Page 60 of Highland Games
Rory lifted his hands as if to throttle her, hesitated, then dropped them to his sides. He was done. He’d never been able to please his father and he was giving up trying to please his mother, here and now.
‘I want to make myself absolutely clear,’ he said. ‘I am going to get a new agreement drawn up for Zoe, and they aren’t going to be leasehold, they’re going to be freehold. The cabin and the land will belong to her forever and she can do what the hell she likes with it. Whatever deals with Colquhoun Asset Management you’ve agreed to are off, as of right now.’
‘You can’t do that! They’ve invested significant time and money into the estate. You can’t cut them off,’ Barbara protested.
‘I can, and I will. I never wanted to go along with their ideas for the castle anyway, I did it for you and because I saw no other way. But now thereisanother way: Zoe’s. I’m following her advice from now on. I don’t want anything more to do with the Colquhouns or their money. I want them out of our lives for good. My future, our future, the castle’s future is in my hands, and hers if she’ll still have me.’
Barbara’s mouth opened. Her pale skin went puce with rage. She grabbed his arm. ‘You can’t do this to me. I can’t live here!’
Rory carefully pulled his mother’s fingers away. ‘We need to accept that Kinloch is our home now. This is happening whether you like it or not, and there is nothing you can do to stop me.’ He strode down the corridor, her protestations echoing off the walls around him.
Rory showeredoff the dust from the office, redressed, and drove straight to Inverness. He went first to the Highland council offices and withdrew every application Colquhoun Asset Management had lodged on behalf of the estate, then strode along the high street for an impromptu meeting with Alastair McCarthy. He instructed him to draw up a new set of freehold lease agreements for the cabin with Zoe’s name on them, and to have them ready as soon as possible. He also informed them in no uncertain terms that from now on, the only person able to speak for the estate was him.
He then went home, dropped Bandit off, picked up some supplies and drove out to the cabin. Heavy rain chilled the air and the sky was darkening with dusk when he rounded the final bend of the track and cut the engine. He could see Zoe inside the cabin, facing away from him. She was lit up by the lamps inside, her curly hair a glowing halo of light around her head.
He could think of nothing but her. She was like a virus, endlessly replicating herself inside him. Every thought he had, every movement he made, she was there. It was like staring into the sun, then away again, a spot of light still burned into his vision, overlaying itself on top of everything else he tried to look at.
And it wasn’t just her beauty that captivated him, it was everything else that went with it. She was funny, sweet, resourceful, determined. Her reaction to the arrival of Basil had been totally unexpected, and she wasn’t shy in telling him when he’d been a complete arse. She had left the safety of a secure job and the loving arms of family and friends to discover something about herself up here. She wasn’t running away as he had always done, she was running to try and find something new, even if it meant living in a hovel in another country.
Time passed with Rory suspended in it, the rain drumming on the roof and blurring the windscreen, his mind detached from everything but her. The raindrops seemed to settle on him, drenching him in a deep realisation. He loved her. He loved every single crazy and magical part of her. A blinding pain lacerated his heart. She deserved the world. And what had he offered her? Lies.
He wanted to run. Fly to Tibet, join a monastery, hitch a ride to Mars. Or just drive home, put his old army Bergen on his back and run north. Run till his body screamed for mercy, run until he collapsed. He started the engine. He needed to leave before she noticed the truck. Now he was a coward as well as a liar. He shook his head at himself, disgusted.
‘Rory!’
He jerked up. She was standing on the porch waving at him. He cut the engine, got out and walked up the steps. Her beauty dumbstruck him.
‘Well? Did you find the lease agreement?’
Rory nodded. ‘It’s with the lawyers. They’re making another copy. It will be ready within a couple of days.’
Her shoulders sagged. ‘Thank you.’
‘I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened to your agreement, but you’ve got a proper door now, so no one can get in.’
‘I hope so.’ She didn’t sound convinced.
‘You’re the only one with keys. It shouldn’t happen again.’ Rory turned to go.
She grabbed his arm. ‘Where are you going?’
‘I thought, after earlier, it was best…’
‘You promised me dinner. Surely that’s the least you could do to make it up to me?’ she replied. ‘I was looking forward to something a little better than tinned soup or pasta.’
‘Are you sure?’
She folded her arms but was smiling. ‘Yes. I’m bloody starving.’
The light from her smile stabbed him in the chest and made a beeline for his groin. He had to tell her who he was tonight. He couldn’t put it off any longer, no matter how happy she made him.
‘Get yourself out of the rain. I’ll get things going,’ he told her, stepping off the porch and walking back to the truck.
Five minutes later she poked her head around the cabin door. He was crouched down at the end of the porch. ‘What are you doing?’ she asked.
He stood, showing her the barbeque he had brought. Wisps of wood smoke curled up into the cold air.
‘I thought you could do with a proper meal.’
