Page 18 of Heirs and Graces at Highland Hall
‘Well, you know what they say – you never forget your first.’ As soon as the words left his mouth, he lifted his hand to his head. ‘I’m sorry, that came out very wrong,’ he said, though Bex expected that wasn’t entirely true as the nerves she’d been feeling took a peculiar fluttering turn.
There was something between them – a spark, a moment. She hadn’t been wrong in thinking he’d been interested in her at the airport, and that instant attraction hadn’t faded. She was sure of it. And it wasn’t like she hadn’t found him attractive. He was every bit her go-to type when it came to city men.
For a split second, she was sure he was going to lean towards her, and her body was incredibly tempted to reciprocate the motion.
‘Kieron? Is everything okay?’ Bex turned to find Lorna standing in the doorway, one towel wrapped around her body, with another around her hair. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t hear the door go.’
‘It’s no problem,’ Kieron replied. ‘I just came to see Rebecca.’ He hesitated, then added, ‘I wanted to… Well, it’s about business.’
‘You cannot turn up at her home just to make her do work, Kieron. That’s ridiculous!’ The indignation on Lorna’s face was enough to cause a flutter of warmth in Bex. As was the motion of the cottage being her home, when she was in fact sleeping on a pull-out sofa for an undetermined length of time. But it was still very sweet.
‘Don’t worry,’ Bex said quickly, feeling the need to come to his defence. ‘It wasn’t work exactly. Kieron also just invited me to Burns Night.’
‘Oh.’ Lorna’s eyes widened. ‘You’re right, that’s not work.’ A glimmer shone in her eyes. ‘Well, I assume you want to make sure Bex knows plenty of people there? I mean, she needs to be with her friends on her first Burns Night too, obviously.’
Kieron rolled his eyes, though the gesture was good-natured.
‘I’m sure we’ve got room for a couple more,’ he said. ‘Just make sure you all dress appropriately.’
‘As if I’d do anything but,’ Lorna said with a grin.
‘Well, I’d better get going,’ Kieron said, turning back to Bex. ‘Sorry about interrupting.’
‘Honestly, it’s not a problem. I’ll walk you out.’ She wasn’t sure why she felt the need to do so. The front door really wasn’t far away, but she wanted to.
‘Thank you,’ she said quietly. ‘You know, for inviting Lorna and… thanks.’
‘You’re most welcome,’ he replied, his voice soft as he stepped outside and a gust of wind blew in through the house, strong enough to rattle the pictures on the wall.
‘Wow, you’d better get going,’ Bex said. ‘It feels like a storm’s coming in.’
‘Really?’ He frowned. The winter evening had already drawn in, and outside it could have been midnight for all the light there was. ‘It feels like an average winter night in Scotland to me,’ he said with a chuckle.
But Bex recalled a night the year before, when the wind had been just like this, and she and Duncan had holed themselves up in the lodge while the winds howled and the snow fell.
‘Trust me,’ she said. ‘When you’ve been up here enough, you get the feel of when a storm is coming.’
16
‘Oh my God, I’m officially excited! I’ve always wanted to go to one of Kieron’s parties.’ Lorna was practically bouncing on the spot when Kieron left her cottage. ‘This is amazing!’
‘You haven’t been before?’ Bex asked, having assumed that when Lorna was putting the list together for village people to help Kieron out, she had included herself. Apparently, that wasn’t the case. ‘I thought he just invited the whole village.’
‘It depends. When Fergus used to run Burns Night, it was just an open invitation. But it could get pretty chaotic. I went to a couple when I was a bairn, but then I used to babysit. Folk’d pay crazy rates. Like Hogmanay. Then Kieron started taking more control of them, and I think numbers were just too big to have everyone. You know, with his London friends and everything. There’d always be some people from the village. Kind of on a rotation. It’s never been me, though. And some folk would always get an invite, like Moira. But now, Kieron has more of his fancy folk from down south. I guess he shows off the castle. I mean, it’s great for the village, don’t get me wrong. All the hotels are packed, the restaurants are bursting. But this year’llbe amazing. He’ll want to have the biggest party ever now that he’s officially laird.’
Bex felt a tightness squeeze around her throat, though she tried not to give anything away. She kept her smile perfectly in place when Lorna let out another screech.
‘Oh! We’re going to have to sort out dresses. And your tartan. I’m guessing you’ve not got any tartan?’
Bex raised her eyebrows. That was all she needed to do to convey her point. ‘No,’ she added, just for emphasis. ‘I don’t.’
‘Okay, well, we’ll go to Moira’s one night this week,’ Lorna said. ‘Maybe if she’s free.’
‘To Moira’s?’
Moira was the old woman who often sat in the corner of the pub with her knitting needles. The one with both infallible liver and eyesight. Though despite being a stalwart figure in the village, Bex had never really had any conversations with her one-on-one. She certainly wouldn’t feel comfortable asking to borrow one of her tartans.
‘Trust me, she’ll love to help,’ Lorna said, as if reading Bex’s mind. ‘Moira has the most insane collection of tartans. There’ll be something perfect for you, I guarantee it. And maybe we should ask Eilidh about fixing a dress, too. I bet she could whip something up quickly.’
