Once a Wallflower, Always a Wallflower by Samantha Holt

Author:Samantha Holt
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: 0
Published: 2019-03-03T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

“Stay here a wee while, lass.” Lachlan motioned for Minerva to remain with the horses outside the cottage. There was no guarantee they would find accommodation in this wee village, but if the old couple could not spare a room as they were known to do for many visitors, he imagined he could find someone else to take them in.

Lord knows, they could do with a roof over their heads for the night. Though Minerva revealed few signs of fatigue, she had to be as tired as he. Although, maybe she had slept better than he had. Lying with her in his arms was a sweet mixture of torture and bliss. He’d been aware of every breath, every movement of her body. Even every flutter of her eyelids in the dark. He grimaced to himself. Whatever she said about lack of interest, there would be a man out there one day who would get to do such a thing every night.

He gritted his teeth. He already hated that man.

After knocking swiftly on the door, he waited a few more moments while Minerva sent him anxious looks. He heard voices—male and female—no doubt the elderly couple whom he had been informed might loan the spare room for the night. It sounded as though they were arguing. That did not bode well.

The door inched open, and a wizened face with sick, wiry eyebrows and clear blue eyes peered up at him. The man’s moustache bristled, and his gaze ran up and down Lachlan. “You’re the laird, are you not?”

“I am no laird.” But how the man already knew of their presence in the village, he did not know. The gossip clearly worked quickly in this small settlement.

“You want a place for the night?”

The door still only remained marginally open. That was until a bony hand curled around the door and yanked it open. A woman no larger than her husband—who were both smaller than Minerva—gave him a similar appraisal. A grin broke across her face, gap toothed but welcoming.

“It doesn’t matter if he is a laird or not. We always have a room for those in need.”

Her husband grumbled something under his breath that Lachlan did not catch.

The old woman gave him a nudge with a bony elbow. The man rubbed his ribs and swung a disgruntled look her way. “Aye, aye, we have a room.”

The woman peered out of the door, looking left and right down the street. “Where is your wife?”

Lachlan nodded toward Minerva, who stood warily, eyeing everyone who walked past. No doubt this place, with its small stone cottages, tucked into green hills with a simple mud path running between them, was unlike even the smallest of villages in England. Those few people around peered at her openly, surely curious about the woman who looked unlike any of them.

“Ah, but she is bonny.” The old woman clasped her hands together. “You can tie up your horses at the stable down the way.”

“You have my thanks.” Before Lachlan could turn away, the old man opened his palm.

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