Chapter 5
“I’m just going to say it. Food from the McDonalds is simply amazing. Ye ever had somethin’ like this in the McGowan kitchen? Must be feeding the bird wine or somethin’,” Willow began, rubbing her belly.
The girls had retreated to their bedroom after breakfast and were having a moment to themselves before they would head out to see the peacocks. Kate watched her sisters from her bed, seeing them smiling to themselves.
“Yer right, Willow,” said Freya. “Kate, what do you think? I mean, ye barely touched yer plate, so I guess ye got the bottom of the pot, aye?”
Kate laughed and shook her head. “Food was fine, cannae argue with that.”
“We should really get to exploring the castle soon. I hear they have a larger wine cellar, was listening to one of the servants as they brought up the food. Must be really something to see.” Willow rubbed her hair with her hands and pulled out a piece of wood.
Lily and Freya looked at her with amusement for a moment as they wondered how she had something so large in her hair for so long without even noticing.
The three girls burst out laughing, and Kate joined them as well.
“Yer all just jealous of my thick locks, I ken ye are!” said Willow, rubbing the hair to see if there were any more.
“Nay, if there is hair I’d be jealous of, it’ll be the Laird McDonalds. Ye see his curls? Could be natural since he was a wee little bairn,” said Freya.
“Aye, nae lies there,” said Lily. Willow nodded in agreement as well.
“When I have kids, they ought to look like that, my sons,” Freya replied. “Laird McDonald looks amazing.”
“Never heard about him from back home, but now I see him in person. Yer right about his looks. He does dazzle the eyes,” Lily added with a laugh.
Kate raised an eyebrow, listening to her sisters talk.
Even Willow, who was least interested in men, had something to chip in.
She flung the piece of wood at the door and it fell to the floor noiselessly.
“I ken there are two good-looking people in all of the land. I thought it was just me, but now I ken the Laird to be one of them. Aye, he’s the bonniest, I’ll tell ye. ”
“Alright, enough swooning over the Laird, girls,” said Kate, trying to pull them to something else.
“Why? So ye can do it all on yer own?” asked Willow.
“Nae, he’s as ugly as a day-old rat,” Kate replied.
Freya and Willow exchanged glances, and they all turned to their eldest sister at once. “Ye never say anythin’ bad about people unless ye like them.”
Kate shook her head at Freya, “I daenae.”
“Well, what do ye think about him?” Lily asked.
“I daenae think about him, because there isn’t anythin’ to think about. He’s the Laird, we respect him for what he’s given us, and when we find that we can leave, we leave.”
“Nay, nay. Kate,” Willow got up from where she sat and walked over to her sister, grabbing her shoulders.
“I ken ye’re supposed to be the adult, but can ye relax for a moment and just talk to us?
I mean, ye’ve been on edge since we got here, so take a moment and relax, aye?
Uncle Max isn’t coming here to get us, so we are safe for now. ”
Kate sighed and shook her head. They were right, but that was not why she was so uptight.
There was a slight chance that Max would realize that they were there, but it was a thin one.
Even if he found out, he would not be crazy enough to march on the estate of another Laird.
That would be calling for a bloodbath which she was sure that he would not want.
Even if the Laird had any ill intentions for them, Kate felt as though he would hold off on them. She had seen Grear, and after watching the woman carefully, Kate was sure that Grear would be looking out for them. She understood what they were running from, and wanted the best for them.
But she would not allow herself to relax. Despite it all, they were in the home of the same house which was responsible for the death of their parents, and there was no telling when they would switch up and take out their aggression for the McGowan house on the girls.
Kate knew they would have to leave soon, but finding a place which would be suitable would be a problem as every other home within riding distance did not belong to a Laird, and so Max would easily be able to break in and find them, and take them back.
In the end, Kate and her sisters would have to stay at the McDonald’s until she came up with a plan which would allow them to go free from both enemies.
In the meantime, she would do her best to take care of her sisters, and if it meant talking about the Laird, then so be it.
Kate smiled at them, “I think his jawline is amazing, and he has pretty eyes.”
“So ye’ve been looking into his eyes, aye?” asked Lily.
“Nay,” Kate replied instinctively.
“So, who came up to the door last night, talking to ye?” Willow asked.
“None of yer business.” Kate replied.
Willow’s eyes went wide. “Aye, lassies! Guess who was out with the Laird while we slept?”
“Probably walked out for a bit to the garden with him too. Holding his hands and staring at his dreamy eyes.” Lily laughed.
Kate shook her head with a laugh. “Oh, shut up, ye two.”
Freya turned and made a face, one which made Kate think that she would try to call order to her junior sisters.
Freya was a lot like Kate, she was mature, and knew when to joke and when to pull it back.
Kate knew that she could handle things which the others couldn’t, and it only made sense as she was the older of the two.
Kate watched as Freya’s face contorted, and a second later, her lips pouted and made a kissing sound as she smiled at Kate. “Ye was out there with the Laird. Ye might not like the soup, but ye surely like its maker.”
“Alright, enough! All of ye,” Kate threatened, but her sisters would not listen, each of them having fun with the idea that she could have something to do with the Laird.
But Kate knew it was impossible, she despised the man for what he did to their family, and if they knew, they would not be making the jokes as well.
“I see a brown-haired bairn right around here,” said Willow, gesturing at Kate’s stomach.
“Enough with the teasin’!” Kate yelled, her voice stern enough to make sure they saw that she was not joking.
They instantly stopped and turned to her.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to yell at ye, but ye need to understand.
This isn’t a getaway, this ye ken, this is nae our home. We’re here for just a while.”
“We ken,” Freya began. “Was just teasin’, nothin’ to it.”
“Nay, that’s the thing. There is a reason we weren’t allowed to even mention the name McDonald back home.
They’re our enemy! Our families didnae get along, and they hurt us in the past.” Kate let out a breath.
“Right now, they have offered us a place to lay our heads, and we should be grateful for that. But ye shouldnae forget. Daenae get comfortable, because we chose this over Sweeney, as this is the lesser evil as of right now.”
Lily got to her feet and walked towards the door. “I would like to head out now.”
Kate sighed, knowing that Lily was easily upset. She was the youngest of her sisters, and she was the most trusting of all of them. Kate had still withheld the fact that the McDonalds killed their parents from her, in the hopes that it would stop Lily’s heart from breaking.
The only person Kate felt she could trust to tell was Freya. She would understand why the others did not need to know. Kate decided to tell her, she just needed to find the right time, so someone else would be on her side, and understand why she was so distrusting of the Laird and his estate.
A while later, Freya and Willow stepped out with Hudson and another servant working the grounds to go feed the peacocks.
Kate had told them not to allow themselves to just be noblewomen on the grounds, but to make themselves useful.
It felt wrong living on the estate and not doing anything to help.
So, they were working with the birds and helping in any way they could.
Lily, on the other hand, wanted to go see the flowers. She had helped tend to the gardens back home, and here, she had seen a small garden on their way in, and she wanted to see if she could do anything to help out there. Kate walked with her sister as they both explored the estate as they moved.
Compared to their own home where the servants constantly seemed to be petrified, moving feverishly with the fear that Max would spot them not working on something, the air here was a lot more cheerful.
A few of the servants sat by the fence-line, talking casually as they had finished their chores and had nothing to do.
As they reached the garden, Kate spotted a few apple trees in the distance, and just below them were beautiful flowers.
She could see purple harebells and dwarf cornel growing on the side of a small boulder that sat just ahead of the garden.
There were other bushes and vines further in, and the garden seemed to have a lot of work done on it as well.
Lily let go of her sister and rushed up to it, quickly dropping to her knees to look at one of the purple flowers.
She took in the smell and smiled to herself, making Kate smile at her little sister.
She began inspecting the bush which it grew on, searching for weeds growing around it, or any insects which would cause it harm.
As Kate got closer, she heard a whacking sound and turned around.
It had come from the other side of the garden, the closest to the wall.
As she got to Lily, both women heard the sound together and decided to go investigate.
They moved quickly, seeing the ivy which had grown along the fence.
They had not seen that part of it on their way in.
Turning past a tree, Kate and Lily spotted the Laird whacking at a small bush.
His brown hair bounced as he moved, and both women watched.
Reuben had taken off his top and was trying to take out a small weed which had grown out of proportion.
Kate was struck by just how fit he was. His biceps were large, not so much that they restricted movement, but enough to glisten in the sweat that covered his body.
His abs were perfect, coiling and uncoiling with every strike to the plant.
“Woah,” said Lily, staring right at him agape.
Reuben turned around to stare at them, a little shocked that the women had snuck up on him. He smiled at them and Lily walked over. Kate walked after her, but stopped a few meters from them, listening to the two as they conversed.
“Aye, ye lassies sneakin’ up on me, yeah? Sorry, dinnae hear ye over the sound of my whackin’. Weeds tryin’ to kill my flowers.” Reuben began, wiping his forehead with an arm. Kate stared at his body as the sun that broke through the trees bounced of his perfect physique.
“Sorry, we dinnae mean to scare ye. Doubt ye can even get scared.” Lily taunted with a glint in her eye.
“Oh I do, when my family is in danger, the people that I love. If something were to threaten their safety, that would scare me,” Reuben replied.
Kate spotted Lily through the leaves, seeing the girl staring up at Reuben completely mesmerized. She shook her head and turned to a flower. “Is this yer garden?”
“Well, my maither says anyone in the estate can plant here in the garden. But all along this line, it’s just for me and me Ma. I planted the flowers myself though.”
Kate watched from a distance as Reuben and her sister delved into floral discussions, talking about the best ways which they used to tend to their flowers, and Lily telling him of her composting techniques to help enrich the soil for her flowers.
From a distance, they looked perfectly normal.
Almost like an elder brother talking to his sibling and teaching her what he knows.
Kate had wondered what that would be like.
If she had one, then Max would have not been able to take the house after the death of her parents.
They would not be in the predicament they were today.
Kate stared at Reuben and for a moment, she found that she was transfixed on his body.
It looked as though it had been sculpted by angels.
He moved gracefully; each swing of his arm told of the great strength each one possessed, and yet he was delicate with each flower he picked, held up for Lily to examine.
He seemed almost too perfect. As much as he was a horrible person, and he had his hands dirty with the blood of her own parents, at that moment, he seemed to be just a very good looking, kind Laird.
Kate shook her head, trying to get herself to stop staring.
He looked amazing, but she had to remember who he was and what his family was responsible for.
At the end of the day, it was their fault that they had to be on the run from Laird McGowan.
If his family had not killed her parents, they would be fine, seated at a round table with her mother and father.
Reuben looked up through the trees and made eye contact with Kate.
For a moment, their eyes locked and Reuben felt his heart skip a beat.
Kate was staring right at him, a gentle wind blowing through her hair making her appearance rival even goddesses.
But then he saw the disdain in her eyes frowned and turned to Lily.
“Yer goin’ to have to excuse me. I have to go. ”