Chapter Sixteen
Though it had taken some time, Alexandra felt like she and Lisa were finally settling into a workable daily routine. They split the tasks needed to keep the household running, working together on the larger things.
They had gathered all the rugs in the house and taken them outside, hanging them on the low branches of a stunted tree that rose stubbornly from the dry soil. Alexandra had never really understood the value of strenuous physical exercise, though Lisa was great at sports and long walks.
However, as Alexandra wielded her twisted cane carpet beater, she couldn’t help but feel just a little mighty. It was the perfect method to relieve some of her pent-up anger and frustration, and she relished each thrash of the rug. It sent up clouds of dust with every swing of her arm.
Lord knows I’ve plenty to be irritated about, she thought as she wound up to thrash the rug again.
Her exchange with Aidan a few mornings prior came to mind. He had clearly been trying to bait her, but for what purpose, she couldn’t say. She knew what Aunt Lisa thought, but that bordered on the preposterous. He was a disagreeable man. It was as simple as that.
But the thing that truly baffled her was those few moments when he’d actually conversed with her.
He’d been open, and there had been no flavor of sarcasm when they’d conversed about the horse.
With the way that he’d leaned in to listen to her, his dark eyes fixed on her, one might have even said that he looked handsome in that moment.
Not that Alexandra was the sort to notice something like that. She knew that the other ladies in town found Aidan to be a handsome man, but she couldn’t bring herself to think of him as such, not after she’d gotten to know him.
You thought he was handsome enough when you arrived, her traitorous brain reminded her.
Alexandra scoffed at that thought and took another swing at the rug.
It wasn’t as if she wasn’t entitled to changing her mind.
Besides, Aidan wasn’t her type at all. She preferred fair men with golden hair and bright eyes.
It didn’t matter that Aidan’s dark hair curled so nicely at the ends, hanging just over his ears.
Even though his eyes were so brown they were almost black, they sat pleasantly in his face, intense and shining.
Really, it wasn’t such a bad thing if they weren’t blue, especially when—
You stop that right this instant! Alexandra ordered herself.
There was no point to her musing, and she certainly didn’t intend to waste any of her precious time debating with herself about Aidan’s better features. She hit the rug again, twice in quick succession, with perhaps a bit more force than was strictly necessary.
Lisa’s arrival, ferrying the rugs in and out of the house, was a welcome distraction. Alexandra turned to her with forced brightness, hoping that her face betrayed nothing.
When she caught sight of Lisa’s face, however, all pretense vanished.
She was pale and wan, with a sheen of sweat on her forehead.
She let the rug she was holding slide from her arm limply, either not noticing or not caring that it landed squarely in the dirt.
She put a hand to her chest, her eyes hooded.
She coughed, a sharp, barking sound in the relative quiet of the ranch.
“Lisa?” Alexandra asked, alarmed. Darting forward, she quickly took Lisa’s arm, steadying her. Surprisingly, Lisa sagged against her for a moment before righting herself.
“I’m fine,” Lisa said, somewhat lacking her usual conviction.
“Let’s get you sat down,” Alexandra said, turning to gently steer her back toward the house.
Lisa dug in her heels. “No,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m fine. I can finish. I can…” she said, lifting her arm weakly.
“Come on, let’s get you some water at least,” Alexandra coaxed. “Truthfully, I could use a break myself.”
Lisa relented and let herself be led back to the house. She didn’t say anything as they approached the house from the side, then entered the back door, but she did let Alexandra support her.
Once inside the shade and relative cool of the house, Alexandra got Lisa seated in a chair at the table and then scurried about like a bird trapped in a cage.
She wasn’t entirely sure what all she was doing, but she just knew that she needed to do something.
Before she knew it, there was not only a stoneware cup of water in front of Lisa, but also a plate of tarts, a fan, a jar of peppermint leaves, two pieces of pemmican, and a bag of precious candied lemon peel.
Lisa, chuckling tiredly, watched Alexandra as she flitted around the house. Alexandra paused, her hands clutching the back of a chair. She stared at her aunt, who took a slow sip of cool water.
“That’s an elixir, that is,” Lisa sighed appreciatively.
“Have a piece of peel, too,” Alexandra encouraged her.
Reluctantly, Lisa took a small bit and popped it into her mouth. Alexandra wasn’t sure if it was the sweetness or the lemon that did the trick, but it seemed to perk Lisa up a little.
“I read a tract about the medicinal properties of lemons,” Alexandra said, her words coming fast. “It’s extremely important for sailors out at sea for long stretches.
They can get a mysterious illness if they’re away from fresh food for long enough.
The British navy adds rum and lemons to the water barrels, and that seems to keep the sailors healthy.
Of course, that could just be the rum, but I imagine there’s something to the lemons as well.
Did you know they made invisible ink with lemons during the war? It was used to pass messages along.”
Alexandra stopped for a breath, fully aware that she was just babbling. She drummed her fingers on the back of the chair she was clutching. Lisa gave her a baleful look over the rim of her cup, a jaunty yellow thing with green stripes around the middle.
“I don’t think I’m a sailor in need of fresh fruit,” Lisa said wryly. She paused, then reached for another piece of candied peel. “I will take another of these, though. Medicinal,” she said gravely.
“Tea!” Alexandra said suddenly. She turned to the stove, opened the flue wider, and jabbed at the embers in the firebox, trying to stir them to life. “I’m sure that some peppermint tea will be quite useful. I’ve heard it used for colds and the like.”
“I don’t have a cold, Alexandra,” Lisa sighed. “Besides, it’s so warm,” she said, fanning her face.
Alexandra paused, her hands hovering above the stove, frozen in mid-action.
There was a sound at the back door, and Aidan was there, poking his head in the doorway. “What’s all the fuss?” he inquired. “Antony said he saw the pair of you coming into the house.”
“Nothing to concern you with,” Alexandra replied. She turned back to the stove and rearranged things, trying to look busy.
“There’s a rug lying in the dirt outside,” Aidan said. “That some new way of cleaning it?”
“No,” Alexandra snipped, tired of his games. “I was simply concerned you wouldn’t be able to recognize it without a coating of dirt, so I thought to add some back to it.”
“Drina,” Lisa scolded gently from the table.
Alexandra whirled around. “Well, I mean honestly, what does he expect me to say?” Alexandra shot back as if Aidan weren’t still standing right there. Her gaze flicked to Aidan. “Lisa was unwell, so I brought her inside. That’s all. I’ll see to the rug as soon as she’s settled.”
“Go on,” Lisa said, waving weakly in Alexandra’s direction. “Don’t let me detain you further.”
“I’m going to make you some tea first,” Alexandra insisted. “I think we still have some in the canister.” She walked around the corner behind the stove to the larder where the dry food goods were kept. She located the tin canister of tea, the flower pattern on it fading.
Behind her, low, she heard Aidan say something she couldn’t quite catch. Then her aunt’s voice, dry and amused even through the rasp of it.
“Drina. It’s what her mother called her, and what I’ve called her since.” A pause. “You may borrow it, if you’ve the nerve.”
Alexandra stood still, her hand on the canister lid.
“Doubt she’d thank me for it,” Aidan said.
“No,” Lisa agreed. “Not at first.”
She pried the lid off and sniffed. “I think it’s still good,” she said, coming back into the kitchen.
When she looked up, she was surprised to see Aidan fully in the kitchen, peering down at Lisa, his brow furrowed. With surprising tenderness, he pressed the inside of his wrist against Lisa’s forehead, frowning.
Alexandra watched, unable to understand what she was seeing. It was like seeing a dog walk on two legs, this unexpected care for her aunt. His face was full of genuine concern.
Alexandra exhaled through her nose. It was impossible to truly hate the man when he was behaving so toward her aunt. Determined to attempt civility, Alexandra took a deep breath.
“Would you also care for a cup of tea?” she asked, working hard to keep her tone even.
Aidan withdrew his arm from Lisa’s forehead. He gave Alexandra a dubious, sneering look. “Tea?” he repeated. “I don’t have the time to be sitting around, waiting for tea to steep. I’m not a society lady in some highfalutin salon.”
“Well, that’s good to hear,” Alexandra shot back, all tolerance and goodwill toward him vanishing. “I’ve seen your table manners—if I set you among a group of ladies at tea, they’d tear you to shreds.”
“For using the wrong spoon, I imagine,” Aidan responded, rocking back on his heels, his thumbs hooked in his waistband.
“If only,” Alexandra said, giving him as dazzling a smile as she could manage.
He lifted his chin slightly, his mouth working as if he had tasted something unusual. He drew breath as if to answer, and didn’t. He stared at her, his dark eyes searching hers, and her cheeks warmed.