Page 13 of Heirs and Graces at Highland Hall
The sheer scale of what Kieron was inheriting was almost too much to comprehend. Yes, there was the castle, but there was also the land, the establishments and the businesses Fergus had owned, which stretched far beyond the village. Fergus had employed only a few people in the house, but that was possibly because he had employed half the village elsewhere. All of their futures would now be in Kieron’s hands. It was a struggle to understand how he’d ever get to grips with it. Especially considering he wasn’t even from the area. The weight of that pressure must be mammoth, though if he felt that, he was doing a good job of hiding it.
‘I have a few friends in similar situations,’ Kieron continued. ‘Old parents or grandparents – landowners who’ve let their finances get away from them. It’d be helpful for them to know someone with experience on a scale like this. Especially someone as respected as my uncle.’
‘Then yes, absolutely,’ Bex said. ‘I’d be really grateful if you passed on the firm’s details.’
She had just about finished the last bites of her breakfast when the sound of footsteps upstairs caught her attention.
‘Gordon got here quicker than I thought he would,’ she said, glancing at her watch. It had only been thirty minutes since he had rung. But that was the thing about travelling in the Highlands – you never knew if a journey would take twentyminutes or two hours. Sheep, roadblocks, village parades could send everything into turmoil. ‘I should go upstairs and meet him,’ she said, standing up and taking her plate, but before she’d even taken a single step from the table, the kitchen door swung open.
And it wasn’t Gordon who walked in. It was Duncan.
11
The effects of the previous night’s drinking were clear. Duncan was a bleary-eyed mess, with bags under his eyes and a stagger to his walk. Not to mention his fingers were pressed into his temples, the way he always did when he was struggling. He was so distracted he didn’t even notice Kieron and Bex there until Kieron cleared his throat.
‘Good morning?’ Kieron said, his eyebrows raised. Duncan’s head snapped around towards them, but rather than responding to Kieron, or even acknowledging that he was there, his gaze went straight to Bex. His whole body jolted, as if her presence had given him an electric shock.
‘What are you doing here?’ he said.
Bex felt her throat tighten.
‘Kieron was just making me breakfast,’ she said. ‘The lawyer was late, and so we had time…’ She trailed off, unsure why she was explaining herself to him. She didn’t need to explain anything. Yet she didn’t want him to think she and Kieron had been sitting there, simply enjoying each other’s company. Even though that was what they had been doing.
‘Duncan,’ Kieron said, standing up and walking over to shake his hand. ‘I wondered when I’d see you. I hear you’re the one who put the dogs in the kennels for me. I appreciate that. I don’t know why my uncle used to keep them in the house. Horrible habit.’
‘Right,’ Duncan said, his eyes flicking to Bex.
She didn’t know how much of last night he remembered, but it was clear he was aware she knew the dogs had not been in the kennels.
‘Well, I’ve just come to get them some food,’ he said. ‘It’s still up here.’
‘Right, well, don’t let us interrupt you,’ Kieron said.
Duncan moved slowly towards the fridge, pulling out the packets of raw meat Fergus had insisted on feeding the animals.
A strange, static tension filled the room, and Bex couldn’t help but wonder if Kieron could feel it too. Her plate was still in her hands, and part of her wanted to move over to the sink so that she could wash it up, but that would mean moving closer to Duncan, or at least drawing his attention back to her, and that wasn’t something she wanted to do. Not here. Not like this. And so she remained standing there, silent, waiting for the moment to pass.
‘You might as well take enough for a while,’ Kieron said as Duncan went to close the fridge. ‘You know, so you don’t have to bother yourself coming up here.’
Duncan grunted in reply as he opened the fridge back up. As much as Bex wanted to believe it was the hangover alone that was causing him to react in this way, she suspected it wasn’t the case.
Finally, after what felt like an age, Duncan’s arms were laden full of food. For the second time, he closed the fridge, then turned back to face them.
‘Well, I should leave you two to it,’ he said. ‘Sorry if I interrupted anything,’ he added as his eyes locked on Bex’s. Her throat was bone dry, but she refused to break his glare. Her entire body was torn. Half of her wanted to run over and wrap her arms around him, and the other half wanted to scream at him for being such an impossible idiot. Couldn’t he see that she was hurting just as much as he was? The silence had reached an unbearable level of tension, and she was certain Kieron was about to say something when Duncan finally swivelled on his heels and left.
As the kitchen door slammed shut, the tension roiled from her body, and it took all her restraint not to let out a sigh of relief. How did he do that to her? How was it so hard to be near him and not be with him? Whatever job this was the lawyer had for her, one thing was clear. She needed to get it done and get out of here as soon as possible. And as for the possibility of her and Duncan ever being friends? Well, it was safe to say that was definitely not going to happen.
‘Honestly,’ Kieron said, taking Bex’s plate from her as he gave a roll of his eyes. ‘I will never understand why all the village women are crazy about that man. He’s practically a neanderthal. I mean, he can’t even string a sentence together.’
‘Right, of course,’ Bex said, not even hearing what he was saying as her eyes remained on the door Duncan had just walked through, wishing she didn’t want to run straight after him quite so much.
12
‘Why haven’t you kept the dogs in the house?’ Bex asked as they made their way back to the drawing room. Kieron had washed up the plates while she dried them and put them away. Part of her wondered if he’d asked her to do that because he wasn’t sure where everything belonged. Then again, why would he? He hadn’t lived in the house yet. Would he know? In her mind, inheriting a place like this and not living in it would be absurd, but if he was a man who liked city life, the adjustment would be tough. She knew that better than anyone. ‘I’m guessing you’re not a dog person.’
‘Oh, I love dogs, absolutely. But they’re not house pets,’ Kieron said as he opened the door for her to step through. ‘Especially not dogs like those. They’re so much better off outside in the kennels. Not to mention the house stays much cleaner that way. And you don’t have to worry about ticks and fleas and all that nonsense. I mean, they have a good life. They’re well fed. Get good walks. And they love it when I take them on shoots.’
‘Clay pigeon shooting?’ Bex asked. Duncan had taken her clay pigeon shooting several times during her relationship,though her most memorable time had definitely been the first one. They hadn’t been together then – they hadn’t even been on their first date – and even now she remembered the way her pulse had soared when he’d wrapped his arms around her as he taught her how to hold a gun.
