Shewasa goody two-shoes.
Even more so than Weston.
Except…except to her knowledge, her twin had never defied their governess by sneaking out of his lessons in the middle of the day. And he’d almost certainly never gone into the village when he wasn’t supposed to. And he’d definitelyneverhidden inside of a supply wagon. Did that make her braver than him? Or just more foolish?
She really didn’t know the answer.
“What are we going to do now?” she hissed, wedging her foot against an empty crate to prevent herself from moving as the wagon took a sharp left hand turn and then slowed. From outside the blanket draped over them, she could hear the sounds of harnesses jingling and people talking and the toll of a church bell. Given that the only church within twenty miles was the one that sat in the middle of the village square, she knew, that for better or worse, they’d reached their destination.
Lachlan winked at her. “Whatever we want. Just be ready tae jump.”
“Jump?” she said, horrified. “What do you mean, be ready to–”
“One, two, three–JUMP!”
He grabbed her arm and, together, they rolled out of the back of wagon and landed in a cloud of dust and tangled limbs. Laughing, Lachlan pulled her to the safety of the pavement just as another carriage, pulled by a matched pair of prancing chestnuts, came breezing past. The driver hollered something, but Brynne was unable to make out what it was above the dull roaring in her ears.
“Well done,” Lachlan said approvingly, giving her hearty slap on the back.
Gasping for air, Brynne doubled over and clutched her knees. Her hat, silk taffeta over wired buckram, slipped off and plopped onto the ground. “I–I cannot believe I did that!”
“Ye mean ye’ve never leapt out of a moving wagon before?”
She straightened and stared at him incredulously. “You have?”
“At least half a dozen times.”
“Half adozen–”
“The trick is in the landing.” Bending down, he grasped her bonnet and gave it a light shake before returning it to her. “Ye have tae keep moving so ye dinna get run over.”
“I’ll keep that in mind for next time,” she said faintly as she accepted her hat.
Clearly, Lachlan was what Miss Hardgrave disparagingly referred to as a “ruffian”. That is, a man (or in this case, a boy) of mischievous character intent on committing various misdeeds. In short, he wasnotthe sort of company that a young girl on the brink of womanhood should be keeping. Especially one who needed to maintain an impeccable reputation. And yet…and yet she was havingfun. Real, honest-to-goodness fun. Well, except for almost being crushed to death by a carriage. But Lachlan had protected her. And Miss Hardgrave thought she was immersed in her French tutoring (when in actuality, she’d sent off a letter first thing in the morning telling her instructor, Monsieur Dubois, that she was ill). Which meant…which meant she wasfree. Free to have all of the fun that she wanted.
“We should go in the confectionary shop,” she said, her eyes lighting. “I’m never allowed, but my father has an account with every merchant in the village, and we can buy whatever we want.”
Half an hour later, they emerged from the shop, their arms overflowing with an assortment of twisted barley sugar sticks, strawberry drops, caramels, and–Brynne’s favorite–lime fruit, which consisted of a slice of dried lime dipped in lemonade and then rolled in sugar.
They carried their bounty to a bench in the middle of the square, and sat beside each other in the dappled shade of a large oak tree.
“Trade ye a strawberry drop for a caramel,” said Lachlan, speaking around a sugar stick jammed into the side of his cheek.
Brynne studied the candy she’d arranged in neat piles on her lap. “One strawberry drop for two caramels and the last barley stick.”
“Twostrawberry drops for one caramel,” he countered, “and we’ll split the last barley stick.”
“All right. What?” she asked when Lachlan shook his head at her as he accepted the candy. “What is it?”
“Ye need tae learn how tae drive a harder bargain.” He popped a strawberry drop into his mouth and bit down with a loudcrunch. “I would have given ye the whole barley stick.”
“Well, why didn’t you?” she asked in exasperation.
He shrugged. “Because ye gave in.”
“Miss Hardgrave says that a gentleman should always make every effort to appease a lady.”
“Never said I was a gentleman.” Cracking the barley stick into two pieces, he offered her half. Reluctantly, she accepted the stick and handed over two strawberry drops.
