Page 36 of Duke It Out
“Come and join me. I was going to sit and do some accounts stuff with a coffee, but I’d far rather have a chat. What would you like?”
“I’ve been instructed to try the cardamom buns.”
“Janey’s favourite.” Kate grins. “And a coffee? Tea?”
We get our food and head over to the table by the window.
“This is my favourite spot. It’s impossible to snag in summer when the tourists are here, but this time of the year I can pretty much always nab it.”
The cardamom bun is every bit as good as Janey said it would be, soft and sticky with just the right amount of spice. I close my eyes for a second and take in the familiar sounds of a coffee shop, the chattering and the whoosh of the machine, the clinking of glasses.
“You okay?”
My eyes pop open. “Sorry, I was just having a moment where I felt at home.”
“Culture shock up at the big house?”
“Something like that. I mean it’s beautiful, and my bedroom – well, rooms – they’re amazing.”
“But it takes a bit of adjusting to get used to staying in a castle, yeah?”
“Is that weird?”
“I’d say it was weird if you didn’t find it strange. There’s a reason Jamie lives in the cottage on the estate.”
“I wondered about that.”
“It’s called the cottage, but it’s a miniature castle with five bedrooms.” She rolls her eyes. “Anyway, I half-wondered if he’d move back after his father died, to be honest I…” She trails of for a moment and looks at me thoughtfully. “Oh, I suppose you’re writing his memoirs, you’ll get a handle on the old bugger soon enough. Anyway, what was I saying? Yeah, I wondered if he’d move back once his dad was out of the way, but – well, who wants to be living at home in their thirties, even if home is a castle?”
“They could have different wings.”
Kate makes a face. “I can’t see Rory going in for a flat share, can you?”
I laugh. “Alright, you’ve got a point.”
“Plus, he’s got his own stuff to get over.”
I take a sip of coffee. I don’t want to pry but I’m dying to know what she means.
“He didn’t get on with his dad. Now he’s trying to rebuild the foundation, pull it back into shape. Has he told you what they do?”
“Ish.” I think of our ride round the estate the other day. “Lots of good works and community stuff, rewilding, that sort of thing?”
“He takes the responsibility very seriously. The way Rory sees it, he’s just a guardian for that place, and it’s his job to make sure everyone thrives.” Kate rips off a piece of her pastry and chews it thoughtfully. “Trouble is if you ask me –and nobody does – he forgets he needs to thrive, too. The estate isn’t supposed to come at the expense of his own happiness.”
I think about how careworn he looked the other night on the phone, and the dark shadows under his eyes. “He does seem a bit frazzled.”
“You cut Rory in half, and you’d see the word duty through the middle, like a stick of Blackpool rock.” Kate rolls her eyes. “And I say that with love. He’s like a big brother to me. I’ve known him for years.”
“And the stables, how do they fit in?”
She leans back in her chair. “Well, there’s always been ponies here at the estate –traditionally they used the Highlands for carrying deer down from the moor, and for pulling carts and things like that.”
“But nowadays they don’t?”
“Oh yeah, they’re still used for shoots. It’s impossible to get vehicles across a peat moor, and the ponies are strong and sure footed. We’ve been breeding them here for a hundred years and there are Loch Morven Highlands as far across the globe as Australia.”
“That’s amazing.”
