voice, hardly above a husky whisper, sent a surge of longing through her. His finger trailed over her neck, and a shiver shot through her. She wondered if he would kiss her, then grew nervous as his gaze roamed her face. She must make her intentions clear, before the wedding, or they would begin this marriage on a bad note. And she’d spied the roof of a small building through the trees.
“I already love the house and your grandfather is a dear. What is that building I can see in the distance?”
He dropped his hand and turned. “Where?”
She pointed. “Over there.”
“Merely a storage hut. Why the interest?” He gave her one of his critical looks, but she would not be swayed from her purpose.
“Because I have need of one.”
“But why on earth would you want a shed?”
“I can explain better when we view it.”
He gazed at her, bemused. “The way is shorter if we go through the kitchen gardens. Cook keeps a few fowl there and the gardeners use it to store some of their tools.”
“Can we go there now?”
He shook his head and took her arm. “Come on. You’re unfathomable at times, Mercy.”
* * *
They skirted the house, and reaching the vegetable gardens, walked along a gravel path through squarely laid out plots to a stand of elms. Grant was tempted to insist she explain, but suspected he wouldn’t like the answer she gave him. He’d been sorely tempted to kiss her at the stables, but some flicker of disquiet warned him against it. She’d been less than thrilled when he’d kissed her the day of their engagement. He’d never had a lady so unresponsive, and it made him cautious. Prudent to wait, perhaps. But he found himself growing impatient. The more he saw of Mercy, the more he wanted her to be his. To discover the secrets of her mind as well as her body.Ifshe would ever confide in him.
He hadn’t encouraged her trust and he’d come to realize that this small lady had a mind of her own. And dash it all, the time they must spend apart could prove disastrous if their marriage did not begin well. Even if he could drop this investigation, he could not ignore Jenny Haighton’s distress. Nat would expect it of him.
They emerged from the trees into a clearing and went through the wooden gate. In the center of a small plot of ground with a chicken roost and a reedy pond, sat the humble, square fieldstone dwelling with a lichen covered roof. Beyond it was the fringe of woods and a road which joined up with the one to the home farm. He took Mercy’s hand and led her into the shadowy interior smelling of packed earth, hay, and bags of feed. Dust revolved in a beam of sunlight over the dirt floor. Tools were stacked along one wall and a waist-high shelf held assorted equipment the gardeners used.
Mercy moved about, surveying the space with an absorbed expression the humble interior hardly deserved. “What are you looking for?” he asked, finally losing patience.
“A place to work,” she said with remarkably aplomb.
He raised his brows. “Work?” He knew of her desire for some business or other. She hadn’t relinquished the idea apparently. “You’re writing a book, are you not? Why would you need a shed?”
She looked up at him, a faintly eager look in her beautiful blue eyes. That look alone warmed different parts of his body. Aware they were alone, he eyed a pile of sweet smelling hay and smiled.
“I need a place for my experiments.”
He felt his smile slip away. “Experiments?”
She frowned. “I believe I told you about my lotions for the skin. My supplies are being sent with Wolf after the wedding.”
He folded his arms, and all thoughts of seduction, no matter how unlikely, vanished. “You cannot work here, Mercy. It’s not safe.”
“Safe?” Her eyes widened. “What should I fear, the chickens?”
“I won’t have you out here for hours on your own.”
She raised her delicate brows. “You still haven’t explained why it’s unsafe.”
“What if you had an accident?”
She colored and touched the dimple-sized scar on her chin. “I take greater care now.”
“Then you have not done so in the past,” he stated flatly, seizing the opportunity to make his point. He placed a gentle finger on the spot close to her full bottom lip. “Was this the result of one those accidents?”
