Page 45 of Heirs and Graces at Highland Hall
With the noise level almost unbearable, she and Gordon moved to the library, where she discovered drawers beneath the lower levels of the bookcases containing legal documents and one or two ledgers that should have been included in her initial accounting. Thankfully, it wasn’t too difficult to work them into her updated reports.
‘Do we have a plan for if we don’t find this “rightful heir”?’ she asked as she moved to slip the ledgers into her bag, finding them surprisingly heavy. She wanted it to be because of the size, but she was well aware that her recovery hadn’t been quite so complete as she’d made out to Lorna or Gordon.
Gordon pursed his lips as he took off his glasses. ‘Well, if the heir cannae be found, it’ll fall tae Kieron. At least until someone comes forward to contest it. But that’ll get even messier then. And I know we’ll have to broach the subject with him at some point. He’s no’ gonna stop asking me about the will, and there are only so many times I can tell him it’s just taking time.’
‘Surely he knows that estates this size come with a lot of red tape.’
‘Och, he knows. But he also knows we’re keeping things from him. Smart lad, that one. Seems tae think a lot of you too, if the other day is anything to go on. Same as Duncan. ’Nother good lad he is too.’
His gaze narrowed on Bex, but as much as she liked Gordon, this was not something she wanted to discuss with him.
‘Are you coming to Burns Night?’ she said, less than subtly trying to shift the conversation away from the men in her life. Though her plan was foiled by a rap on the door, which then immediately opened. Kieron stood in the doorway, looking directly at Bex.
‘Speak o’ the devil,’ Gordon muttered, though Kieron didn’t seem to hear.
‘Rebecca, I thought I heard your voice,’ he said, striding over to her. ‘I didn’t expect to see you in. How are you doing? Are you sure you don’t need to rest some more? I’m sure Gordon could manage without you for a little while.’ A thin line furrowed between his brows; a look of genuine concern on his face.
‘I’m fine, honestly,’ Bex said, ignoring how difficult she had found it to lift the ledgers only a moment before. ‘I think it’s better to keep me busy, you know. I’m the kind of person who needs to keep moving.’
‘You are remarkable,’ he said, shaking his head, as if he was in absolute awe of her.
‘I don’t feel remarkable right now,’ Bex replied. ‘My chest feels like I’ve swallowed a porcupine. Not to mention the embarrassment. I’m pretty sure the entire village knows what happened.’
‘Oh, I’m sure they do.’ He smirked. ‘Village life. Hence you and I are the eternal city dwellers at heart.’
His eyes locked on her, though she could have sworn they shifted down to her lips, for only a heartbeat. As if recalling their kiss – and perhaps hoping to recreate the moment again. Was that something Bex wanted to do? She really wasn’t sure at all, but when Gordon cleared his throat behind her, she realised that even if she had wanted to, it was definitely not the right time to do so.
‘I should leave you to get to work,’ Kieron said, his smirk rising to something more coy as he remained looking at her. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow night, though. For the party.’
‘You will,’ Bex said. ‘I’m looking forward to it.’
‘You and me both,’ he said, before offering one more smile, then turned and strode out of the room.
As Kieron closed the door behind him, Bex turned back to find Gordon, wearing a smirk on his face, though this one was very different to Kieron’s.
‘Told you he’s soft on you,’ he said, quirking an eyebrow.
‘Oh, do be quiet,’ Bex snapped, picking up the nearest notebook to her and opening it on a random page. ‘We’ve got work to do.’
36
Although the twenty-fifth of January wasn’t technically a holiday, it certainly felt like one in the village.
Once again, Lorna had insisted on driving Bex down to the castle, and she wasn’t going to complain. The previous day had left her more exhausted than she would have imagined – especially considering she’d spent most of the day sitting down. But she’d woken up that morning with a sense of energy, which was good, because she really needed to give Ruby a walk. And not least because she didn’t want Duncan thinking she needed help taking care of her.
She hadn’t broached the fact that she was planning on taking Ruby back to London to anyone yet – other than Ruby herself – but she knew that the only person who could potentially have a problem with it was Duncan. After all, he’d been with the dog since she was a pup and she was also one of his last ties to Fergus. Then again, there was no telling whether the future laird – whether that was indeed Kieron or this elusive rightful heir – would even let Duncan keep his role on the estate. They would be a fool if they didn’t, but people did strange things.
As much as she tried not to speculate who this mystery person might be – after all, she doubted she’d even know them – it was hard not to wonder a little bit. Given Fergus’s age, any child he’d had would have easily been as old as her parents. So was that the age of person they were looking for? Or perhaps, rather than a son or daughter, they were looking for a grandchild. That would make them more her age, which meant if they were local, then she might even know them.
‘Get out the way, you daft eejit!’ Lorna yelled out of her car window as she hammered her fist on the horn.
The narrow road that bisected the village was buzzing with Land Rovers and 4x4s going back and forth. She didn’t know if the vehicles belonged to guests or just people bringing things to the castle, but either way, there was a definite party vibe in the air.
‘Is it always like this?’ Bex asked as they crawled forward. There was no doubt that if they were going at this pace, it would be far quicker for her to walk to the castle, but she wasn’t going to say as much to Lorna. As it was, she was in no great rush to get to the castle. She wasn’t too sure what they were going to do there. Though when she arrived and found Gordon in the library, wrestling with a bundle of keys, she soon found out.
‘I thought we should just lock anything that could point to what we’re doing away in the cupboards,’ he told Bex. ‘People tend to get drunk and wander at these events, and Kieron wouldnae take too kindly to me suggesting we lock entire rooms.’
‘Do you really think that’s necessary?’ Bex said, looking at the haphazard piles of paper around them. ‘I mean, we’ve not been able to find any answers from looking at all this. I can’t imagine that anyone who doesn’t know why we’re here would have a clue what we’re looking for.’
