An unexpected complication has kept me from our meeting this morning. I apologize for not being able to inform you of it sooner. Enclosed herein are the funds I owe you. Since there is no guarantee for when we shall meet again, I thought it best to have them delivered forthwith in case you need them.
As one last request, I ask that you do what you can to help me reacquire the rights to my book so I can receive payment.
Affectionately yours,
Charlotte W. Russell
Everything inside Blayne revolted at the words and what they suggested. Drawing breath became a challenge. He couldn’t seem to get the air past the knot in his throat. A mixture of pain and anger assailed him. Her business-like words were like a betrayal – a denial of what they’d shared. The money she added was a goddamn insult.
He picked the promise note up and handed it to Daisy. “I dinnae want this.”
“Miss Russell said you might refuse and that I should insist.”
“Insisting willnae do any good.” He shoved it into her hand and curled her fingers roughly around it. “Take it. Spend it on yerself if ye’re too afraid to tell her I wouldnae accept it.”
“I…I…I’m terribly sorry,” Daisy sputtered.
“Are ye really,” Blayne seethed while towering over the much smaller woman. Her expression was stricken, her body rigid as she began backing away.
“Blayne,” Claus warned as he moved close to Daisy. “You’re frightening her.”
“Good.” He glared at the maid as if she were the one who’d just taken an axe to his heart. “Ye need to leave. Right now. Go. And dinnae ever come back.”
Daisy didn’t budge. Instead she held his gaze like some martyr facing down a fire-breathing dragon.
“I said, get out,” he roared, unleashing the tension that had been building inside him since he’d been turned away from Charlotte’s house.
Daisy flinched, but to Blayne’s amazement, she held her ground.
“That’s enough,” Claus said, his face etched in hard lines. Placing one arm around Daisy’s shoulders he drew her against his side. “It’s all right. He’ll settle down in a moment or two.”
The hell he would.
“May I see that letter?” The softly spoken words of calm came from Guthrie.
Blayne turned toward him, bringing the vibrantly clad man into his line of vision. For a moment, he’d quite forgotten his presence. Blayne gave him the letter. Fists clenched until his palms burned, he watched while the other man read.
“She obviously cares for you.”
“Nae. I’m just a hired hand who needs to get paid.”
Guthrie arched a brow. “Hmm…And yet you are herdearestwhile she remainsaffectionately yours. I hope she doesn’t address all her male servants thus.”
Blayne bristled. “What the hell are ye implying?”
“Merely that you need to clear your head.” He set the letter aside on Blayne’s desk and calmly crossed his arms. “You’ve twisted yourself into a chaotic mess over what she wrote in the middle because that’s where she’s pushing you away.”
“Exactly,” Blayne sneered. “She’s pushing me away, Guthrie. Which obviously means she doesnae give a rats arse about—”
“Easy now,” Guthrie told him sternly. “There’s a woman present.”
Muttering a curse beneath his breath Blayne swiped his hand across his brow and puffed out a hard breath. “Sorry, Daisy.”
“It’s quite all right.” Her voice was weak with apprehension, but that didn’t stop her from adding, “Miss Russell cares for you very deeply, Mr. MacNeil. It’s not what you think. She’s not adding distance because she wants to. It’s…”
To Blayne’s frustration, Daisy shook her head and fell silent. Frowning at her, he snatched the letter back and attempted to read it without allowing the implication of him being nothing more to Charlotte than a man in her employ give way to anger. His frown deepened. Apart from the warmth with which she’d opened and closed the letter, one sentence resonated with importance.An unexpected complication has kept me from our meeting this morning.
Her butler – no, her parents’ butler – had informed him he wasn’t welcome. Even in his confusion, while he’d walked away from her house that morning, Blayne had felt as though something was wrong. He’d even sent out scouts in the hope of discovering what had happened and to make sure Charlotte was all right.
