Page 35 of A Summer of New Beginnings
17
On realising she had presumedallthe wrong things about the man and the farm, Zara covered her eyes with one hand. ‘Oh, God. Of course, it’syourfarm.’
He sat opposite her and chuckled. ‘Aye, it is.’
‘I’m sorry. I just presumed… I mean… You’re quite young and I always think of farmers being older.’
He raised his eyebrows. ‘I’m not that young. I’m thirty-one and it’s not unheard of forpeople my age to run farms. You’re stereotyping and judgemental.’ He gulped down a mouthful of his coffee.
‘And you’re stroppy and annoying,’ she snapped.
‘That’s not what you said the other day. I actually thought you were quite nice back then.’
She scrunched her face whilst simultaneously scrutinising his. What the hell was he talking about? And where the hell did she know him from? ‘I begyour pardon?’
He narrowed his eyes. ‘In the lay-by. You were all concerned about my lack of enthusiasm for the bloody view.’
She gasped. ‘You! I might have known someone likeyouwould get all uppity about someone being on your bloody land.’ She folded her arms across her chest.
He froze and fixed her with a glare. ‘I might remind you that as you wereillegallycamping onmy landyou’re answerabletome, so you might want to hold off with the insults.’
She closed her eyes briefly, summoning up the courage to speak to him rationally. ‘Look, I’m sorry, okay? This trip hasn’t exactly been something I’ve been looking forward to. In fact, I’m here under utter duress. Last night was really scary and I didn’t realise I was on private property. I don’t even know where I am – all I know is thatIwasaiming for Kinclochbervie. But I got totally lost and just needed a place to stay, that’s all. AndactuallyI was told there were no trespass laws in Scotland.’
The man, now known to be called Lachlan even though he hadn’t formally introduced himself, heaved a frustrated sigh. ‘Bloody urban myths. Try telling the writers of the Scottish trespasslawthat it doesn’t exist, see how you geton!’ He rubbed his chin. ‘Except you can’t… because it was written in 1865 so they’re all dead now.’ Zara fought a giggle but he waved his hand in frustration. ‘But that’s beside my point – the fact remains thereisa law. You can’t just set up on land wherever you please. You could disrupt livestock, damage property, get yourself injured or goodness knows what else. So next time you decide toembark upon such a mission, make sure you do your homework first, okay?’
Zara huffed and curled her lip. ‘What are you, a bloody lawyer?’
He fixed her with a firm stare and rested his hands on his hips. ‘Aye, I amif you must know. Although… my speciality was family law but nevertheless…’
Zara opened her mouth to speak but was rather dumbfounded that someone so well trained was working on abloody farm when he could earn fantastic money and live in whichever city he damn well wanted.
Eventually she asked, ‘You’rereallya lawyer?’
He scowled. ‘Well, it’s hardly something I’d lie about, is it?’
‘But you’re working on a farm,’ she stated plainly, hearing the disbelief in her own voice.
‘Iownthe place. I don’t just work here, remember? And it’s a croft actually.’
‘Oh, right,a croft, yes, sorry. So… you work remotely from here for a law firm?’
He crumpled his brow and it was clear his patience was waning further. ‘What? No, no. I just run the croft now. I had to give up my practice. Well, nothadto… I chose to give it up.’
She was utterly intrigued and ideas for articles forThe Bohemianbegan to rattle around her mind.High-powered lawyer gives it all in to runa Highland farm… erm croft.‘Stress, was it?’ Her question was way too personal and she realised as soon as it was too late to suck the words back in.
He scoffed. ‘Not at all. My father was terminally ill and I had to make a choice. Come home and take over or sell the place I grew up in, that my father had built from nothing. I chose the former. He passed away recently and I was on the way backfrom meeting his solicitor at the will reading when I encountered you in that lay-by.’
Her heart softened a little for the brusque man. ‘I’m so sorry. And gosh, that’s very noble.’
He rolled his eyes. ‘Hardly. I used to love being here when I was a kid. When I went away for university I just got dazzled by the city and pace of life, not to mention its convenience. Coming home has been… well,it’s different. It’s the kind of place that never really leaves you. It’s part of who I am and always will be. It’s in my blood, I suppose.’ He shook his head and briefly closed his eyes. ‘Anyway, I haven’t got time to sit here chatting all day. I’ll go find that puncture kit. There’s porridge on the stove and a clean bowl beside it. Help yourself. Then you can be on your way and back to yourschedule.’ He seemed to find a little amusement in that word. ‘Oh, and by the way, you’re just outside Scourie so you’re not exactly off your route as such.’
He possibly realised he had divulged quite a lot of personal information to her as a total stranger and had somewhat shut down now. He left the room and she heard the entrance door slam.
She got up and went to fill up a bowl with porridgeas he had invited her to do and squeezed a little honey on the top. Bess sat beside her, staring up with her tongue lolling out the side and a string of drool dangling from the corner of her mouth.
‘Euw, Bess. You can’t have this. It’s people food. You’re a dog. Don’t you have a bone to chew on?’ As if she understood, the dog glanced towards her bed and then back at Zara, still evidently desperatefor some porridge. ‘Come on, I’m off to sit down and eat. I’m starving. You can come and drool over here.’ She walked back to the place she had been sitting earlier and sat again.
Lachlan seemed to be gone ages and Zara was beginning to worry that he couldn’t find the puncture repair kit after all. She washed her bowl in the large pot sink and hunted round for a tea towel. Once the bowl was dried,she wandered over to the dresser beside the fireplace where lots of photos proudly sat. She presumed the ones of the small boy were Lachlan as a child and the man who looked incredibly similar to how Lachlan looked now must have been his dad. There was only one photo of the older man with a woman and it was quite old and stained brown with age.His mother perhaps?A little further along was amore recent one of the old man in a hospital bed. Lachlan was sitting beside him and they were holding hands. What struck her was that they were both laughing. The love they had for each other was so clear in their eyes. The photo told a story of a father and son with a wonderful relationship. A father who doted on his son and a son who would clearly do anything for his father. Her heart ached a littlefor Lachlan’s loss.
