“It will do her well to have to wait an extra moment or two,” Ember pointed out with a smile. “Are you certain I cannot help?”
“Fine.” Mrs. Oliphant blew out a breath which caused her curls to flutter and gestured to a tray in the corner. “Both me girls are off getting ready for the big party tonight, and I’m certain there’s a mug or two which needs refilling in the dining room.”
“Say no more.” Ember bobbed a quick curtsey. “I live to serve,” she joked, as she reached for the pitcher of ale.
She poured four mugs and plopped them on the tray as the cook snorted derisively.
“Nae for long, lassie. Soon enough, some handsome man will scoop ye up and give ye the life ye deserve!”
Ember’s burst of laughter caught even her by surprise, but she didn’t tamp it down. “A handsome man, eh, Mrs. Oliphant? Are you certain you are not thinking of your own daydream?”
The cook waggled a finger at her. “I’mno’.Ye deserve happiness after what ye’ve put up with, and what better way to find it than with a man ye love?”
“How about having the chance to do what I enjoy and knowing I am making my own way in the world?” Ember teased as she lifted the tray to her shoulder, grinning at Mrs. Oliphant’s fantasy for her. “I do not need a man to be happy!”
Just the chance to make my own choices about my future.
“Just ye wait, lassie!” Mrs. Oliphant called after her as Ember sailed out of the kitchen. “When ye meet him, ye’ll change yer mind.”
Still smiling at the foolish dream, Ember sailed into the dining room. There were only a few patrons—all older folks—eating supper, and it was simple to switch out empty mugs for full ones. She exchanged pleasantries, deferred their questions when they asked if she was going to the ball, and ensured they needed nothing else.
With a shake of her head, she hurried out of the dining room with her tray of empty mugs.A man? Hah! What sheneededwas a night off from being an unpaid drudge. The chance to be herself and revel in her own power, just for a few hours. A chance to do whatshewanted to do.
And once Mr. DeVille noticed the shoes in her satchel, the shoes she and her sisters would soon wear to the ball, Ember had every confidence that would happen again. She’d be offered the opportunity to create designs for more women and be allowedto again engrave the designs the Prince Armory commissioned from the Oliphants.
Nowthatwas a dream she could?—
“Ooh!”
She was so busy imagining her possible future, she forgot to look out for herimmediatefuture, where the immediate future involved walking into a person. Her tray slammed into the man’s upper arm, teetered for a moment as they both lunged for it, then tipped so the empty mugs began to slide toward the floor.
She thought she heard the man curse under his breath as he dropped to his knees the same time as she did.
“I am so sorry!” she cried out, her attention on gathering the dropped mugs. “I was not looking where I was going, and I…”
Her words trailed off when the man grabbed the same mug she did. His hand closed around hers, and for a moment, they both froze. An odd sensation traveled up her arm, almost as if a spark had jumped from him to her in that moment, and she was torn between the urge to pull her hand from his or press closer.
Holding her breath, Ember allowed her eyes to travel up his arm to his shoulder, then his neck, and finally, his face. He was wearing a simple suit, as one might quite often find on a traveler who stayed at the inn, but hisface…?
Oh my, but his features were?—
Ember was finding it difficult to suck in another breath. She wasn’t sure shewantedto.
She knew he was a guest, one she’d seen from afar and admired a few times in the last weeks, but this was the first time she’d seen him up close.
He was darkly handsome, his hair curly under his hat, and his eyes twin pools of the warmest brown. Each feature by itself was nothing particularly special—a slightly crooked nose, a set of dimples which emerged as he slowly smiled at her intense study of him—but together, they equaled a face which made her feel quite light-headed.
Breathe, you idiot.
Oh, yes. That perhaps would help.
Finally managing to suck in a breath, she blurted out, “Hullo!” And then winced.
Great. Now he thinks you are clumsyandan idiot.
Wait, why did it even matter what this stranger thought of her?
Still grinning, and without dropping her gaze, the man made short work of collecting the mugs to stack on her tray. Then, with one hand, he lifted it and stood. But as he did, he offered her his other hand. So—holding her breath—she took it and allowed him to lift her to her feet as well.
