Coming Home to the Highlands, page 17
He shut his eyes and inhaled long and deep. ‘It’s… she’s…’ He shook his head and smiled an evidently false smile that his eyes were not aware was being actioned. ‘It’s nothing. Ignore me.’
Olivia reached out and touched his arm. ‘Brodie, if—’
‘Ah! There you are, my light-footed dance partner,’ Owain said as he arrived beside them. ‘Word on the grapevine is that there’s a foxtrot coming up and it’s my favourite to watch on Strictly Come Flirting.’
She laughed. ‘Don’t you mean Strictly Come Dancing?’
He leaned closer. ‘Have you seen how many of those contestants pair off? Come on!’ He tugged at her hand, but she stood stock still.
She turned to her plus one. ‘Brodie?’
Brodie applied a wider smile to his mask. ‘Go on! You can’t deny the man his foxtrot, for heaven’s sake.’
‘Good man!’ Owain said with a jovial slap to his shoulder.
Olivia sighed and allowed herself to be pulled to the dancefloor once again, but in the back of her mind, something niggled. Something was definitely not right with Brodie.
15
After the foxtrot, Olivia and Owain danced another waltz and after that, they stood at the side to watch the other dancers and catch their breath.
‘You know I didn’t want to come tonight,’ Owain admitted out of the blue. ‘But spending the evening with you has made it worthwhile.’ He smiled tenderly.
Her heart skipped. ‘I have to say that I wasn’t really looking forward to it either, but it’s turned out to be great fun.’
He eyed her for a moment and eventually said, ‘So, you and Brodie… you’re definitely not… you know?’
Olivia shook her head. ‘No, definitely not. Married men are not my thing.’ Even if Brodie is…
He nodded and his smile widened. ‘Great. So, when can I see you again?’
Olivia felt her face warming and she touched her cheek. ‘Gosh, it’s so warm in here.’
‘Yup. Mum always insists on the heating being on at these things, even though people are dancing.’ He shook his head. ‘So come on then… when?’
He clearly wasn’t going to let it go. ‘I thought we were going to go for coffee already?’
Owain took a deep breath and turned to fully face her. ‘Look, I’m not going to beat around the bush here. I’m not getting any younger and I really like you. I mean, what’s not to like? You’re beautiful, you’re from a good family, not that that matters, though, you have amazing taste in clothes, and you design them, you love art as much as me, and you can dance.’ He lifted his arms out at his sides and let them drop. ‘I get the feeling you like me, too, maybe not quite as much yet, but I think we have the makings of a proper whirlwind romance, don’t you? Maybe even more. And let’s face it, our children would be adorable.’
She stared, open-mouthed for a few moments as she took in what he’d just said. Then she couldn’t help the laugh that finally escaped. ‘Wow, erm… What do I say to that?’ She scratched her head, genuinely flummoxed. ‘I mean… yes, I like you, too, but maybe you could slow down a little, Owain.’ She held up a halting hand to reiterate her point. ‘Let’s just get to know each other and see how it goes. But I’ll tell you straight off the bat, I’m not in a rush to get hitched and have babies.’
He placed a hand on both of her arms and smoothed his thumbs over her skin. ‘Thank goodness for that because neither am I. But you do want to see where this goes?’
She felt more than a little bamboozled. Her heart was doing the jive in her chest and her mind was trying to catch up. It was all a little fast. ‘I think… what I mean is… I mean yes, that’d be lovely.’
He picked her up and spun her around. ‘Yes! Okay, I’ll pick you up tomorrow evening and take you for dinner at a lovely Italian I know in Inverness, yes?’
Blimey, he doesn’t waste time. ‘Erm… okay.’
‘Bravo! I’ll go get us another glass of champers.’ He turned and left Olivia reeling from his enthusiasm. Was she wrong to feel a little disbelieving about the whole thing? She decided that no, it had been a long time since a handsome single man had shown an interest in her. And she was going to blooming well enjoy it. You heard all the time about people who met and just clicked. Maybe that’s what this was? And surely sometimes if things seemed too good to be true, they could actually just be that good. Surely? As her mind fought to process it all, Kerr appeared beside her.
‘Fed up of slumming it already, I see. Owain is a marginal improvement, I suppose.’
Olivia heaved a deep, exhausted sigh. ‘Kerr, just stop, please. You don’t impress anyone with your snide comments and your holier-than-thou attitude. You don’t have to look down your nose at everyone, you know,’ she snapped.
‘Oh, but I’m not looking down my nose at everyone. Oh, god, here comes Owain’s mother. No doubt she’ll want to plan your wedding to her son now you’re a somebody.’ With those harsh words, he scuttled off, probably under the nearest rock, Olivia surmised.
Fiona held out her hand and Olivia took it for a second. ‘Olivia dear, you and my darling son seem to have hit it off. I can’t tell you how happy that makes Hamish and me,’ she said with a squeeze to her hand before releasing it. ‘We’ve been waiting so long for him to meet the right woman. Who’d have thought it would happen tonight?’
Wowsers, his family are like a pack of Exocet missiles too. She hated that Kerr was on the verge of being right. She didn’t want to get Fiona’s hopes up, nor did she want to sound negative, so she went for as neutral a comment as she could. ‘Owain is lovely and such fun. It feels like it’s been weeks since we saw each other instead of years.’
‘Indeed. You brushed shoulders on many occasions throughout your childhoods. Your mother and I used to joke about you getting married one day. But you were both so young. It’s all about the timing, don’t you think?’
Olivia couldn’t imagine her mum talking about her in that way. She smiled and nodded and suddenly remembered Brodie. She glanced at her watch. ‘Oh, no! I need to be going. It’s just past midnight and Spencer will be here to pick us up. Can you excuse me?’
Fiona frowned and shook her head. ‘Oh… yes, yes, of course. What should I tell Owain?’
‘Tell him I’ll see him tomorrow evening and please pass on my apologies.’ Without waiting for a response, Olivia dashed over to where she had last seen Brodie and hoped that he had managed to avoid further encounters with Kerr. She needn’t have worried. Once again, her plus one was chatting to an attractive young woman, a brunette this time. The woman was definitely flirting with him; tosses of the hair, touches to his arms, rubbing her fingers around the rim of her glass, biting her lip, her overtures weren’t exactly discreet. Although Brodie wasn’t making any attempts to put her off. So that’s the kind of man you are, is it? No wonder you don’t want me telling people you’re married.
‘Brodie, are you ready to go? Spencer will be waiting for us.’
He looked up and his eyes widened for a split second. Ha! Caught in the act, Olivia thought.
He nodded. ‘Oh aye, yes, sorry. Excuse me, Matilda, my carriage awaits.’
‘No problem, Brodie. It was lovely to meet you. Let’s go for a coffee sometime,’ Matilda said with a tilt of her head and flutter of her eyelashes before sashaying away in her long black figure-hugging strapless dress that fanned out in a fish tail at the bottom. She had one last glance at Brodie over her bare shoulder.
Olivia made a derisive scoffing sound and Brodie turned to face her. ‘What now?’
She held up her hands. ‘Nothing to do with me.’
He rested his hands on his hips. ‘But you’ve clearly got an opinion.’
‘I just wonder what Mags would think, that’s all.’
Brodie shook his head. ‘Well, lucky for her she isn’t here then.’
They walked out into the cool evening air in silence and Olivia shivered. Surprisingly, Brodie took off his jacket and placed it around her shoulders.
‘Thank you,’ she whispered, once again feeling guilty for sticking her nose in his business. He knew his wife, she didn’t. Perhaps they had an open relationship; it worked for some people. Olivia couldn’t imagine how, but she’d seen documentaries.
Spencer was standing by the car and as they approached, he opened the rear door so they could climb in.
Once they were seated, Brodie tried small talk. ‘Brother dear was on top form tonight, eh?’
Olivia shook her head. ‘I honestly don’t know why he hates me so much.’
‘Because you’re not only successful but people like you too. You’re very affable, unlike Kerr.’
‘Thank you. He just seems to want to go out of his way to make me angry or upset. I wish we could just get along.’
There was a short silence before Brodie spoke again. ‘On a more positive note, you and Owain were getting very friendly. Do I sense that something more is blossoming there?’ he asked with a strained smile.
Still a little annoyed with him for flirting with other women behind his wife’s back, she shrugged. ‘I like him. A lot. We’re going on a date tomorrow night.’
Brodie nodded. ‘Wow, fast mover. Impressive. Well, I hope you have fun. He seems like a nice guy.’
Olivia turned away and looked out of the window into the blackness of the night. ‘He is. He’s handsome too. And he likes a lot of the same things I do.’
‘Great,’ Brodie said flatly.
‘Looks like you’ve had a good time too. Plenty of pretty women to keep you company.’ She couldn’t help the snide edge to her tone.
He gave a small laugh. ‘I didn’t go looking for them, believe me. And don’t forget you did kind of abandon me back there. What was I supposed to do?’
His comment exasperated her. ‘Oh, so your flirtations are my fault?’
‘I didn’t say that! And I wasn’t being unfaithful or anything like that. We were simply chatting. Mostly about stuff I have no interest in, if I’m honest, but I was being polite. The last thing I wanted to do was make you look bad, so I was on my best behaviour, if you must know. I only came so you didn’t have to be alone. Although I mean, don’t get me wrong, it looks like the evening has paid off for you after all. Owain clearly has a lot going for him. And he’s part of your crowd too. Bonus.’
His comment stirred anger up within her and her stomach twisted. She turned to face him. ‘My crowd? I’ve told you before that status doesn’t mean anything to me. I like Owain for who he is as a person. Not for his parents’ land, house or titles.’
‘Aye, you say that because he has all of those things.’ She gasped, like he had slapped her. Brodie closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them, he eyed her with a sad expression. ‘I didn’t mean it like that. I just mean… Look, let’s forget it. We’ve both had a nice evening so let’s not spoil it by falling out, eh?’
She didn’t speak, instead she returned her gaze to the darkness outside, and a heavy silence descended upon them, and she wondered once more why his opinion of her meant so damn much.
In bed later that night, Olivia replayed the events of the evening in her mind. Seeing Brodie as she had descended the stairs at the start of the evening had almost floored her. At that precise moment, she had sent up a wee prayer that he was going to accompany her but couldn’t quite believe it when he actually said that’s why he was there. She hated that she felt that way. It was utterly pointless.
Brodie had looked so gorgeous in his kilt, like he had walked off the cover of a fashion magazine, and what he had done by accompanying her had been so gallant. He really was a sweet guy, and such a good friend for stepping in to rescue her from an uncomfortable night. Although in reality it had been anything but uncomfortable for her in the end, apart from the run-ins with Kerr. It had been good to see Owain again after all those years. He had changed so much. And unlike Brodie, Owain was single. He had similar interests to her. He appeared to feel the same about their social standing as she did. Plus, he made her laugh and they’d had such a fun evening. So why did she feel like going on a date with him was some kind of bizarre betrayal? She wasn’t even sure on whose behalf she was sensing the betrayal. It can’t have been Brodie’s because he was married, regardless of his penchant for flirting with other women. And it can’t have been hers because she was single.
She shook off the feelings and decided she would still go on the date as agreed. Brodie had almost encouraged her to do so by the positive things he was saying on their journey home. And perhaps she would, once and for all, be able to put the wasted thoughts of Brodie to the back of her mind.
16
Sunday morning began with a layer of frost on the ground outside and after observing this from the warmth of her room, Olivia climbed back into bed and wrapped her duvet around herself. Marley jumped up and lay down beside her and she sank her fingers into his thick coat to fuss him before she reached over and checked the time on her phone. It was almost 8.30 a.m., meaning that it was only 2 a.m. in New York. Harper would be snuggled up in bed with Summer, no doubt. She sent a quick text suggesting a video call soon and placed her phone down once more.
She was later woken by her phone ringing and rubbed at her eyes. She realised she must have dozed off again and picked up the phone to find it was now after 10 a.m..
Shit! ‘Hello?’ she said as brightly as possible without checking to see who the caller was.
‘Good morning, sleepy head. Are you hungover?’
‘Hi, Owain. No, I’m fine. Just tired, that’s all.’
He chuckled. ‘That’ll be all the dancing. Look, I wanted to check that you actually do still want to go out tonight. I was chatting to Rissa, and she seems to think her big brother has been too full on and pushy. I know I can be like that, but I didn’t mean to force you into a date. We can wait and just go for coffee next week like we originally planned if you prefer. Unless my over-exuberance has put you off completely.’
She was a little taken back. ‘Oh… I don’t really mind. Tonight is good for me. I don’t have any other plans.’
‘And you don’t feel pressured? The last thing I want is to have you feel cajoled into dating me. I know my enthusiasm can be irritating.’
His self-deprecation was sort of charming. ‘Oh, no, don’t worry. I’m looking forward to it.’
There was an audible sigh of relief. ‘Great. That’s really great. I’ll go ahead and book a table and pick you up at 7.15 if that suits?’
‘Sounds good. So, are you hungover?’ she asked with a smile.
‘Ugh, I was this morning. But then I didn’t stop drinking after you left. A few of us went into the drawing room and opened a bottle of Balvenie. I had rather a few too many. Tumbled out of bed about half an hour ago. We’ve had a huge cooked breakfast and plenty of coffee, so I’m fine now. But I’m finding as I get older, I can’t handle it like I used to in my uni days.’
She decided not to tell him she was still in bed and his call had woken her up. ‘Oh dear. Maybe it’s good that you’re driving this evening then.’
‘Absolutely. Soft drinks all night for me. Anyway, it’ll be nice to be out in casual gear instead of being trussed up like a tartan Christmas turkey. Right, I’ll let you go. And I’ll see you later. Can’t wait.’
Olivia smiled. ‘Me too. Bye just now.’
At 6.30 that evening, Olivia was showered and standing in front of her full-length mirror in jeans and her favourite dusky pink Fair Isle jumper. It was a far cry from the previous evening’s ensemble, but just like Owain had said, she was happy to be in more casual attire again. She made her way down to the kitchen to find Brodie sitting at the table reading a book about Bonnie Prince Charlie.
She placed her bag on the table. ‘Oh, hi. What are you doing here?’ She realised this sounded harsh and immediately added, ‘Where’s Mirren?’
‘Hey, you look nice. Erm… I said I’d come in and stoke the fires seeing as Mirren is out for the evening. Some quiz at the Drumblair Arms, I believe. She and my dad are part of a team.’
Olivia wasn’t surprised. Mirren was an incredibly smart woman and what Dougie didn’t know about horticulture wasn’t worth knowing. She imagined they would be quite the dream team.
‘Ah, that’s great. Mind if I join you for a while? Owain is picking me up at 7.15.’
‘Be my guest,’ he said, placing his book down. ‘There’s fresh coffee if you want some.’
‘Thanks, but I’m good.’ She pulled out a chair and sat. ‘They get along so well, don’t they?’ Olivia asked with a smile. ‘Your dad and Mirren.’
He smiled warmly. ‘Aye. They’re funny, like an old married couple without the marriage. I’ve often wondered why they didn’t get together officially. It’s so clear they adore each other. But then my dad was hurt so much by Mum that I don’t suppose it’s such a surprise.’
‘I think they’d make such a lovely couple,’ Olivia said wistfully.
‘Me too.’ Brodie fixed his gaze on her. ‘You never know… Love always finds a way if it’s meant to be.’ He cleared his throat and took a sip of his coffee. ‘So, where is Owain taking you?’ he asked with an inquisitive tilt of his head.
‘Some Italian in Inverness that he loves.’
Brodie nodded. ‘Good choice. If it’s the one I’m thinking of, Bella Italia on Stephen’s Street, you have to try the mushroom agnolotti with truffle oil. It’s…’ He brought his fingers to his lips for a chef’s kiss, ‘the best I’ve ever tasted.’
Olivia smiled. ‘Duly noted. So, the Young Pretender, eh?’ she said pointing to his book. ‘Is it a good read?’
‘Fascinating. I’ve been trying to find out more about the Bonnie Prince’s connection to this place.’
Olivia’s interest piqued. ‘Oh, wow, have you found anything?’
He huffed through puffed cheeks. ‘This is the third book I’ve read, and I’ve only managed to glean bits, but I’m determined.’
