With that settled, he started the arduous task of digging out all the ledgers he wanted Jocelyn to review. There were several. As they started to pile up on his desk, he felt bad for what he was going to task Jocelyn with.
If she was as proficient as she said, then mayhap she could make heads or tails out of the mess his business was. It was a task that he should have tackled on his own, but with trying to keep everything afloat, he just hadn’t had the time.
Pouring himself a whisky, he took a long pull, emptying the glass. He swallowed with a hiss and refilled his glass.
It had been some time since all of his friends had gotten together. Now that they were all married and most of them either with wee ones or bairns on the way, it was harder for all of them to gather. This situation had him missing them.
Mayhap he should send word and invite them all down to Leyson Castle. They could bring their wives and children.
Mind made up, he retrieved his inkwell and parchment. Thirty minutes later, he had his invitations ready to send. He’d hand them to Flora to send out when he saw her later.
*
Jocelyn stared atthe stacks of ledgers piled high on the desk in front of her. Gunn had tasked her to review them to see if she could identify issues that might explain some financial issues the inn and pub had been having. He hadn’t explained much more than that and she didn’t question him on it.
“Well,” she said into the empty room. “I might as well get into it.”
Gunn had kindly set up a workspace for her in a room that looked like it was used for storage. Trunks and crates were stacked against one wall, but she couldn’t tell what they held. Some were nailed shut and others held items wrapped in canvas.
She had fought a wave of disappointment when she’d learned that she wouldn’t be working side by side with the laird.
What was she thinking? It was silly, really. Why would she be working with him? They hardly knew each other, and he had already made remarks about them being seen together with no chaperone in sight. She supposed it would bother her if she knew anyone here. But she didn’t. She’d heard of the shunning young ladies would be subjected to when the gossip columns wrote about the different compromising scenarios they would find themselves in. She herself had never been the topic of conversation in any of those columns. She’d married Victor without even being introduced into society.
A marriage arranged in a deal between her and Victor’s parents. They went through a courtship where Victor presented himself as charming. He had arrived at her doorstep each morning bearing some sort of gift. Flowers. Chocolates. Even jewelry.
She’d been thoroughly fooled. As well as the other girls and women in the city. They oohed and aahed about how lucky she was. If they only knew.
The gifts stopped as soon as they married. And the jewelry he had previously given her, he gathered it all and returned it to the jeweler to get his coin back.
She focused on the ledgers. She didn’t need to think about Victor anymore. She’d finally escaped. Lucky for her she just happened to find herself in the company of a very handsome laird. And a kind one.
He also looked like he could crush Victor with a single punch. She couldn’t help the smile that played on her lips at the thought.
She sat down at the small wooden desk Gunn had set up for her to work. She settled in but stood up again. If she was to do a thorough job, then she would need to review the ledgers in chronological order. That made the most sense.
Looking at the dates, she organized them from oldest to newest and settled into her seat once again. Pulling down the first ledger from the pile, she opened it to the first page. It was dated September 1810.
Not exactly sure what she was looking for, she scanned the entries, hoping that something would stand out. A pattern. An odd entry. It appeared before the laird left to fight in the war the Thistle & Pig was a thriving and fruitful business. He employed a full staff, including a manager responsible for the pub. The only other person she’d seen since she’d arrived, besides the laird, was Flora. And of course, there was the cook, whom she hadn’t seen, but was obviously there.
She wondered where all the staff was now. There was no manager working at the pub when she entered the door the other day.
Reading through the number of liquors that the pub purchased was impressive. She was no expert when it came to such things, but many orders were put through. With so manybottles bought, he had to have the patrons to match. Continuing her review, she read line after line of entries.
Jocelyn became so engrossed in her work that she didn’t hear anyone approach and jumped at the sharp knock on the open door frame.
With a little yelp, she jumped and looked up to see Gunn leaning against the door, looking at her curiously. His arms were crossed and the seams of his gray shirt strained from his muscles. Unlike her, gray looked positively dashing on him. He possessed the widest shoulders she’d ever seen in her life. Black trousers hugged his thighs in the most wicked of ways and she had to quickly look away before he caught her gawking.
Swallowing hard, her mouth was suddenly dry.
“Do you need anything?” she asked, wondering why he was standing there.
He pushed off the wall and approached her desk. His massive size filled the small space. “’Tis been some hours since ye started. I wanted to see how ye fared and inquire if ye were hungry.
Had it really already been hours? It seemed like she had just started, but numbers were of great interest to her. She became consumed by them and lost all sense of time. Apparently, that’s what had happened here.
She straightened, her back screaming in protest. Stiffly, she tried to stretch out the aches of being hunched over the desk for such an extended amount of time.
Gunn narrowed his eyes. “Mayhap ye have had enough for one day. Why dinna ye join me for tea and sandwiches and ye can tell me all about what ye’ve uncovered so far.”
