“That you have, lass.” He had no one to blame but himself, yet he meant to do a fair bit of blaming.
Her brow pulled downward, and her wide mouth turned down in disappointment. “I asked too many questions, didn’t I? My father forever told me not to make a nuisance of myself by asking questions.” She clasped her hands. “My apologies, Mr. Buchanan. And” —she turned to Will— “to you, as well. I will leave all of you to your work, as I ought to have done from the first.” She gave a quick nod to them both. “Good afternoon.”
Miss Pemberton left swiftly, not looking at anyone as she went.
I should get back to work.Duncan eyed the now-empty stable doorway.There’s loads to do.
Yet his feet carried him from the stable, following the route Miss Pemberton had taken. She’d already reached the path leading back to the house. The lass moved swiftly.
’Twould be easy as anything to simply go back to the stable. Why, then, were his feet ignoring his mind entirely?
“Miss Pemberton.” Apparently his voice was equally disobedient.
She stopped and looked back. He reached her in the next moment.
“Did I forget something?” How could she look so serene while sounding so uncertain?
“No. You didn’t forget anything.”
Her eyes darted about a moment before settling on him once more. “Did I do something wrong?”
“You left upset.”
“And that was. . . wrong?”
“Not wrong.”
She turned her head a bit away, eyes narrowing. “I don’t understand.”
This was exactly why Duncan avoided conversations: too many ended in confusion. “You left upset. I didn’t like it.”
“I’m s—”
“I wasn’t lookin’ for an ‘I’m sorry.’” Crivins, she apologized a lot. “I only need to know why you’re unhappy.” Though why he needed to know, even he couldn’t say.
“Oh.” She blinked a few times, as if his concern surprised her as much as it did him. “I disrupted your day and made a burden of myself.”
“You weren’t a burden.” A disruption, perhaps. A confusion, yes. But not a burden.
“A bother, then. And for that I am sorry.”
He heard himself answer with words he’d not intended to speak. “You’re welcome to come visit the horses at any time.”
“Thank you. I promise not to interrupt anyone’s work to do so, especially yours.”
More words slipped from his lips unbidden. “I’d hope you’d offer a ‘good day’ at the least.”
The tiniest hint of pleasure entered her deep brown eyes. “I will.”
She no longer appeared upset or embarrassed or whatever it was she’d been when leaving the stables. That was good enough to satisfy him. He gave a quick dip of his head in anticipation of returning to work.
“Mr. Buchanan?” She, apparently, wasn’t finished.
He paused and silently gave her leave to continue.
“Would you— Might I—” Though she’d never seemed overly talkative, Miss Pemberton was not generally so tongue-tied. Just what favor did she mean to ask this time? “Would you mind if I came and talked with you now and then?” Her words rushedout, quick, almost flustered. “I would be careful of your time and obligations, and I promise not to pester you with questions.”
Talk? With a highborn lady? “What on earth would we find to talk about?”
