Page 70 of Duke It Out
“Edie?”
I realise Jamie’s been talking and I haven’t heard a word. Rory shoots me another odd look.
“Sorry, I was thinking about work,” I lie, not meeting Rory’s eyes. I can feel my cheeks going hot.
“Very nice to meet you,” says Jamie.
“Likewise,” Anna says. “Lovethe accent. And the cheekbones.”
He winks. “Both hereditary, I’m afraid.”
Rory makes a noise under his breath and moves past me, a look of irritation on his face. I’m not sure if it’s Jamie, Anna or me. Possibly all three.
Anna leans against the doorframe, long and slender in her not-quite-covering-everything towel. “It’s not easy being a duke, I take it.”
“Oh, Rory’s always like that,” says Jamie casually. “Duty first, second, and third. Honour and business after that. Pleasure somewhere very far down the line. You’ll get used to it.”
“I’m very adaptable,” purrs Anna. She’s smiling, but I know that look of old. She might have had her eye on Rory, but a lord in the hand is worth a duke in the bush, or something like that.
Jamie’s eyebrows flash upwards and he gives her a knowing grin. “Well, you can tell me all about it over a swim. Sure you won’t join us, Edie?”
I shake my head and try and look regretful. “I really must get on. I’ve been out all morning when I should have been working.”
“My brother’s a hard taskmaster,” Jamie says as Annatakes his elbow. “Come with me, and you can help me let the side down disgracefully.”
A movement outside catches my eye, and I watch as Rory drives away again, leaving me standing in the hallway alone. Suddenly Loch Morven feels unfamiliar again, as if someone’s tilted the whole place on its axis. Like I’ve been building something slowly and carefully, and Anna’s just walked in and rearranged all the furniture.
27
EDIE
Anna emergesafter noon the morning after. I’m mid-paragraph, working at the kitchen table with a coffee. Muffin’s lying in a puddle of sunlight under my feet. I can hear clattering and urgent discussion from the big working kitchen, plans for the ball are really ramping up now, and the castle is a hive of activity. Meanwhile my flatmate is standing in the middle of it all in pyjamas. In what is after all my workplace. As if it’s some sort of holiday rental.
I give her a wide-eyed stare.
“What?” She strolls over to the table and helps herself to a grape from the fruit bowl.
“You’re not dressed,” I hiss, half an eye on the kitchen door.
Anna shrugs. “And?”
“We’re not on holiday. I’m working.”
“Pfft.” She hops up to sit on the table, looking over at my screen. “How’s it going?”
I close it and stand up. “It’s going. There’s someone fixingthe sash windows in the library, so I thought I’d work in here, but there’s so much stuff going on I keep getting distracted.”
“You’re entitled to a lunch break, aren’t you? I’ll go shower and you can show me round the estate.” She wanders over to the coffee machine and pokes at it hopefully. I get the hint.
“I’ll make you one while you shower. But don’t take ages, I need to work this afternoon.”
Anna rolls her eyes. “Too much to ask if they have oat milk, I suppose?”
“Have you ever tried to milk an oat?” Gregor’s gruff Glaswegian voice makes her jump and me snort with laughter.
“This is why I don’t do the countryside. It’s all fresh air and nothing else.”
“Anna.”I glare at her and turn to Gregor who is standing there with his arms folded, chuckling to himself as if he’s seen it all before. “Anna, this is Gregor, the chef. This is my friend Anna, who?—”
