Page 23 of Heirs and Graces at Highland Hall
‘Says the man who took five dogs into his tiny lodge because he couldn’t bear to see them sleep outside in a kennel.’
‘Fair enough,’ he replied with a shrug, although the smirk and glimmer disappeared and she found herself wishing she hadn’t said anything.
It didn’t take long for Lorna to bring out a plate of scrambled egg.
‘We should give it a minute to cool,’ Bex said, taking the plate and placing it down on the table in front of her. ‘The last thing we want is her burning her mouth. She definitely won’t eat anything then. Could you get us two caramel hot chocolates while we wait? Cream, marshmallows. The lot.’
‘Sure.’ Lorna’s mouth twitched in a way Bex couldn’t understand. Not until Lorna had walked away from them.
‘Sorry,’ she said, looking at Duncan and realising what she’d done. ‘I should’ve asked. Are you okay with that? Having a drink?’
‘Course. Been a long time since I’ve enjoyed one of those.’
The throbbing in her chest intensified as Bex realised what he meant. It had been impossible for him to enjoy hot chocolate since they’d broken up. It was the same for her. Hot chocolate had become a Scotland thing. Their thing. With Fergus sometimes, too. Even though her best friend Daisy madeexcellent ones on her narrowboat in London, it hadn’t felt right having one without him.
‘This is probably cool enough,’ Bex said as silence threatened to swallow them. ‘Hopefully she’ll have a couple of mouthfuls, at least.’
After blowing the steam from the top, and testing a forkful herself, Bex placed the plate of scrambled egg down on the floor in front of Ruby.
‘Well, would you look at that?’ Duncan said.
There had been no tentative sniffing. No deciding whether or not she could stomach it. Ruby was devouring the scrambled egg in great gulps, her tail wagging furiously as she did it.
‘Should’ve known you’d have the answer,’ Duncan said. Then, with a pensive look, he added, ‘You know, come to think of it, I wonder if it wasn’t Fergus she was missing after all.’ He let out a sad chuckle. ‘The way I see it, you’ve got two options. Either take her with you or never leave her again.’
The words caused a lump to rise in Bex’s throat, and as her eyes met his, she knew he was only half talking about Ruby. Only it wasn’t really an option, was it? She couldn’t take him with her to London. Not forever. Not when his heart was so firmly here. And as for her never leaving, there was her job. Her job she had worked so hard for. Could she really just give that up? Then again, as she stared into Duncan’s blue-green eyes, she couldn’t help but wonder if it would be the worst thing in the world if she did.
As the lump in her throat refused to budge, and as the doorbell jingled announcing more customers to the café, Bex tried to find the words she needed. Words to make him understand that it had never been because she hadn’t loved him. She had loved him so very much and she was pretty sure she still did.
Drawing in a shuddering breath, she opened her mouth, still not sure what she was going to say.
‘Duncan.’ Her voice cracked. His eyes were solely on hers. He knew, didn’t he? He felt the same, right? She just had to tell him. ‘Duncan, I need you to know that I?—’
‘Duncan! Oh my God, we thought we’d never see you again!’
The moment was broken by the high-pitched screech of voices that had come from the door and as Bex fought to regather her thoughts, she turned to find herself face to face with the two attractive Australians from the other night. This time it wasn’t just Duncan’s ears that turned fluorescent pink, but his entire face. ‘Now you weren’t ghosting us, were you, mate?’
‘Sorry, ladies.’ His Adam’s apple bobbed visibly up and down as he swallowed. ‘I’ve been pretty busy. Work. You know.’
‘Well, we hear there’s a big Burns Night party at the castle,’ one of them said, smiling coyly. ‘We’re gonna try to scrounge some tickets… unless you know someone who can get us in.’
Duncan glanced at Bex, before turning back to them. ‘No, sorry,’ Duncan said firmly. ‘I don’t.’
They exchanged a look, clearly disappointed at not getting the reaction they wanted. One of them pouted dramatically, though in an instant, she was flashing Duncan a bright white smile. ‘Fingers crossed, we’ll see you around.’
‘Right. Yeah.’
They moved across to the counter, leaving Bex and Duncan alone. The awkwardness of before was replaced by a whole different one. Duncan bit down on his lip, turning back to his hot chocolate. ‘Sorry about that.’
‘You don’t need to apologise. You’re moving on with your life,’ Bex said.
He let out a dry laugh. ‘No, I’m not. But I’m pretty sure you know that already.’ He put his mug down, picked up a teaspoon and began to absentmindedly stir his drink. ‘Guess you’re justbetter than me at that, too. And, of course, you were the only person in the world who could make Ruby better. It just… sucks.’
Bex’s chest tightened. Every bone in her body was screaming to tell him the truth, to tell him that she wasn’t doing any better at all. That if you’d asked Daisy or Claire, they’d say she was just as much of a mess as he was. But how would that help?
‘I might be here a little longer than I thought,’ she said instead. ‘There’s some stuff at the castle… the will. It’s not as simple as we’d hoped.’
Duncan’s expression sharpened, his eyes narrowing.
