Page 64

“Sure, I can. But I would really like to see what else we can do.” Once Robert was working at the clinic, he wouldn’t have as much free time for this, so she wanted to take advantage of it every time they wanted to.

“You read my mind,” he said, and they chased each other to the bedroom.

***

That afternoon Robert and Maisie put away the rest of her clothes and found the perfect place for her photography equipment in the office. “We’ll set up another desk in here, and you can put your scuba equipment in a special storage closet in the garage with mine.”

“Thanks. That works.”

“Until you have a desk, feel free to use mine for your work.”

“Okay, great. Shoot, I need to show Edeen the pictures of her animals and see which she wants to order.”

“Alright. Do you want me to go with you?”

“Sure. I’ll call Edeen and see if this is a good time for her.”

Robert was so glad Maisie and Edeen got along so well. He hadn’t been so sure to begin with, when Edeen was watching over him when he was hypothermic and trying to get warmed up in bed. Little did they both know that Maisie would be his mate after a couple more wild adventures. He was ready to settle into a routine with Maisie and hoped she would be fine with the long hours he put in while taking care of his animal patients. Likewise, he would always try to do something special for her when she returned from her photo shoots or working at the inn when they were together again.

Once Maisie confirmed that Edeen would be happy to see them at the manor house, they walked over, Robert carrying Maisie’s laptop and holding her hand. It was little things like that that showed how much he cared about her, and he always wanted to be that way with her.

“You know, I don’t think we could have a nicer setup than this unless the inn and Mom and Dad’s home were sitting on the property too. Just a short walk to your sister’s house and a little longer walk to see most of the MacQuarrie in-laws at the castle, which is really nice,” Maisie said.

“Do you want to offer some land for your parents to build on? We have fifty acres, so plenty of room.”

“We can ask them.”

“I had another thought. Colleen and Edeen love their gardens. Would you like to have one also?”

Maisie stopped, smiled, and hugged him. “Aye! I love working in the inn garden. Anne does too. But I would love to have my own here also. I love photographing everything during the different seasons also.”

“Just let me know how you want your planting beds and I’ll work on them until our wedding. That will give me time to finish it, hopefully, so when we return from our honeymoon, your garden will be ready, and my clinic will be open for business.”

“That sounds great. I’m sure I can gather some seeds from Edeen’s, Colleen’s, and the inn’s gardens too.”

Then they reached the manor house, the dogs all barking, and Edeen opened the door for Maisie and Robert and let them in.

The fox terriers, Jinx and Rogue, greeted them, and Ruby, the Irish wolfhound, did too. Even their Scottish fold, a blue named Silky, had to say hello before she returned to her windowsill to watch the birds at the feeders.

“I need to get some of those too.” Maisie looked out the window and petted Silky. “We don’t have any birdhouses, bird feeders, or birdbaths, and that would be a fun addition to the inn. At the house here also.”

“Silky watches the birds for hours on end. I love hearing their songs.” Edeen made heather tea for them while Robert opened Maisie’s laptop.

“Mittens would love that too.” Maisie pulled up Edeen’s animal photos on her laptop. “Here they are.”

They sat down to drink their tea while Edeen perused the photos. “Oh, I love all these. It was amazing how we got themto look at the camera and they sat so still even though they were excited.”

“Dangling the treats as an incentive really helps,” Maisie said. “So we’re going to also build a garden, and I wonder if I could gather some flower seeds from yours?”

“Absolutely. Colleen shared plants and seeds with me. We can both do that for you. I would offer Lachlan’s help with building it because I know he’ll do it, but I’ll let him offer to help on his own. I’ll help you plant your seeds and plants.” Edeen narrowed down her selection of photos. “I love them all and would buy all of them, but I wouldn’t have enough room on my walls for them.”

Maisie laughed. “I know what you mean.” She ordered them right away from the printing company.

“When I first met you, I wondered if you were the one,” Edeen said.

“The one?” Maisie asked.

“Aye. Despite Robert’s hypothermic condition, when you came to see him in the guest chamber, his expression brightened. I thought you just wanted to make sure he was alright, yet my instinct told me there was more to it than that. Still, you threw me off when you needed a first aid kit and a pair of pliers. I figured either Robert had hooked himself with one of his fishhooks or he’d hooked you and you were being so sweet not to mention it in front of anyone and embarrass him. You barely knew him, yet here you were protecting him, not to mention you had gotten help for him and had assisted him in the cold water,” Edeen said.