Page 15 of Sadie’s Highlander (Highland Protector #1)
CHAPTER 14
“ Y e’ll be taking yer sister with ye today.” Sarinda didn’t look up from the tattered pages of an old herbal journal spread open beside her bone china cup and saucer. “I’ve had my fill of that wee one’s sulking.” She gracefully lifted the teacup, took a proper ladylike sip, then peered at Alec over the cup’s delicate gilded rim. “It’s time ye spent a day or so with the spoilt beastie ye created.”
“ I created?” Hell’s bells. He was having enough difficulties managing Sadie. The last thing he needed was a surly bairn shackled to his side. “I didna create that snarling wee vixen.”
“Aye. Ye did.” Sarinda returned her cup to its saucer and snapped her book shut. She glared around the breakfast table with a look that made all the MacDara sons squirm in their seats. “The lot of ye did. Ye’ve catered to her every whim since the first moment she drew breath.” Sarinda stood and pushed her chair up to the table. “And now we are all reaping what ye’ve sown, and it’s yer responsibility to help Esme become the fine young woman I know she is destined to be.”
“Alec spoils her the most,” Ramsay interjected between mouthfuls of the biscuit-and-bacon sandwiches he clutched in both hands.
“Aye,” Grant agreed. “Alec’s the worst, Máthair. Well . . .” He paused and nudged the brother to his right. “Ross might be a tad worse. He’s no match for wee Esme’s crocodile tears.”
“Leave me out of this,” Ross advised with a shake of his shaggy blond head.
Before Alec could respond with an argument that he knew in his heart would do him no good, Esme and Sadie entered the kitchen, so engaged in animated conversation that neither of them noticed anyone else in the room.
“He’s that afraid of spiders?” Esme snorted out a sound that fell somewhere between amusement and amazement at the idiocy of the subject of their conversation.
Sadie plopped down in the chair Alec held out for her, not taking her attention from Esme. “Hates all bugs. Taggart ‘The Mountain’ Teason squeals like a six-year-old girl if a ladybug lands on his arm.”
“Who is this Taggart ‘The Mountain’ Teason?” Alec asked, jealousy setting fire to his blood as he stiffly returned to his seat.
Both Esme and Sadie looked at him as though he’d just asked who his own mother was.
“Taggart ‘The Mountain’ Teason?” Esme repeated, saying the name louder, enunciating each syllable slowly as though she thought him either deaf or diminished betwixt his ears. “The leader of the zombie hunters in Dead or Deader ?”
“Zombie hunters,” Alec repeated with a disgusted huff. Now he kent what they were talking about. That disgusting waste of time he had made the mistake of watching with Esme not so long ago. “Why do ye watch such things? I’ve half a mind to have that television removed from yer room.”
“You’ve got half a mind all right if you think you’re getting my TV.” Esme flounced back in her chair, fixing Alec with such a dark look he should’ve been incinerated on the spot.
“That is not an appropriate way to speak to yer elders!” Alec thumped his fist so hard on the table that everyone’s silverware rattled.
Sadie cleared her throat and pinged her butter knife against her water glass to get Alec’s attention. “It’s actually not that bad of a show. Kind of a good-overcoming-evil sort of trope. She could be watching worse.”
“If I remove the television, she’ll not be watching anything at all and have a great deal more time to concentrate on her studies.” Alec leaned forward, pinning Esme with a stern gaze. “I saw yer report card. Ye got a B in algebra. That is unacceptable.”
Sadie laid a calming hand on Esme before she could return fire, then clamped her other hand around Alec’s wrist and squeezed. “Enough. I know I’m not a member of this family, but I know a thing or two about the struggles of a teenage girl.” She released Alec’s arm and shook a finger at him. “You need to lighten up. A B is not a bad grade—especially not in freaking algebra. Which—I might add—I have never used and I survived two semesters of that senseless torture.” She jabbed the accusing finger at him again. “And you don’t scold a child and start listing the issues you have with her in front of other people. It’s humiliating. How would you like it if your mother did that to you?”
“She does do it. All the damn time.” Alec tightened his fists ’til his knuckles popped. What a fine mess. This day had gotten off to a roaring start.
Grant, Ramsay, and Ross rose from their chairs, each of them grinning like a cat who’d just cleaned up every drop of cream from the larder pans.
“Ye’re on yer own, brother,” Grant said with a sly wink as he followed Ramsay and Ross to the staircase. Their deep, rumbling chuckles echoed back into the kitchen as they descended to the main landing and headed off to start their day.
“I leave ye to the care of yer brother, Esme.” Sarinda smiled at her scowling daughter. “Dinna be too hard on him.” She scooped up her journal, then politely nodded at Sadie. “I’d be most appreciative if ye could see that these two dinna kill each other today.”
Sadie nodded, then gave Sarinda a smile that fanned Alec’s irritation even more. The woman was struggling to keep from laughing. She thought this situation amusing? She’d soon discover what an unreasonable, caterwauling little vixen Esme could be.
Alec turned his attention back to Esme, struggling against the urge to either tan the child’s arse or lock her in her room—without the damnable television. “Ye’re coming with us today. Finish yer breakfast, then go put on something warmer—and presentable,” he added. He ground a knuckle against his temple, massaging it in a slow circular motion. Dealing with Esme of late always made his head pound.
“What if I don’t want to?” Esme snarled.
“I didna ask yer druthers, ye vicious wee—”
“Enough!” Sadie clapped her hands. “Both of you. Back to your corners.” She turned to Alec first. “Ask her. Don’t order.” At the sound of Esme’s victorious snicker, she whirled in her seat and faced the young girl. “And you need to stop poking the bear. Haven’t you ever heard that you catch more flies with honey?”
Alec bit down on the side of his cheek to keep from laughing aloud. He’d not seen such a wide-eyed look of disbelief on Esme’s face since she’d reached the dreaded teenage years. Sadie had managed the impossible. She’d rendered the sharp-tongued teenager speechless.
Sadie took in a deep breath and slowly blew it out as she reached out and lightly touched Esme’s shoulder. “You’ll get ahead in this world a lot easier if you work with people instead of trying to force them. You know your brothers are stubborn. Making them do anything they don’t want to do is like trying to push a wet noodle up a wall.”
“They’re wet noodles all right,” Esme huffed. “They never want to let me do anything.”
“It’s because they love you and you know it.” Sadie leaned closer to Esme, her voice dropping so low Alec could barely make out her words. “You’re very lucky to have such a caring family. Not everyone does.”
Sadie belonged here. Alec swallowed hard as the realization settled across him. What a mother she would be to their children . Children. He had never really thought about fathering children before. He sucked in a deep breath. Perhaps his earlier thoughtlessness about the condoms was his inner soul’s way of pointing him to that path. And judging by Sadie’s reaction when he had attempted to make amends, he’d muddled it badly. Dinner last night had been frustratingly strained. She’d hardly said a word to him, pointedly ignoring him as she and Esme chattered away like reunited friends.
Alec silently counted backwards in Gaelic, willing himself to calm down to tactical planning mode. He had some fences to mend and perhaps wee Esme could help since it was quite obvious that Sadie liked the girl. He leaned forward, gentling his tone as he held out a hand to his sister. “I give ye my word. I’ll do my best to start treating ye like a young adult rather than a child.”
Esme just glared down at his extended hand, her lower lip sticking out even farther.
“Esme.” Sadie nudged the young girl’s arm. “Come on. You’ve got to meet him halfway. That’s what adults do.”
“Fine.” Esme gripped Alec’s hand and pumped it up and down. “I’ll do my best to behave as long as you stop acting like a pompous addle-pated numpty.”
“No wonder she got a B in algebra,” Sadie observed. “It’s obvious literature is her strong suit. Good vocabulary, Esme.”
Before Alec could comment, Sadie waved Esme toward the back stairwell leading up to the level of the keep containing the family’s suite of bedrooms. “Hurry and get changed into something warmer. You’ll freeze to death in that skimpy tunic and those thin leggings. Filming starts early. I think the first scene was scheduled for sunrise, so they’ve already been at it for a couple of hours by now.”
“I’ll be right back.” Esme dashed across the room and up the staircase, taking the steps two at a time.
“She didna argue.” Alec sat back in his chair, stunned by the ease with which Sadie had just handled Esme. “How the hell did ye manage that? Dealing with Esme is usually like stroking an angry hedgehog. Backwards.”
“I’m not a threat in the pecking order around here.” Sadie finished her coffee and rose from her seat. “She’s the baby with four bossy older brothers. She feels like she’s always got something to prove. Give her time and try not to wring her neck. She’s a good kid. She’ll be fine.”
“It’s not her I’m worried about.” Alec shook his head as they headed down the winding staircase to the foyer. “’Tis the rest of us surviving that concerns me.” He held open the door, peering up at the murky sky above the treetops. A storm was coming and the wind had a wintry bite to it. The weather forecast had called for rain again today, but he wouldn’t be surprised if a healthy dose of sleet and perhaps a bit of light snow was in the mix as well. “Yer sister will make her movie in this weather?”
Sadie laughed as she hopped into the passenger side of the Jeep. “The movie is set in Scotland. This weather’s perfect.”
A gust of wind slammed a spattering of raindrops hard against the windshield. Alec pointed at the minuscule bits of ice sliding down the glass. “The ground is still warm enough to keep the roads from freezing but that ice will coat everything else. How will her crew protect all those contraptions they were dragging about?”
“Geez, it’s colder than a well-digger’s butt today! I’m glad you suggested I change.” Esme slammed the back door of the Jeep closed, then clicked her seatbelt across her lap.
“Colder than a well-digger’s butt?” Sadie repeated, a perplexed look arching her brows to her hairline.
“One of Mistress Lydia’s many sayings, only Esme cleaned it up a bit.” Alec winked at Esme in the rearview mirror. “Well done, lass. I appreciate ye refraining from using the word arse. ”
His heart warmed as his little sister gifted him with a genuine smile. Aye and for certain, Sadie belonged here—with him. She was a good tonic for them all.
The warm feeling left him as they neared the location for the day’s filming. Just a few more miles and the outsiders would be well within the forbidden perimeter of land surrounding Castle Danu. Alec was not pleased. He’d made it quite clear that Realm Spinners Productions was to go nowhere near the castle.
“They’ve made a mess of things and they’re too damn close to the castle.” Alec stopped the Jeep on the narrow shoulder of the road. “Look at the way they’ve trashed and rutted the land.”
The trucks hauling the heavy equipment—the booms, camera trolleys, lighting equipment, and generators—had cut through the soft rain-soaked ground, leaving deep, gaping furrows crisscrossed down the hillside. The rising winds had ripped the sheets of clear plastic free of the equipment, sending the tangled mess flapping and rolling across the muddied clumps of turf until it snagged around the trunks of nearby trees.
“I’ll make sure it’s all cleaned up.” Sadie’s voice sounded sad and hollow. Her face was drawn and pale in the weak light of the dreary day. “I promise. We’ll make it right even if I have to clean it up myself.”
“Who is that?” Esme scooted up between the front seats and pointed toward a scowling man stomping across the field. Struggling to keep up with the angry man’s long stride and keep an umbrella over his head was a short, pudgy male who greatly resembled a wet sheepdog. His shaggy mop of gray hair was plastered to his face and dripping strands were stuck across the thick lenses of his wire-framed glasses. It was a wonder the poor man could see at all.
“That’s Delia’s Highland hero and the assistant that’s supposed to be keeping him happy,” Sadie said.
“He looks pissed,” Esme observed.
“Esme!” Alec turned in his seat. “A young lady doesna use the word pissed .” Although he had to admit, Esme had made an accurate observation.
“Well he does,” Esme defended. “Just look at him.”
“Aye,” Alec agreed. “He’s also dressed wrong if this film is supposed to be taking place in the thirteenth century. That type of kilt and waistcoat that man’s a-wearin’ didna appear in Scotland before the sixteenth century.”
“I tried to explain that to Delia,” Sadie said, “but she wouldn’t hear of it. She insisted that these costumes are what viewers expect.”
A bedraggled-looking woman, cheeks overly rouged, mascara running, and voluptuous bosoms about to jiggle free of her loosely laced gown, stumbled across the rough terrain with an umbrella clutched in one hand and a lit cigarette pinched between the fingers of the other. Her pale face pulled into an even sharper scowl as she took a deep hit off the cigarette, then huffed the smoke out her nose.
“There’s a whore in this movie?” Alec folded his hands atop the steering wheel. The more he learned about this film, the less he desired to see the finished product.
“She’s not the whore. She’s the laird’s wife.” Sadie shrugged. “She just looks a little rough right now because she’s out of character. I’m sure they’ll clean her up before the next scene.”
“No laird’s wife would ever be seen outside her bedchamber looking like that. And only courtesans painted themselves so.” Alec shook his head, started the Jeep, and pulled back onto the road. “I’ve seen enough for today. I must speak with Dwyn immediately. He’ll be contacting yer sister regarding the condition of this area.” He glanced at Esme in the rearview mirror. “Would ye be willing to help Sadie find a costume for a proper lady of the Highlands whilst I track down Dwyn?”
“Sure,” Esme said with a smile. “I’ll get her all fitted out so she can educate her sister and the rest of these Hollywood types on the difference between a Highland lady and a Highland whore.”