The Trouble with Scotland (10 page)

“Aye. I promised to help get ye out of the retreat, didn't I?” His eyes twinkled with laughter. “But I'll need to let my mother know as soon as possible that we're coming.”

“And Dand? Is he really going with us?”

“He's out of school. My mum would love to see him.”

“But you haven't talked to Maggie about it yet?”

“It'll be fine.”

“I guess I'll go then.”

And an idea started to form. Ross was helping her stay away from Quilting Central, and she had promised to help him back. It just wasn't going to be the assistance he expected.

Sadie smiled at her plan, knowing it had nothing to do with a new career, but instead his peace of mind. While they were in Glasgow, she would find Ross a woman.

A
fter he ate, Sadie strolled beside Ross as they made their way back to his house. Inside, all was quiet. There was a delicious aroma of a roast in the oven, and the cottage felt warm and cozy. Or maybe it was being near Ross that made her feel this way.

Sadie went to her place at the dining room table, ready to get back to work on the chair pockets. Ross stepped to the refrigerator and pulled a note from a clip.

He held it up to Sadie. “Maggie's at the store.”

So they were alone; the time was now then.

“Ross?”

But as he turned to her expectantly, the front door flew open and in clattered Dand and Mattie.

“Then I pulled out my slingshot and shot him,” Dand was saying. As he motioned to his friend over his shoulder, he stumbled on the hall rug. “I'll show ye the feather I knocked off.”

Dand's bedroom door had barely slammed behind them when one of Ross's brothers appeared. His eyes took in the scene.

The brother cocked an eyebrow. “I'm not interrupting, am I?”

For a moment, Sadie thought Ross looked embarrassed, but certainly she was imagining it.

Ross nodded to his brother. “This is Sadie Middleton. Sadie . . . John, my older brother.”

“It's nice to actually meet you.” John gave Ross a pointed look.

Sadie knew what it was about. He was referring to the night she and Ross ran off together.

John's gaze fell on the fabric spread out on the table. He was nice to not mention the mess she'd made of his house.

The door opened yet again, and Maggie stepped inside with Irene cradled to her chest in a baby carrier, the little one hanging on to Maggie's long black braid.

“Wife.” John eased the cloth grocery bag from her shoulder and kissed her on the lips. He walked into the kitchen and deposited the bag on the counter.

Maggie undid the strap of the carrier. “Can someone hold Irene while I finish the cooking?” She let the strap fall, and without a glance in the men's direction, she put Irene in Sadie's arms. “Thanks.”

Ross's gaze snapped to Sadie. “What about me?”

Sadie shifted the child out of his reach and bounced her. “I have her. She's mine.”

The warmth and weight of a baby was wonderful. “Go do some guy stuff.”

Ross moped away, plopped on the couch, and put his feet up. “Done.”

“What's this I hear about ye going to Glasgow tomorrow, Ross?” Maggie said from the kitchen.

Ross cursed under his breath before cranking his head over his shoulder to his sister-in-law. “I want to see Mum. I thought I'd take Dand with me if that's okay with you two.”

Sadie watched Maggie's face. She seemed to be waiting patiently for the rest.

Silence loomed. Ross dropped his feet to the floor and turned to Maggie. “If it's not okay, I can go without him.”

Still Maggie remained quiet.

“Oh, for heaven's sake,” Sadie said. Didn't Ross have a clue? She walked past the stubborn Scot, kicked his shoe, then spoke to Maggie. “Ross is taking me also, so I can buy books for Quilting Central's library.”

John looked to Maggie. “Quilting Central has a library?”

But Sadie was the one who responded. “Ross is going to build shelves, and I'm going to stock them. Or do the best I can before I have to leave on Saturday.” Time was passing quickly.

The tension was thick. Sadie knew it was because she and Ross were spending too much time together. She'd heard the whispers that Maggie wanted one of her sisters for Ross. Sadie wished she could explain that she wasn't after him. The idea was laughable, really. She only wanted to help him find someone new. But she hadn't even told him her plan yet.

John broke the silence. “Brodie Wallace is back in town.”

Sadie looked at Ross questioningly.

Ross sat back down. “Brodie's a friend of ours whose grandfather has been sick on and off for a while now. I suppose he's come home to help old Abraham.”

John sat on the other end of the sofa. “Aye, I've noticed his cough is worse of late.”

There was a ruckus at the front door as it swung open and Ross's brother Ramsay came in with his wife, the matchmaker. “
Gawd
, woman, ye have balls.”

They both laughed, but when Kit saw Ross, she narrowed her eyes at him. “You and I need to talk. You know, don't you, that you're going to have to meet with Harry's niece. He promised her.” She held her hand up. “I know
you
didn't promise, but still. You don't want to hurt her feelings, now, do you?”

Ross's eyes flitted heavenward. “Not now, Kit. I beg you.”

“After dinner then,” she said with finality, “we'll talk.”

Sadie gave Ross a pitying look, feeling better about the plan she was working on for Glasgow. If he started dating, surely the people of the village would leave him alone then.

“Are you staying for dinner, Sadie?” Kit asked.

“Aye,” Maggie said. “Stay.”

“Thank you. I'd love to.” It would beat going back to Quilting Central and eating with the quilters. For some reason, she didn't mind the hubbub at Ross's cottage.

Sadie continued to work on the chair pockets, but as dinnertime drew near, she cleared them away. Cait dropped in briefly to retrieve Mattie, and John and Ross set the table. The entire house reverberated with jibes, laughter, and love.

Dinner was a predictably loud affair, as the brothers kidded one another and a gurgling Irene was passed from person to person, even Dand taking his turn with his little sister.

For a moment, Sadie wished Oliver was here to experience the fun. She, Gigi, and Oliver had had wonderful family dinners—far quieter than this, but just as full of love.

But not anymore.

When no one could eat another bite, Kit announced that she and Ross would be doing the dishes.

“Sadie, ye have to help, too,” Ross said.

“Of course.” She would be his buffer and moral support against his matchmaking sister-in-law and her onslaught of eligible bachelorettes.

Kit took her place at the sink to wash, but before she could open her mouth, Ross was talking.

“Sadie, I've been meaning to ask ye, what's it like in North Carolina?” He winked at her. “Are the summers the same as here?”

She knew what he was doing. “The weather is hot this time of year. We spend a lot of time on the beach or indoors where there's air-conditioning.” She went on a bit longer about the beauty of North Carolina, then turned to Kit. “I hear from everyone that you're a matchmaker. How did you get involved in such an interesting career?”

Kit began explaining how she'd progressed from matching her wealthy friends to starting
The Real Men of Alaska
, and finally finding her way to Scotland and expanding her business here.

And while Sadie had Kit, she decided to pump her for useful information. “So how do you go about deciding who is best for whom? Let's take Ross, for instance.”

“Let's not,” Ross interjected. “It's not polite to discuss my love life with an out-of-town guest.”

Kit tossed her dish towel at Ross's head. “You need
my help, brother-in-law, or you'll end up a lonely old fisherman.”

“Nay. I'll have all of ye to nag me to my dying day.”

“How exactly would you go about picking out a woman for Ross?” Sadie might've said too much because Kit looked at her sideways and Ross swung around to look at her, too. “I mean choosing the right mate for a man. Or a woman, for that matter.”

Now Maggie was looking at her strangely. “Are ye asking for yereself?”

“Heavens, no.” Sadie glanced at the clock on the wall and watched the hand tick while she tried to come up with a way to dig herself out. “It's late. I'm just so tired. I better get back to the quilting dorm.”

Ross pointed at the door. “I'll walk you. To make sure ye don't get into any trouble.”

That only made things worse. Now Ramsay and John were looking at her, too.

Ross grabbed the novel she'd been reading that morning off the treadle machine. “Ye don't want to forget this.”

Outside, Ross jumped right in, or maybe down her throat. “What was that all about?”

She had wanted to tell him her plan earlier, when she'd thought he was in the right frame of mind. Now . . . not so much. “I have an idea of how to help you. A way to get Gandiegow off your back.”

His raised hackles relaxed. “All right. I'm listening.”

“When we're in Glasgow, we should go out,” Sadie said.

He frowned at her.

“Oh, I didn't mean you and me. But we should go to a pub or something.”

He still looked bemused.

She put her hands on her hips. “So we can find you a woman.”

“We?”

But he seemed relieved that she wasn't the woman in question, and her heart gave a sad little sigh. Logically she knew Ross wasn't for her, but apparently subconsciously, a fantasy life she didn't know existed had taken over wanting things it couldn't have, not in a million years.

“And what would this woman be like?” He was all in now.

“I don't know yet. But you'll let me be your wingman—I mean, your wing-woman—at the pub?”

He seemed to be thinking about it. “And what about ye? What about finding you a man?” He stopped for a second, considering. “Unless ye already have one at home you failed to mention.”

Sadie snorted. “No. Not hardly. I already told you that.”

“Why not?”

She blushed—not only for the crazy thoughts that she'd been having about Ross, but for the truth. “It's embarrassing.”

“What's embarrassing?” He stood there, waiting patiently. “Tell me.”

“Dating has always seemed a lot of trouble, as far as I'm concerned. I've always been more interested in books than men.” There. She'd said it. She finally glanced in Ross's direction, and she found him grinning.

“What?” she said. “You think it's funny that I'm pretty
clueless?”
Not completely clueless
, but he didn't need to know about the experiences she'd had.

“That's not it at all,” he said. “Go on. Tell me more.”

“I guess I just don't know how to be all that feminine. I don't know a thing about clothes or fashion, though Gigi did her best to teach me; it just didn't take.”

Ross scanned her from head to toe as if she had assets worth looking it. He didn't seem repulsed by what he saw . . . quite possibly the opposite. But she had to be mistaken.

He touched her arm and got them moving again. He was silent for a long moment as they cut through the path to the back of the bluff. She waited for him to say something about his assessment, like,
Oh, I think you look great.
But who was she kidding?

Finally he spoke. “Maybe I can help.”

“Help what?”

“We're here.”

Sure enough, they were back at Thistle Glen Lodge. The lights were out, so clearly the rest of the dorm occupants weren't back yet from Quilting Central. Sadie could read her book in peace and not have to speak with another human being tonight.

Ross walked her to the door, opened it, and flipped on the foyer light. The chandelier put him in half shadows.

“Do you want to come in for a drink?” she heard herself asking, as if having an out-of-body experience.
Am I out of my freaking mind?

Talk about embarrassed. Her face heated up. She wanted to crawl into a hole and hide forever. Why had she done that? She sounded as if she was propositioning him. Everyone knew
drink
was code for
sex
. “Sorry.” Her
cheeks felt as though they'd been torched. If only she was in half shadows.

To her surprise, he didn't seem to be put off by the idea. He studied her face intently, as if he were actually considering it.

If only I were more interesting to look at.

“I can't stay,” he finally said. He gave no more explanation than that, just turned and walked away at a clip without so much as a good-bye.

She stood in the doorway, disgusted with herself.
Stupid, stupid, stupid!
She knew exactly who she was, accepted it, and was completely comfortable in her ballet flats, yet now she felt like doing something crazy. Run after him. Throw her arms around him and hang on. Soak him up.

Because when she was around Ross, she felt as if she was
more
.

More Sadie
than she'd ever been on her own.

*   *   *

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid!
Ross took long, determined strides away from the quilting dorm and toward the pub. Everything in him wanted to turn back, drop anchor beside Sadie at Thistle Glen Lodge, have that drink she offered, and see where things would lead. But she wasn't part of his plan. She was here for only a short period of time. She was his friend. And for some reason, which he couldn't figure out, she was derailing him. But he would keep his hormones under wraps and his bearings true. He'd missed out on years of freedom and was determined to claim it now.

He should head home to bed, but the Inquisition waited for him at the cottage.

It was times like this that he missed Duncan the most. He could really use a shot of whisky and a chat in front of the fire with him. But Duncan was gone, and life had moved on. The only problem was that Ross hadn't.

He entered the pub and sat at the far end of the bar, where he'd first met Sadie, and where he'd taken it upon himself to spirit her away from the town for their twenty-four hours of freedom. What he wouldn't give to be away from Gandiegow now.

But the two of them, plus Dand, would be going away together tomorrow. They should've discussed their travel plans, instead of how she wanted to find him a woman.

But at that moment, with the light falling on her, she'd looked just like an angel. An angel!
Gads!