Page 31 of Never Kiss a Highlander

The three of them hurried to the kitchen.

“What has been done so far?” Finn asked.

Eli, the young lad who took care of the bread for the keep, wiped sweat from his forehead with his arm and placed four loaves of bread on the work table. There were already six loaves there. He waved at Alison. “We have bread.”

Alison turned to Finn. “I ken it’s no’ your job, but I need help.”

He nodded. “What do ye want me to do?”

She seemed surprised that he asked her. He had no problem giving up control in the kitchen. ‘Twas apparently not a place where he was comfortable.

Alison turned to him. “We need meat, but there is no time to cook a stew.”

He shook his head. “Nay. I will grab a few of the warriors and we will catch fish. It cooks faster.”

She looked at him with a slight smile. “How do ye ken that?”

He grinned back. “Years of eating while traveling as a warrior. How do ye think we feed ourselves?”

“I guess I ne’er thought about it. Will ye do that?”

“Aye, lass.” He turned and left.

Alison was still surprised that Finn had offered to help with cooking. If he thought he was going to take control, he was in for a surprise as well. Although, she thought, he did ask her what he could do.

She kept Brenda and Sorcha, the two kitchen maids left, busy cutting vegetables. Once Finn returned with three baskets of fish, she had Eli help with Finn preparing the catch for baking.

“Brenda, you and Sorcha check to make sure there is fresh butter and cheese to serve with this.”

She looked over to where Finn was busy frying fish since he said it would be faster than baking. She smiled when she remembered how he asked her if they could switch how they cooked the fish. Mayhap she was winning the control game they’d been playing.

Once the fish was all cooked, the few kitchen staff members worked quickly to place all the food onto platters and carry out to the great hall.

Poor Finn got a lot of kidding because he was right there with the rest of them serving. Alison had no idea how strong the man’s confidence was until he just blew off their teasing.

Once all the food had been delivered, Alison sat on a bench in the kitchen, waving a towel back and forth across her face, creating some cool air.

Finn walked in and sat alongside her. “Ye did a great job, wife.”

She shook her head. “Well, I must admit I ne’er expected ye to help in the kitchen.”

He bent and gave her a quick kiss. “Beware. I will always do the unexpected, lass.”

Chapter Thirteen

Finn had to admit to himself that helping in the kitchen when things were so chaotic left him with a good feeling. ‘Twas obvious, for as much as she would never admit it, Alison had walked into a mess. But being who she was, she planned to deal with it all herself. She actually looked surprised when he offered to help.

Mayhap a bit of compromise on his part would work. They were married and will spend the rest of their lives together so it made sense to keep from bickering all the time.

But making up from a good fight was a nice thing, too.

James caught him as Finn was entering the great hall to have his own evening meal. Alison would be joining him once she cleaned up.

“Finn, we might have some trouble ahead.”

They sat together at the table, and one of the very worn-out looking kitchen maids poured them both an ale. Finn took a sip and turned to James. “What trouble are we facing?”

“We’ve been getting reports of trouble along our border with the Sinclairs.”