Jacob’s gaze flits over to me, then back to Iain.
“I’d be happy to do it,” Jacob says. “If you want that.”
Iain’s quiet, still watching Jacob, and Elsie prods him quietly. “Iain?”
“Yes,” he says. His throat works. “Thank you.” He takes a seat in a nearby chair, and Elsie comes to stand behind him.
“I’ll go up and change,” Jacob says as he heads for the door.
Jacob leaves, and Iain stares after him, a little dumbfounded. Elsie sets a hand on his shoulder, squeezing lightly.
“Your husband’s a godsend,” she tells me, and the surprise almost makes me cough.
“Oh, no. He’s not—”
“Heis,” she insists. “Colin’s our only piper. There are a few in some of the neighboring towns, and we would have tried calling them, but we only just found out he was sick. We never expected that we had another piper right here.”
She moves to start clearing the table, and I help her, taking the remaining items into the kitchen.
“Iain was very close to his brother,” she tells me when it’s justthe two of us, placing dishes in the sink. “He’s been irritable today, and the news about Colin only made it worse. He…Today is a hard day for him.”
“Of course,” I say. “I understand.”
She looks at me then, her expression soft. “I just want your husband to know that we’re grateful. Even if Iain doesn’t express it fully today, or say it, we really are grateful.” She wipes her hands on a dish towel and passes me a dry one so I can do the same.
“Oh, that’s—sweet.” I wipe my hands and set the towel aside. “I’m sure he knows that. He’s not my husband, though.”
“Oh,” she says. She looks down at my left hand and shakes her head. “Sorry. Boyfriend, then.”
“No, that’s not—”
I hear Jacob’s voice through the door to the dining room, and Elsie opens it, waiting for me to follow.
“We have a car at the garage,” Jacob is saying to Iain. “So I’ll just need to stop by there first. Is that okay?”
Iain crosses his arms, and Elsie comes to stand beside him. “Yes, of course. Thank you,” Elsie says. She looks at Jacob, then at me, offering an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry. We didn’t get a chance to learn your names.”
Jacob extends a hand to both of them. “Jacob,” he says.
I move forward, extending mine as well. “Neelam,” I say. “Though ‘Neelu’ is fine.”
Jacob, mid-handshake with Iain, stills for a moment, and his eyes flick over to mine. It’s only then that I take in his attire. The same suit jacket he wore to the wedding, the same kilt. His legs back on display, high socks rolled up his calves.
There’s a strip of exposed skin between the hem of his kilt and his socks. Warm, golden-brown muscle, dusted with coarse black hair. I remember how hard that part of his thigh felt, how firm it was, the way it flexed under my touch.
I tear my gaze away to find Jacob watching me. But there’s no tilt to the corner of his mouth, no smirk or cocky expression, even though he’s caught me shamelessly ogling him. Instead, his eyes burn, a candle flickering, dark and full of promise in one moment, bright and incandescent the next.
“We’d like for both of you to come to the purvey after,” Elsie says, and we both pivot to her.
Iain frowns. “We won’t need a piper at the purvey.”
Elsie squeezes his arm. “No. But it would be nice if Jacob and Neelu could come.” She smiles. “Our way of saying thank you.”
“Oh,” Jacob says, shaking his head. “We wouldn’t want to intrude.” He glances over at me again. “And I’m not sure if Neelu will be able to make it to the service, so—”
“I’ll be there,” I say. “At the service.” I pause. “And the…purvey too, if you want us there.”
“Aye,” Iain says, his voice a little gruff. “We do.”
