“Spangler?! What does that miserable cheat have to do with the roof?”
Lucy opened her mouth, but no answer presented itself. When he continued to glare as if he could read her mind, she pulled her eyes from his and peered at the little shepherdess on the mantle. “That cheat, as you call him, called for the quarterly receipts two days ago. I have an accounting for you.” Her head bobbed up. “I had to begin a new ledger since you haven’t returned my books.” She made no effort to keep the edge of accusation from her voice, attack always feeling more comfortable than defense.
He waved her words away with one hand. “My brother has enough to work with. Keep the ledger for now. But what does that have to do with the roof?”
How could she explain how uneasy Spangler made her when she didn’t quite understand it herself? “Before he left, he stared at the roof. The side to the right seemed to hold his attention. There is something sly…”
“With Spangler, there is always something sly.”
They agreed on that much, at least. “I thought I saw a loose tile. I went up to inspect.”
“And?”
“I was interrupted.” She glared at him, daring him to criticize.
“If there is nothing else, I suggest we leave the roof be for now. If you have any further problems, send word, and I’ll see to it you have workers.”
Lucy gave into temptation and bobbed into a curtsey much too deep for a mere baronet. “Yes, sir,” she said. At his eye roll, she went on, “If you didn’t come for an accounting, was there something else you wanted?”
“I came to introduce Morgan. He is an engineer. I asked him to take a look at that ridge.”
Mining. Lucy’s entire body stiffened at the thought. “Thank you for the warning,” she said through tight lips.
“Stop looking at me as if I’m the devil incarnate about to open a black pit to hell. There’s something havey-cavey going on, and I need the opinion of someone I trust.”
“As you wish,” she ground out.
His nostrils flared at her tone, but he didn’t argue.How could he?
“Are you certain you aren’t hurt?” The abrupt change confused her.
She held out one leg and wiggled her foot, snug in a well-worn half boot. “As you see, I can stand, I can walk, and my parts function,” she said, and had the satisfaction of seeing him look askance.
Good sense reasserted itself. “I’m sorry. This conversation is entirely inappropriate,” she admitted. “But then, a lady doesn’t entertain single men in her parlor either. Still, a tenant might admit her landlord or an employee her employer. What am I exactly? Have you decided?”
Lucy thought she saw him swallow hard but may have imagined it. “Our situation is entirely temporary, Miss Whitaker. I thank you for overseeing this place for now.” He tapped his hat onto his head. “We’ll take our leave of you. No need to see us out.”
Of course not. You let yourself in; so you can see yourself out.
Lace curtains covered the window facing the front of the house, gently swaying in the breeze. Lucy watched through them as the men descended the steps, their voices floating up through the open window.
“Your steward is a saucy wench,” Morgan said, humor flavoring his words.
“She isnotmy steward.” Sir Robert Benson, on the other hand, was not amused.
Neither was Lucy. Willowbrook possessed her heart, but she didn’t possess Willowbrook. Still, she would care for it as if it were her own until he wrenched it away. She couldn’t help herself.
*
“I’m telling you,Da, Spangler rattled on and on about Willowbrook. The carpets are threadbare. The fields have played out. The sheep are poorly. The barns are falling in. The roof needs repair…” Eli shot a look at his brother.
“Is that how you find it, Robbie?” Robert Benson asked, tipping the chair behind his desk back, sipping his ale, and peering over the foam at Rob. The three men sat in the sunny inn office, going over Eli’s most recent attempt to get information out of Spangler.
“I’ll give him the carpets,” Rob said grimly. “The rest is fabrication. I still don’t understand what he hopes to gain.”
“To drive down the price, to make you desperate,” the old man said, studying him closely. “Seems to me he plans to buy the place. Cheaply.”
“I’m not such a fool as to let the man take advantage of me.”
