No Choice

GLENGEáRR, SCOTLAND

M akenna Guthrie sensed her employer's growing irritation as he scanned a letter from his younger brother. "Aught amiss?" she asked.

"I'm expected to coddle a Sassenach," Tavish King retorted.

Makenna had taken over keeping the books at the King brothers' distillery when her cousin left for England and subsequently married an English duke. Catriona regularly wrote gossipy letters, so Makenna had some idea of the trials and tribulations that had beset Cat's English friends and relatives. Her sister-in-law, Daisy, had recently married a wounded war veteran who had a wayward brother. She wondered if this reprobate Sassenach was the man about whom Cat had written.

"A lordling, if ye can believe it," Tavish exclaimed.

"Lordling?" Payton King asked as he entered the small office where Makenna worked at her task.

She had great respect and admiration for the King brothers, as did all of Glengeárr and the surrounding area. They'd built a thriving business distilling Scotland's premier single malt whisky. Uachdaran was said to be the Regent's favorite libation and he'd granted a royal seal of approval to the Kingdom Distillery.

Not only that, their wives were loved and well-respected by the villagers, despite one being English and the other a Spaniard. Piper and Alba King made sure the distillery workers and their families were taken care of if illness or tragedy struck. They were wonderful, loving mothers to the brood of wee Kings they'd brought into the world.

Tavish brandished the letter. "Niven wants us to employ one of his brothers-in-law. It seems Ash Halstead has gone off the rails and a stint in the highlands will apparently bring him to his senses."

"He's one o' the Duke of Withenshawe's sons, if I recall correctly," Payton replied.

"Aye. Unfortunately, the duke recently passed."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Payton replied. "He was a good friend to us and his hefty investment helped us keep the distillery afloat at a time when we needed cash."

"Aye. We owe our success to his generosity. God grant him eternal rest. Rowan Halstead is the duke now, but Niven is part owner of the shipping company, which bodes well for us."

"Aye," Payton agreed. "Withenshawe Shipping is the most reliable way o' transporting our whisky south."

"Reliable and free," Tavish reminded him with a grin.

Makenna remembered Niven King as a lad with no equal when it came to the bagpipes and the fiddle. He'd long since moved to England and later married the duke's daughter. He was famous for playing the pipes to keep up morale at Waterloo which was hard to fathom since he wasn't a soldier. "So, ye say Ash Halstead is Niven's brother-in-law?" she asked.

"Aye," Tavish replied. "One o' the misguided trio that kidnapped him and took him to Flanders. However, we dinna have a choice. When family asks a favor…"

This aspect of Niven's life was news to Makenna. Why would he care about a ne'er-do-well who'd exposed him to the dangers of war?

She resolved to stay out of the reprobate's way when he arrived.

"The last thing we need in Glengeárr is a reprobate Englishman," Tavish told his wife after he'd explained the contents of Niven's letter.

"Your brother must think it's a good idea," Piper replied. "Or he wouldn't have asked."

"Just when we're looking to expand," he said. "Trade is opening up now Napoleon is no longer a threat to peace."

"All the more reason to take on an extra pair of hands," she countered.

"Aye, willing workers, nay a womanizing Englishman who drinks too much—highlanders who need the work and appreciate the wages."

"He's a womanizer?" she exclaimed .

"Niven hints at it, but Halstead had better keep his hands and eyes to himself when he gets here."

"Then you'd best keep him away from the lovely Makenna Guthrie."

That thought worried Tavish. Makenna was very good at her job. He couldn't afford to lose her, nor did he want to see her get hurt. "Aye," he said softly.

"Where will he stay? We've no room here."

"All taken care of," he replied. "Aunty Maureen and Jock are coming back to the highlands. She says he can stay at Lockie House."

"Good. Your aunt is a wonderful person to have as a neighbor. I've missed her. And, I can't see Payton agreeing to have him anywhere near Alba. He's likely to kill any man who so much as looks at his wife with lust in his eyes."

A chill crept up Tavish's spine. "Aye, and he'd best not harbor such thoughts about my wife, either."

"Absolutely not," Ash exclaimed, swigging down the entire glass of Uachdaran the footman had given him.

"Agreeing to go to Scotland is the only way to keep your allowance," Rowan replied.

Still plagued by the vision of his father's coffin being lowered into the earth earlier in the day, Ash gestured to the opulent decor of the drawing room of Rochevaux Abbey. "You simply want to be rid of me so you can have all this for yourself."

"Actually, all this is mine," Rowan countered. "Papa's will confirmed it. But you know very well I would never deny my siblings their rightful due."

"You're denying me my allowance."

"Nay," Niven said. "I guarantee yer funds will be waiting for ye when ye return from Glengeárr."

"And how am I supposed to live in the meantime?"

"Tavish will pay ye good wages."

"Wages? You expect me to work like…like…"

"Like I do?" Niven asked.

Ash seethed. He was angry with Rowan but the argument had turned into a confrontation with Willow's husband, a man he liked and respected.

"Can you not see Rowan just wants to be rid of me? With Thorne still missing, there's no one but me to keep an eye on him."

"Do you think Niven, Willow and Daisy are incapable of advising me in my new role?" Rowan asked.

"It's a chance for you to learn more about one of the family's major investments," Willow added. "We are doing this for your benefit."

"I can see that," Ash retorted sarcastically.

The argument was lost. He had no choice but to go to Scotland. He'd never survive in London without his allowance. "I'll go," he conceded. "But don't expect me to work like some commoner."

"I challenge ye to tell Tavish that when ye arrive," Niven replied.