Page 70 of A Hellion for the Highland Hawk
Nancy grinned. “No, not at all. Could you just watch Freya for a while? There’s something I need to do.”
“Of course, Miss Kane,” the maid replied, a little grumpy.
Nancy could apologize later.
Despite speaking with Jane and Adeline, trying to come up with a list of potential suspects together, Nancy had never truly believed that fate could be altered. That tapestry had played in her mind over and over, making it impossible to see any other outcome. But now she had hope, and she wasn’t going to squander it.
In truth, she could’ve smacked herself for not connecting the dots sooner. Not even the Clark sisters had made the point that things had changed when they’d come back to the 1700s. Instead, they had focused on the fact that they were always meant to come back in time. As such, they likely assumed that what they’d altered was always history. Without a thorough study from some historian about what had happened to that plague-ridden islandbeforeAdeline went back, there was no way to be sure, one way or the other.
Perhaps a thesis in a library had rewritten itself, and the Clark sisters just didn’t know about it.
He might live,Nancy told herself as she ran through the hallways.Oh my God, he might live!
Skidding around a corner, she almost slammed into the wide-eyed figure of Elsie, who was waddling along slowly. Feinting around her at the last moment, Nancy didn’t stop to chat, though Elsie called out, “How was the cèilidh?”
“I’ll tell you about it later,” Nancy called back, sprinting onward, running faster than she had in years.
After a few wrong turns and expletives about the maze of this place, and halting to get directions from startled servants, she finally found herself before the door to Hunter’s study. She wasn’t sure if he’d be inside, but she had a strong inkling. And if he wasn’t, she would just try his bedchamber, the training yard, and anywhere else that a disgruntled laird might spend a few hours.
With a breath, she burst into the room… and expelled a raspy sigh of relief when she found him sitting there, a glass of whiskey in hand, his eyebrow raised at her intrusion.
CHAPTER 29
“I thought ye were busy,”Hunter said, setting down his glass. “Ye’re supposed to knock before ye enter a laird’s study. I might nae have been alone.”
Jack had not long left, no doubt confused by Hunter’s instructions to post archers in the rafters of the chapel roof on their wedding day.
“Ye’re nae thinkin’ of killin’ Miss Kane, are ye? Me wife wouldnae be happy about that,”he had said, his throat bobbing.
“Nay, the very opposite,”Hunter had explained, without explaining anything at all.
Hemight have accepted that the strange woman he had come to want at his side was from the future, but Jack wouldn’t. The man had only just gotten over his fear that Nancy was a witch.
“Not alone?” Nancy closed the door behind her, a frown creasing her brow. “Who else would be in here with you?”
Hunter thought he detected a note of jealousy in her voice and couldn’t deny he liked it.
“The councilmen, me man-at-arms, any number of people,” he replied. “But what are ye doin’ here? Have ye grown tired of me daughter already?”
She scowled at him, folding her arms across her chest. “Actually, I came to tell you—No, forget it. It doesn’t matter. I should’ve known you’d be unreasonable, pouting about me giving you the silent treatment.”
“Poutin’?” He barked a laugh. “Ye seemed as if ye wanted space, lass. I gave it to ye. Or are ye one of these lasses who say one thing and mean another?”
Her mouth dropped open, and he could sense he had hit that sweet spot between anger and amusement. Riling her up just enough. After all, if he was going to die in a matter of weeks, he figured he might as well enjoy himself.
“Elsie is lookin’ for ye, by the way,” he added, sitting back in his chair. “Wants to discuss the arrangements for the weddin’.”
Nancy turned her gaze away, her hand moving to her throat, rubbing it as if there was some tension there.
“Still nae sure, eh?” he teased.
“I suppose I’m still struggling to understand why you’d go through with it, when, as you said yourself, you only proposed to protect me,” she replied quietly.
Is that why ye’ve been avoidin’ me?
He gazed at her more intently, searching her face for any hint of the truth.
“Then again, whoever this killer is, I’ve come to the realization that it’s probably not the wedding itself that makes them try to murder you,” she continued, frowning. “The wedding is just an opportunity. If I leave, the story might change, but the ending might be the same.”
