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“I need a favor,” Gunn proclaimed, once he and Malcolm settled in the pub, glasses of whisky on the table and lit pipes in their hands. Swirls of cherry smoke floating above their heads.

“Whate’er ye need. I’m your man.”

“’Tis about Jocelyn.”

Malcolm barked out a laugh. “Nay, I couldna have guessed that.”

“Funny.”

“Ye are enamored with the lass.”

It wasn’t a question.

“I am no’,” Gunn said nonchalantly, trying to throw Malcolm off of the feelings Jocelyn was bringing to the surface.

“Ye forget who ye are talking to. ’Tis plain as day. And obvious o’er dinner. Ye couldna stop your eyes from wandering o’er to her throughout the meal.”

“Mayhap.”

Malcolm puffed on his cigar and blew out a series of small smoke rings, where they loftily floated through the air, widening before finally dissolving. “She’s bonny. Seems smart.”

“Verra.”

“Alright. I’ll leave ye to your delusions that ye have no interest in the lady.” He sat up in his chair. “Back to business. What do ye need?”

“I want to ken her background. Where she’s from. What happenstance led to her arriving here, alone. No husband. No chaperone.”

“She seems old enough to get away without a chaperone. Widow mayhap?”

Gunn nodded. “The thought crossed my mind. When she arrived, she was nursing bruises. They were fading, so they had happened quite some time before, but she was definitely beaten.” He shook his head, clenching his jaw.

“She gave me a tall tale of being clumsy and running into a door. All those bruises? Nay. There was no chance that was the source. If ye look closely ye can still see some of them, though she tries to hide them.”

“Did ye tell her ye didna believe her?”

Gunn traced a rivet in the wooden tabletop with the tip of his finger. “Nay, I didna want to scare her away. Her eyes when she arrived were weary. And she was so thin. And broke.”

“So ye gave her a job, a place to stay, and meals?”

Gunn bobbed his head from side to side. “Aye and nay. She wanted to pay for the room, but I just couldna in good conscience let her pay full price. She had mayhap two coins. I wasna about to take her last coins. So, I offered her the room at a discount. I didna think she would appreciate it to be free.”

“That makes sense. What about the meals and the job?”

“As I said, she was far too slim. She looked liked she’d missed more than one meal. I threw the meals in with the cost of the room.”

Malcolm laughed. “So those were free.”

“Nay. I told her they were included with the room.”

“But they arena.”

“Aye, but she doesna need to ken that. She approached me the next day for employment. It wasna something I was e’en contemplating.

But she said she was in desperate need of work.

Out of her offers, she mentioned that she kenned books and ledgers.

Numbers. Ye’ve seen the state of my business.

I’ve needed to go through the books for a long time to figure out what has happened to it.

I gave the task to her and told her I’d include room and board—and pay her a salary. ”

Malcolm’s brows shot up. “Really? Ye do have it bad.”

“I doona. I dinna want to see her suffer any further. She’d obviously already had a rough go of it. I didna want to add to her burdens.”

“So instead ye added to your own?” Malcolm continued when Gunn didn’t answer. “All right. What information do ye have for me to go on?” Malcolm pulled out a small piece of paper he always kept on him and a charcoal pencil.

“Her last name is Townsend and she hails from Rochester. I dinna believe that’s where she was born, but that’s where she was living when she left. And her father’s surname is Bixby.”

“Tis no’ much but hopefully ’twill be enough for me to find out something.”

“I appreciate that.”

Malcolm’s forehead creased as he thought of something.

“Did she find aught in your ledgers?”

Gunn sighed. He still wasn’t ready to accept the fact that his longtime employee, and someone he had considered a friend, may be stealing from him.

“Aye.”

“Care to share? It looks like it has ye conflicted.”

He took a puff from his pipe, held the smoke in his lungs before exhaling. “I think Theodore may be stealing from me.”

“What? He’s been with ye for years.”

“Aye. That’s what makes it so hard to swallow. ’Tis something I ne’er would have expected from him.”

“How are ye planning on handling him?”

Gunn shrugged. “I dinna ken yet. I want Jocelyn to complete her review, so I have all the details and times.”

“Ye’re just going to let him continue working? What if he steals more?”

Barking out a laugh, Gunn shook his head. “There isna anymore to take.”

“’Tis that bad?” Malcolm asked, concern furrowing his brow.

“Aye.”

They sat in silence for a few long moments, enjoying their pipes and whisky.

“We got your invitation to gather at your estate in the coming weeks.” Malcolm finally spoke. “First time to gather at your place. With all of us, anyhow. Was that spurned by a certain bonny lass?” he inquired teasingly.

Rolling his eyes, Gunn puffed on his pipe.

“Nay.” But even as he spoke the word he kenned it was a lie.

He found himself craving family. As his friends married one by one with bairns for some of them following shortly after, he longed for that.

When Jocelyn walked through the door of his pub, he’d felt an instant attraction, quickly replaced with the need to offer her his protection.

He kenned the optics of it all. Especially now that she was under his employment. It could be misconstrued as him taking advantage of her. Something he would never do. His friends kenned that, but did everyone else?

“Have ye asked her to join us? Seeing how she and Lizzie got on at dinner, I think Lizzie would enjoy her being there. And only heaven kens what they are discussing now,” he said with mirth, holding up his hand to inspect his perfectly manicured nails.

“I havena, though I was happy to see them getting along so well. ’Twas my hope. Jocelyn is hiding something. Maybe she’ll talk about whate’er ’tis with Lizzie. But if no’, that’s what I expect ye to find out.”

Malcolm blew out smoke and nodded. “I will do what I can. But have ye thought of the ramifications?”

He kenned this question would be coming sooner or later. It still didn’t make him feel any better. “I am sure she will be upset if she finds out. ’Tis why I expect ye to keep mum on the matter.”

“Or,” Malcolm drawled, “Ye could gain her trust and wait for her to confide in ye.”

“I could,” Gunn admitted, “But I fear I’ve no patience to wait for the time.”

With a curt nod, Malcolm straightened. “If ye dinna mind Lizzie staying here at the inn, I’ll leave in the morn for Rochester.”

*

“Did ye break your fast already?” Gunn asked from the doorway.

Jocelyn closed the ledger she had just finished reviewing. She woke up early this morning, wanting to get a head start on the books, but she did stop by the kitchen for a slice of toast and tea before beginning.

“You needn’t worry. I ate this morn.”

Smiling, he stepped inside. “I am glad to hear it. Have ye found more instances of unaccounted transactions?”

She nodded. “Unfortunately, yes.” She handed him the list she was keeping.

He read through it, brows drawing down. She could understand why. The amounts were of substantial sums.

“I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news.”

“Nay. Dinna apologize for that. ’Tis exactly what I wanted ye to identify. And identify ye have.” He sighed, handing her the parchment. “Are ye almost through?”

Twisting her mouth, she dipped her head from side to side. “I’m more than three-quarters of the way done. But I still have a few to review. I hope to be done tonight.”

“I do hope ye dinna plan to work the whole day and night, Jocelyn. Ye have plenty of time.”

It was kind of him to say so. She wanted to make sure she was making herself useful. Dallying about and taking her time didn’t seem like she was being helpful.

He narrowed his eyes. “Ye’re going to work through the afternoon, are ye no’?”

The man could read minds. Or at least he could read her mind.

He shook his head, a wayward tendril of dark hair falling over his forehead.

“No’ today. Ye willna be doing such a thing.

” He planted his hands on his hips and looked around the small space.

“Ye dinna get nearly enough light in here. Ye need a space that allows more sun. I’m going to move your desk. ”

She jumped up. “You do not need to do that. Honestly. These accommodations are perfectly fine. I am thankful for them.”

“I willna take nay for an answer. But it may be the morrow before I can make the switch.” He pulled a watch from his jacket pocket and checked the time. I will be back in two hours. At which time we will go for a walk.”

It wasn’t a question, or an offer. It was stated as fact.

He crossed his arms as he looked at her, daring her to challenge him. Truth be told, she liked the idea. It would give her another chance to learn more about him. To see the softer side of him when he let down his guard.

She dipped her head and pressed her lips together to hide her smile. When she was sure she could keep a straight face, she met his gaze. “That would be nice, thank you.”

“I am glad ye agree. I will see ye then.” He spun on his heel and left the room, leaving Jocelyn wondering what she was getting herself into.

She hadn’t spent a large amount of time with the laird, but the time she had spent with him she enjoyed very much.

Last night at dinner was a surprise. She didn’t feel like his employee.

Rather his partner. No, that wasn’t the right designation either.

She imagined last night would be what it felt like when two people were courting.

The smiles. The easy conversation. The sidelong glances that they hoped no one else noticed.

But just as soon as she thought such things, Victor popped into her mind, dampening her mood instantly.

She was still a married woman. She had no right getting involved with another man.