Callum's laughter faded as he turned his head to the side, his gaze meeting hers in an overly intimate moment. The smiles slowly disappeared from both their faces as the air shifted.
Something quiet settled between them. Something that had nothing to do with lost lambs or muddy ravines.
Eleanor became suddenly aware of how close they were walking. Close enough that their shoulders occasionally brushed. So close in fact, that she could see the details of his scars as the sun shone down on them. A rare moment in the highlands, but rarer still for the two of them.
“Eleanor,” he almost whispered her name.
Her heartbeat quickened.
“Aye?” she swallowed hard against the fluttering in the pit of her stomach.
For a moment, it looked as though he intended to say something important. Something that had been weighing upon him. Instead, he shook his head. “Nothin’.”
The disappointment that followed surprised her.
“Oh.” She let out a breath that she had not realized she had been holding.
A crooked smile touched his mouth. “What?”
“Nothin’,” she muttered quickly and fixed her gaze on the road ahead of them.
The corner of his mouth lifted further. “Ye are a terrible liar. Remind me nae to leave tell ye anymore clan secrets.” His tone was teasing again as he too looked ahead.
Unexpectedly, the corners of her mouth lifted into a smile. She was not certain why, but the easy relationship that was growing between them brought her a small amount of peace. There was still a long road ahead of them, where brother was concerned, and it would make matters a lot easier if they could be friends.
CHAPTER TWELVE
The bonfire on the other side of the hill blazed into the starry night sky, cracking like a whip when the orange waves reached their peak. The glen below was filled with laughter and merriment, signaling the success of the celebrations already underway.
Eleanor smiled at the children dancing around the maypole, their ribbons entwining as they sang and danced to the fiddler beside them. She carefully picked her way down as she recounted her plan in her mind. She would wait, look, listen, and gather as much information as possible about the clan. All she needed for a strong lead was one simple slip-up. One misplaced word, or even a slurred mistake.
“Ale for the mistress?” An older woman that Eleanor did not recognize came past with a tray of mugs.
“Thank ye kindly,” Eleanor accepted, hoping that holding a drink of ale would help her blend into the throng of guests. Shedid not know where Callum had gotten to, nor did she care. She felt perfectly capable of handling matters on her own.
The ale burned the back of her throat as she took a large, warm sip. It was stronger than what she was used to, but her father had always watered hers down.
It was not long before snippets of conversation began to drift her way. Nobody seemed to be paying attention to her as she sidled closer to a stall selling ribbons.
The old man behind the counter gladly obliged her, showing her every color that he had available.
“Aye, and then the man just appeared with a bride after two weeks! Where did he even find her!” one rather large man with bright red ears exclaimed.
Another man close to him laughed. “I daenae care where or why he is takin’ a bride, all I care is to ken where he found her! A woman like that had to have fallen from the sky. I would bed her in a heartbeat!”
“Nae wonder our Laird has been spendin’ so much time in the study, that filly has been well broken!” the first man chimed in again.
The men laughed uproariously, and Eleanor began to blush.
Is that really what they thought of her? That Callum had taken her to his bed? She was pretending to be his betrothed, but that did not mean that she was a woman of loose morals.
Walking away from the stall with her head held high, Eleanor continued to sip her ale. Under different circumstances, she would have confronted them, but she needed to keep the attention off herself. What would Callum say if he heard the men talking about her in such a manner? Would he have reprimanded them, or just let them be?
Her eyes drifted across the opening to the other end of the clearing, where Callum stood talking to Iain. They seemed deep in conversation, and she could not help but wonder what they were saying. She sidled closer, trying to blend in with the crowd.
Laughter erupted beside her, and she laughed just a moment too late, causing heads to turn in her direction.
She quickly hurried on, but failed to see Bran, who had been trailing her.
