Page 181 of Auctioned to the Cruel Highlander
“She seemssettled,” Ava corrected.
“Is there a difference?”
She looked down at her hands. “I think there might be.”
The room fell quieter after that.
Isobel set the mending aside. “Ava.”
“What if I made a mistake by staying here?” Ava had not meant to say it so plainly. But once said, it filled the room at once.
Isobel’s expression changed, alarm first, then steady refusal. “Ye cannae think that.”
“Can I nae?” Ava asked softly. “He turns me away as if I were some small interruption to be put off until later. I daenae ken whether I am wanted here half the time, and that isnae a good way to start a marriage.”
Isobel leaned forward. “Listen to me. The maids like ye. They speak of ye when ye arenae there, kindly. Mrs. Patmore finds ye amusing, which is almost a miracle in itself, because she scarcely likes anyone. Ye have already made a place for yerself here, whether ye feel it or nae.”
Ava tried to take comfort in that. Some part of her did.
“And him?” she mumbled.
Isobel’s mouth softened. “Him, too. Though he is slower and far stupider about it.”
That coaxed the smallest genuine smile from Ava.
“Give him time,” Isobel advised. “He is a difficult man, but that doesnae mean he is an empty one.”
The words did not heal the hurt, but they gave Ava some relief.
Isobel must have noticed that, for she rose and held out her hand. “Come. Let us walk in the gardens before ye sit here making yerself miserable.”
Ava took it and rose. The sting of Ciaran’s dismissal still followed her, but now at least, she could do something about it.
For a little while, the gardens did what Isobel had promised they would.
They walked slowly at first, then more easily once the paths widened and the air felt less stuffy than it had inside the chamber. The flowers along the borders had begun to turn fuller in the afternoon light, and bees worked somewhere near the rosemary.
Isobel did not mention her brother again, a small feat Ava was immensely grateful for. Instead, she shook her head and cleared her throat. “Do ye remember when ye swore I had hidden yer ribbon and made the maids search for it?”
Ava let out a small laugh. “I was right.”
“Ye werenae. Bruce had taken it.”
“Bruce was yer accomplice.”
“He was a dog.”
“He was acriminal.”
“That is true,” Isobel relented. “But in that instance, he acted alone.”
Ava smiled widely. “Ye are shameless.”
“And ye are dramatic. Which is why ye made such a grand speech when the ribbon was found beneath the settee.”
“I was wronged.”
“Ye were seven, nae a vengeful soul.”
