Page 52 of A Scot to Wed

He studied her for a minute, looking as though he was considering her question and a suitable response. He gave her a curt nod. “Aye.”

With that one word, he stood and padded across the room to wash his face. He dipped the linen square into the bowl of water from the night before. “Ye need to make sure we have hot water in the morning.” He dropped the wet cloth and rubbed his face with a dry one. “Although, since we’ll be gone in a few days, it doesnae really matter.”

Katie couldn’t tell if her heart was pounding from looking at his fine male form or from the desire to whack him over the head with her work boot. Again, she counted. This time to twenty. “I dinnae ask for hot water this morning because I wasn’t sure if we would sleep here or in my bedchamber.”

Evan pulled on his trews. “We will always sleep in my bedchamber.” He then continued with his orders. Katie listened, appalled at his arrogance and heavy-handed manner. After a few minutes of him rattling off commands and her just staring at him with her arms crossed, he said, “Will ye remember all this?”

She jumped from the bed, dragging the blanket with her. “What I will be remembering,my laird,is that I married a mon who has no intentions of treating me with respect.”

Evan stopped tucking his shirt into his trews, a genuinely surprised look on his face. “What are ye talking about?”

She huffed. “Ye dinnae even ken, do ye?”

“Ken what?” He placed his hands on his hips and glowered at her. “Woman, if ’tis yer intention to confuse me first thing in the morning, ye have succeeded. Now, I am going downstairs to break my fast and do what needs to be done to make us ready to leave in two days time.” He walked over to her and gave her a perfunctory kiss and a pat on her arse before he left. She stood there, her mouth agape, staring at the closed door.

Perhaps ’twas too late to throw her work boot at the man’s thick head, but she gained some satisfaction in flinging it against the door. Some satisfaction, but not much as it slid to the floor. Instead, she shouted at the closed door, “Ye are an arrogant halfwit.”

Evan had already finished his breakfast and gone from the Great Hall when Katie arrived. Gavin and Alasdair sat side by side, discussing something that held her brother’s interest. She smiled at the lad, who had seemed to come out of his shyness since they’d arrived at MacDuff. In all fairness, a lot of that credit went to Evan and Alasdair.

Aye, the man she married did have a lot of good qualities, but his arrogance and heavy-handedness didn’t sit well with her. While she liked the idea of having another person to take part of her burden, she didn’t like that Evan just excluded her and expected her to blindly obey his orders like she was a servant. If she could just get him to stop for a few minutes and listen to her, she could explain how she wanted this marriage to go on. She would never be the “yes, my laird,” type of wife. And if that was what he thought he’d gotten when he married her, he was in for an awakening.

“Gavin, I would have a word with ye when yer finished with yer breakfast.” Katie took an apple and cut it into slices and added cheese to her plate. Then she slathered honey on warm bread and realized she was hungrier than normal this morn. She grinned. ’Twas most likely all the activity in Evan’s bed the night before.

“Aye, Katie. What do ye want?” Gavin slid into the spot next to her on the bench. “I need to hurry. Evan is going to give me another lesson in hunting.”

So her husband had time to give Gavin hunting lessons but no time to listen to her? “This willnae take much time. I just wanted ye to ken that we are all leaving for the laird’s keep in Argyll in two days.” She hoped the lad would not have a problem with that, since they’d just arrived in Fife a few weeks ago.

“Aye. Evan told me to be ready. He even said I can bring one of the puppies with me.”

At a loss for words, since her husband had apparently also taken over responsibility for her brother, all she could think to say was, “Is that so?”

Gavin hopped up. “Aye. Can I go now?” Before even waiting for her answer, he raced out the door, Alasdair right behind him.

Once more, Katie was left staring at a closed door, her mouth agape. Botheration. Men were annoying no matter the age. She popped a piece of apple into her mouth and chomped down as she continued to glare at the closed door.

…

Evan spent the day organizing, moving families, going through papers and other ledger books, and gathering together items to take with him and those that needed to stay at the castle. He then held a lengthy meeting with Ian MacDuff to go over the books and help him set up a method to handle rents, expenses, and a report to Evan once a month. The man was very bright, and Evan was happy in his choice of land steward.

As Evan went over items in his mind he still needed to do, he stood at the library window, watching Gavin running with a group of other lads, apparently playing some sort of game that Gavin led. They all waved wooden swords and called to Gavin for advice. The change in the lad since his arrival was remarkable, and Evan was certain the lad would turn into a fine mon one day.

“Evan, while ye were giving Gavin his lessons, I checked the village like ye asked me to do, and there is no sign of Lord Armstrong about.” Alasdair’s comments helped ease Evan’s worries a bit. Although he didn’t think Armstrong would give up so easily, he might have decided to ride to Cupar to seek the assistance of the general magistrate.

“Good to hear that, brother. Be sure to continue keeping an eye on Gavin. I dinnae think for one minute the mon has given up on the lad.” He glanced out the window and noticed the group of lads had disappeared. “Where is he now?”

“In the kitchen with a few of the lads, most likely snatching a meat pie. The lad really has an appetite. Mrs. MacDuff kens enough to keep an eye out for him.” Alasdair settled into the chair in front of Evan’s desk. “How are things going with yer new wife?”

“Fine.” Evan gathered unnecessary papers and tossed them into the fireplace behind him. The small fire that burned there grew higher as the documents caught the flames, sending a burst of warmth to his back and sparks flying up the chimney. He continued to shuffle papers, close books, and place them into drawers. He had too much on his mind and too much to do to be playing games with his brother.

“Are ye sure?”

Something about Alasdair’s tone made Evan stop and study the mon. “Are ye trying to say something to me, or are ye just here to waste my time?”

His brother leaned back in his chair, his arms crossed. “Nay. I’m just curious as to why yer new wife, who should be smiling brightly after her wedding night, has been stomping around the place all morning, growling at everyone.” He shook his head. “Not well done, brother. If yer having a problem keeping the lass satisfied, I will be happy to step in and—”

Within seconds, Evan was on top of his brother, the chair flying to the floor, his hands around his neck. “Dinnae even suggest such a thing if ye value yer sorry arse.”

Instead of fear, the fool burst into laughter, making Evan want to knock him senseless. “Maybe ye should take some of that fury and put it to good use,” Alasdair said between gulps of air.