Page 19 of Heirs and Graces at Highland Hall
Eilidh was an incredible seamstress and textile artist, and Bex had no doubt that if she’d asked her friend in advance, she’d have loved to have made her something. But it was only eight days to Burns Night. There was no way she wanted to put her under that type of pressure.
‘I’m sure I can just borrow something,’ she said, trying not to dampen Lorna’s spirit at the same time as making her see sense. ‘Or order something online tonight. Otherwise, it sounds like quite a lot of effort for everyone to go to.’
‘Of course it’s a lot of effort. It’s Burns Night at the castle! You’re coming to your first Burns Night. At the castle!’ Bex couldn’t help but laugh. It didn’t matter how much she wanted to be realistic about things, Lorna’s enthusiasm was infectious.
‘Let’s just send Eilidh a message. See if she has any time before we get carried away,’ Bex said, well aware that it was already way too late for that.
With a second shriek of glee, Lorna grabbed her hands and bounced up and down.
‘Oh my God, this is amazing! Whatever you’re doing to make Kieron like you this much, keep it going.’ She grinned. ‘I’ve always wanted to be invited.’
For a moment, Bex considered telling Lorna about her encounters with Kieron. Their conversations at the airport, when she hadn’t known who he was, but they’d clearly been attracted to each other. She’d need to add that she’d walked away, though. She wasn’t ready to even ask for a guy’s number just yet. Not that she thought Lorna would judge her for that. Bex was single, after all, and Kieron was objectively gorgeous. But Lorna was Duncan’s sister and deep down, Bex knew that she’d been hoping one day they would have moved from the position of friends to sisters-in-law. For a while she’d thought that might happen too. But now, that was never going to be. So what did it matter that she and Kieron had felt a physical attraction to one another, or they’d shared breakfast, or that the real reason he’d turned up on her doorstep was to apologise? It wasn’t like anything was actually going to happen between them. No matter how much his damn eyes twinkled.
Several hours later, Lorna was in a bubble bath while Bex was on the phone to her mum.
‘How’s it going up there, darling? Have you seen you-know-who?’ she asked.
You-know-whowas obviously Duncan, and Bex wasn’t entirely sure why her mother couldn’t say his name. Probably because whenever she’d mentioned it in the last month or so, Bex had descended into tears. Thankfully, she didn’t do that this time.
‘Yes. Yes, we’ve spoken.’
‘Spoken?’ Mum picked up on the tone. ‘What does that mean? Are you back together? Did you get into a fight? What happened?’ From the rise in her mother’s voice, Bex wasn’t sure which of those things she would rather have happened.
‘We spoke, Mum,’ Bex said, deciding it was best not to go into how she had turned up at the pub when Duncan was flirting with Australians, then had to listen to him drunkenly rant about how he’d always known she would break his heart as she helped carry him home. ‘Everything is fine. It’s absolutely great.’
There was a pause, and she could picture her mum’s expression: lips pressed tightly together, sucking her cheeks inwards.
‘You know your father and I like Duncan very much?—’
Bex gritted her teeth. ‘Mum, I don’t?—’
‘Just wait a minute. You don’t know what I’m going to say. We like Duncan very much, and we know you loved him a lot. But you’re a bright woman. If you knew that things weren’t going to work between you, then you made the right choice.’
The tightness in her chest released by a fraction. ‘Thank you, Mum. I appreciate that.’
‘But of course, if you’re up there and having all these doubts, then maybe you and him could have a talk. See if you can’t work something out.’
Bex should’ve known her mother would be praying for a reunion, just like half her friends were. Of all the boyfriends she had met, there had been none that her mum had loved quite as much as Duncan. And it wasn’t just her mother. Bex’s father and Duncan had got on brilliantly, too. Actually, everybody got on with him, which had made the whole situation so much harder. At least if one of them had been able to slag him off, and tell her what a good thing it was that he was out of her life, it would have made matters a little easier.
‘That’s not going to happen, Mum,’ Bex said after a pause. ‘It was a distance thing. You know that. And the distance problem hasn’t gone away, just because I’m up here for a few days.’ It was likely to be a lot longer than that, but she wasn’t going to say as much. In her mother’s mind, that would just be even more reason for her and Duncan to get back together.
‘Well, if that’s the case, then make sure you don’t find someone else when you’re up there.’ Her mother chuckled. ‘Let’s be honest, they make some great men that side of the border.’
Bex didn’t warrant the comment with a reply. Instead, her thoughts drifted involuntarily to Kieron. He might be up here in Scotland now, but he wouldn’t stay that way, would he? It was difficult to know. Besides, thinking about Kieron in a dating manner was ridiculous, anyway. Yes, she had found him attractive and had considered asking for his number when they’d been at the airport when she hadn’t known who he was. But she did know who he was now. And it wouldn’t work.
‘It’s lovely to speak to you, Mum, but I think I probably need to head to bed soon,’ Bex said. ‘Got a pretty early start in the morning.’
‘Oh yes. You still haven’t explained to me what it is you’re doing. I thought you sorted all the accounts last time you were there.’
Gordon had been very specific about not telling anybody what was going on with the will situation, but it wasn’t like Bex’s mum was in regular conversation with anybody up in LochDarroch. And it would be so good to have somebody to talk things through with. She shifted over to the other side of the room, where she could hear the water continuing to run into the bath. Did that mean Lorna wasn’t inside it yet? If that was the case, she could easily overhear.
‘I’ll explain when I get a chance,’ she said, wishing she could tell her more. ‘But like I said, I need to head to bed. Love you, Mum.’
‘Love you to bits, Becky Boo. And don’t work too hard.’
‘As if.’ Bex chuckled before hanging up the phone. Less than two days back in LochDarroch and life was already getting complicated. Fingers crossed it would be plain sailing from now on. Though something told her the chance was unlikely.
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