Chapter 14 #2
She bristled immediately, dropping her spoon into her soup with a sharp clack. “It is Leon Distillery, thank ye kindly. Nae Someone Else Using Our Name Distillery.”
Aiden held his hands up. “Hold, lass. I meant nay offense.”
“I’ve had to hear such nonsensical comments for a year now,” Hannah muttered, glaring at him.
“Everyone seems to think that a lass cannae possibly ken her whiskey. As if I didnae grow up playing amongst the casks and smelling the mash and smoke. As if I werenae the one in those boys’ place when I was eight, banking and stocking the fires, learning the sounds of the distillation copper.
“As if I didnae learn how to keep the books, read the manifests, tell a good batch from one that was over-dried or over-heated. As if I couldnae possibly have ever seen a cask with a bad seal that ruins an entire batch. The whiskey is in me blood, me Laird. That distillery is mine.” She was panting by the end of her rant.
“Hannah.” Aiden’s voice was soft. “I believe ye. I daenae think ye’re incapable. If anything, it’s quite the opposite. I saw ye in action, ye ken? I thought ye were brilliant.”
Hannah paused, realizing at some point that she’d risen to her feet, both hands braced on the table, leaning forward, teeth bared. She snapped her mouth shut, blinking, and dropped into her chair again.
It took her another moment to fully comprehend what he’d said. Embarrassment turned into surprise. “Really?”
“Aye, lass,” he confirmed, not looking nearly as offended as he should be.
“I’m sorry.” She ran a hand over her face. “I didnae mean to raise me voice at ye like that.”
“Nay, lass, daenae apologize.” Aidan waved a hand. “Eat yer soup.”
Hannah lifted her spoon, and they continued eating in silence for a moment. She cast a glance at his face to see if he was upset, only to find him watching her.
She swallowed her bite. “It gets exhausting having to explain why the distillery is mine.”
“I figured as much from yer tirade, lass.” Aiden chuckled warmly. “I can only imagine. Very few openly challenge me as Laird, and nay one does it more than once. I can believe it’s beyond frustrating, having to prove yer worth over and over.”
He smiled at her as he put his spoon down in his empty bowl. Every time he smiled, it made her stomach flutter.
“Ye daenae have to prove yer mettle to me. I saw how ye realized something was off the moment we walked through the door. How those lads responded to yer authority without question. Ye ken what ye’re about.”
Hannah smiled a little, relieved to hear such words from a mouth that had been—
Her face heated, and she choked on the last bite of her soup.
“Are ye well, lass?”
“Aye,” she said between coughs, wiping her mouth with her linen napkin and folding it neatly back beside her bowl.
Aiden leaned back in his chair, studying her. Moments later, footmen hurried in and cleared their bowls.
After they left, Hannah glanced at him. “Do they have some sort of hole in the wall they’re watching us through? How do they ken?”
“Never thought to ask,” Aiden admitted with an amused smirk. “They are very skilled at what they do. Much like a certain someone here.”
Hannah’s face flushed, and she opened her mouth to respond, only to snap it shut again when the footmen returned with plates piled high with juicy meat, roasted potatoes, and greens she recognized. She had never seen so much food on one plate at once.
She glanced up at Aiden with wide eyes.
He furrowed his brow. “Aye? Is something wrong?”
She opened and closed her mouth, then cleared her throat, shaking her head. She was not keen to admit she was far more used to a single course of stew for dinner.
Privately, she’d assumed the—what had he called it?—cock-a-leekie soup had been their dinner. “I just… daenae ken that I’ve seen some of this meat before.”
“Oh.” Aiden’s eyebrows rose in surprise. He then leaned over, examining his plate. “That’ll be venison… that’ll be sausage… and I’d say that one is capon.”
Hannah appreciated his simple response. The fact that he didn’t mock her for not being familiar with meat she would never have been able to afford.
She and Violet lived a comfortable life—that meant food wasn’t scarce, not that food was rich and so plentiful they could eat a week’s worth of meat in a single meal.
She took a sample of each, then moved on to the potatoes and salad. She again felt Aiden’s eyes on her and looked up at him. He raised his eyebrows questioningly.
She chuckled at him. “Do ye think there’s a chance I’ll be insulting the meal provided by me host? Ye must think I have the manners of a brigand.”
Aiden shook his head with a smile. “I only wanted to ken if ye were enjoying something new. I’m nae looking to trap ye in yer own words.”
Hannah hesitated for a moment, before deciding to take him at his word. “I daenae care for the capon. The rest is very much to me liking.”
“See, lass? Ye havenae had a problem speaking yer mind to me hence, so why stop now?”
“Ye’re right.” She smiled despite herself, shaking her head. “I daenae ken what I was thinking.”
Aiden chuckled at that and dug into his food enthusiastically.
“So,” he murmured between bites, “ye continued the family business out of pride?”
“Nay,” Hannah admitted after a moment’s thought. “Nae entirely.”
“Oh?” Aiden looked at her expectantly.
She considered how much she wanted to tell him, then wondered why she felt the need to be careful with her words after the time they’d already spent together tonight. “I had Violet to think of.”
“Ye do so much for her sake. Why?”
Hannah looked up from her plate in surprise. “Why? What do ye mean, why? She’s me sister.”
His blank stare caught her off guard.
“She’s me dearest friend. The only one I’m sure I will have as long as I live.
” She shook her head. “If I continue as I am, she’ll have a chance to choose the life she wants.
To marry, should she wish. To always be assured a home.
Without the distillery continuing to run and continuing to be mine, those things willnae be possible for her. ”
The confusion on his face brought a furrow to her brow.
“I… assume that’s nae always the case?”