Page 6 of One Forbidden Kiss with the Laird (The Cinderella Shepherd Sisters #2)
Before he could ask Miss Kingsley any more mundane questions he heard Hamish start to bark at the front of the house.
As a general rule Hamish was a well-behaved dog.
Callum had rescued him as a pup while he was in Canada and they had been inseparable since.
Trained in some of the most severe conditions possible, used to freezing temperatures and some days with only meagre rations, Hamish was a working dog first and foremost, but as the years had passed Callum had softened some of his rules and now the hunting dog was more pet than working animal.
Normally if told to sit and wait, Hamish would find a quiet spot and wait patiently for Callum’s return. It was unusual to hear him bark like this and Callum immediately was on alert.
‘Please excuse me for a moment,’ he said, giving her a quick, reassuring smile and then striding off down the side of the house.
Part of him wondered if this was an unnecessary distraction, a way for him to dodge the reality of his future for just a few more minutes.
As he rounded the front of the house he stopped abruptly and Miss Kingsley, who had followed him rather than wait for him in the gardens, barrelled into the back of him.
Absently he reached out an arm to steady her, but his eyes were fixed on the scene in front of him.
‘Miss Shepherd, I must insist you put my dog down.’
The young woman he had met the night before turned to him, cradling Hamish as though he was a lapdog, not a serious, working animal, and smiled at him for just a second.
The smile pierced right through Callum’s chest and for a moment he felt as though he couldn’t breathe.
Almost immediately Miss Shepherd’s eyes flicked over his shoulder and the warmth drained from her, her whole body stiffening.
‘What are you doing, Selina?’ Miss Kingsley snapped, her voice clipped and the irritation obvious in her tone. ‘You were meant to be upstairs.’
‘I came out for some air.’
‘How do you two know one another?’ Miss Kingsley said. Gone was the charming smile and smooth voice she had been using when it was just the two of them.
Miss Shepherd flashed him a look of desperation.
‘We don’t,’ Callum said, turning to his future fiancée. ‘I live nearby and I met Miss Shepherd when we were both out walking.’
‘You didn’t mention it,’ Miss Kingsley said, her eyes still on Miss Shepherd.
There was definitely an animosity there and he didn’t like how Miss Shepherd shrank back under Miss Kingsley’s scrutiny.
Most of his childhood lessons had come from his mother rather than his father and one of her favourites had been that you could tell a lot about a person by the way they treated the people below them.
He wasn’t sure if Miss Shepherd was some sort of paid companion or governess, but she was clearly inferior in the hierarchy of this family to Miss Kingsley, and the daughter of the family was not treating her kindly.
‘I did not realise the significance,’ Miss Shepherd said, regaining a little of her colour. ‘I was not aware Mr Thomson was the gentleman due to call on you today.’
For a long moment Miss Kingsley eyed Miss Shepherd with suspicion and then seemed to remember Callum was there.
‘ Lord Leven,’ Miss Kingsley corrected her. ‘Put down poor Lord Leven’s dog, Selina. Then I expect you have some letters to write in your room. We would hate to keep you away from your important correspondence.’
Slowly Miss Shepherd lowered Hamish to the floor. He let out a whine of disappointment and then jumped up to lick Miss Shepherd’s hand as she straightened.
‘You have made a friend, Miss Shepherd. Hamish isn’t usually this easily enamoured with people.’
For a second their eyes met and Callum felt the air pulse and crackle between them. It was a feeling unlike anything he had ever felt before and he had to force himself to turn away.
‘Hamish is a lovely dog, although unusual.’
‘I doubt you are an expert on dog breeds,’ Miss Kingsley said before turning back to Callum and laying a hand on his arm. He had to resist the urge to shrug it off. Instead he reminded himself why he was doing all of this and smiled at his future fiancée.
‘There you are,’ Lady Kingsley said, appearing from the back of the house on the path he and Miss Kingsley had taken a few seconds earlier.
‘I was worried when you disappeared from view. I know we will soon be family, Lord Leven, but a mother still has to protect her daughter’s reputation.
’ Lady Kingsley paused, taking a moment to survey the scene in front of her.
‘Should you not be inside, Miss Shepherd?’
He could see how hard it was for Miss Shepherd to summon a bland smile and incline her head towards the older woman.
‘Good day, Lord Leven. I hope you enjoy your visit to Taigh Blath.’
She turned and before he could think better of it, he had stepped forward, wanting to prolong their interaction. Quickly he caught himself. He was not here to indulge his whims, he was here to secure the future of his people and his family’s legacy.
‘Good day,’ he said quietly as she walked inside.