his hands at Brenna and vehemently shaking his head that Connor was able to pull himself out of his stupor and put an end to this madness before disaster struck.
He didn't understand, or even suspect, what she was going to do until it was too late. Connor started down the hill just as the black jumped the first mound of hay. Brenna didn't even appear to be jarred by the first leap, but she nearly went crashing to the ground with the stallion's second jump.
Connor simply couldn't take any more. He stopped, braced his legs apart, and let out a piercing whistle. The black's head immediately came up. He'd heard the command above the roar of approval from the crowd and swiftly changed directions.
Brenna couldn't understand what had come over Willie. No matter how she tried, she couldn't get the horse to turn back. He raced across the hill, turned, and began to climb.
She understood why a moment later. Connor was standing near the crest, his hands on his hips, his legs spread apart, wearing an expression that didn't leave any doubt at all as to what he thought about her performance. She immediately redoubled her efforts to go the opposite way. Heaven help her, she even begged Willie to take mercy on her.
The stubborn horse refused to obey her no matter how much she pleaded with him and pulled on his reins. He came to a rather jolting stop directly in front of his master just as she was leaning down close to the horse's ear to let him know what she thought about his behavior. 'Traitor.'
Connor heard. He knew better than to say a word to her now, because in his present condition, once he got started, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from crushing her feelings.
Brenna knew from the stark look in her husband's eyes, she'd given him quite a scare. She wanted to tell him everything was all right. She didn't dare. There was something in his expression that suggested she'd better not try to calm him down just yet.
She decided to pretend she didn't notice his anger. It was a bad plan, but then, she couldn't think of a better one now.
She straightened up and tried to look cheerful.
'Are you pleased with my surprise?' she asked, knowing full well he wasn't pleased at all; he was furious, and that was that. Still, there was always a hope, faint though it was, that she could bluff her way through the storm brewing inside her husband.
She expected him to pull her off Willie or start shouting. He didn't even touch the reins. He simply turned around and started walking back toward the stables.
Willie meekly followed him. Crispin suddenly appeared on her right side, looking very pale, as though he'd just seen a frightening vision; if he'd spared her a glance, she would have asked him what had happened. Then Quinlan appeared on her left side, panting from his run, but looking very, very smug. He wouldn't glance up at her either, so she couldn't ask him why in heaven's name he was so complacent.
It wasn't until they reached the stables that Connor finally spoke. He ordered Crispin to remove his wife from his stallion's back and wait by her side while he had a word with Quinlan inside.
The second the doors were closed behind them, Connor shouted to Davis. 'Stay right where you are,' he ordered.
'Would you like me to take your stallion off your hands?' Davis asked. 'He seems a might agitated by your tone of voice.'
He allowed Davis to take the reins before turning to Quinlan. 'Start explaining.'
'Nothing I can say can possibly justify my conduct. You have only one recourse open to you, Laird. You must remove me from this position with all possible haste.'
'I'm angry, not stupid,' Connor snapped. 'Can't you control one woman? You damn well better learn how, because you're staying in charge when it's your turn. Now tell me, were you out of your mind to let my wife take such a risk? Everyone else seems to be. How could you let this happen?'
'Let it happen, Connor? You've got to be jesting. I would have had more success getting the rain to stop than making your wife cooperate. I've done nothing but second guess her and try to outwit her for the last two weeks, and all my efforts were wasted.'
Connor raised his hand to get Quinlan to stop when he noticed Davis was trying to stroll out the back door yet again.
'Davis,' he roared. 'If you go out that door, you won't die happy. Come here.'
The stablemaster quickly obeyed. 'I was just giving you some privacy, Laird, that was all. Did you want something more?'
'I do. I want you to answer some questions for me.'
'I wouldn't ask him anything if I were you,' Quinlan suggested. 'You'll only end up more angry than you already are.'
'That isn't possible. Now, Davis, as you know, I listen before I act.'
'I do know it for a certainty,' he agreed.
'Did my wife go inside the black's stall and put the bridle on him?'
'No, she didn't.'
'Who did.'
'I did.'
Connor's eyelid began to droop. 'I see. Did you know my wife planned to take him out?'
'I did,' he answered. 'She's the reason I went inside with the bridle in the first place.'
Connor happened to notice Quinlan's grin, shot him a hard look to let him know what he thought about that, and then directed his attention on Davis again.
Quinlan couldn't possibly stop smiling, for he knew what was coming.
'Explain why you would do such a thing so that I won't continue to believe you're demented.'
'Her smile, Laird, and that's the sorry truth of it.'
Connor blinked. 'Her smile?'
Davis nodded. 'Her smile was my reason from start to finish. It's plain trickery, I'm thinking, but I'll never say it out loud because it would sound disloyal, and I'm not at all disloyal, only honest. And her heart,' he thought to add with a nod.
'Her heart?'
'Her heart is as pure as an angel's, and so is her smile, but it's her mind, you see, that's giving me trouble. I'm thinking there's something wrong with it, but I'm not coming right out and saying there is. Mi'lady isn't like all the other ladies hereabouts. She thinks like a man, a clever man, and how was I to know? She never once lied to me. No, Laird, she didn't.'
'Then why did you allow her to take the black?'
'Her smile.'
'You'll go around and around again the more you ask Davis. It always comes back to mi'lady's smile,' Quinlan said.
'And her heart, of course, because when she smiles, I can see she's as pure as an angel…'
Connor cut him off. 'Davis, I suggest you leave the stables immediately. Come back after I've left, not before.'
The old man didn't have to be told more than once. He moved with the speed of a man who had just noticed the back of his pants were on fire.
'Am I supposed to order my wife to stop smiling?'
'It might help,' Quinlan suggested with a straight face. 'You'll also have to order her to stop thinking like a man.'
'What in God's name does that mean?'
'She's more intelligent than Davis.'
'Is she more intelligent than you, Quinlan?'
The soldier let out a sigh. 'I'm not certain. She is definitely cleverer, however.'
'She scared the hell out of me.'
'I'm familiar with the feeling.'
Neither man knew who started laughing first, but within seconds, they were overcome with amusement. Connor thought he was laughing because he was so relieved his wife hadn't killed herself. Quinlan knew exactly why
