Chapter 23
As Bex climbed back into the car, her pulse continued to batter her ribs.
The audacity. The arrogance. The sheer delusion of the man to think he could treat people however he wanted.
God, until this moment, it had been honouring Fergus’s will that mattered most to her.
Ensure that the laird’s wishes were met and that the genuine heir to his fortune was found.
But now… now she refused to accept that Kieron could ever inherit Highland Hall.
She wanted him gone from the village and from her life. Forever.
With her mind still full of his smug sneer, Bex sped away down the driveway, slamming her foot down on the accelerator.
Getting away from Kieron was all that filled her thoughts, and as such she didn’t even notice the small herd of deer grazing on the frost-covered grass.
Nor did she notice as one of the smaller roes wandered away from the herd and towards the road.
It was only when said roe, still lazily chewing, jumped out less than ten feet in front of the rental car that Bex finally noticed the animal.
‘Crap!’ she yelled as she slammed her foot down on the brake and yanked the steering wheel away from the deer.
The car skidded as the high-pitched screech of the rubber filled her ears.
Fighting the urge to clench her eyes closed, Bex braced herself as the car jolted off the driveway onto the icy grass, where countless old trees littered the land.
Her foot was flat to the floor, but a particularly massive gnarled trunk of an old cedar tree was still growing larger and larger in her windscreen.
She could feel the car decelerating. See the cedar’s approach slowing and slowing.
But was it going to be enough, or was she going to hit it?
She wasn’t sure. Even when the car was moving at nothing more than a crawl, she continued to hold her breath.
Finally, it stopped entirely, with just the slightest of thuds, and the longest sigh of her life billowed from Bex’s lungs.
‘Thank God,’ she whispered. Her hands continued to grip the steering wheel, breaths ragged as the doe strolled back to its herd after all.
Bex dropped her head. She was fine. The doe was fine.
Everything was fine. And it wasn’t like she’d hit the tree with any force.
With a bit of luck, it wouldn’t have even scratched the paintwork.
When her pulse had steadied enough to move, Bex undid her belt, stepped outside and walked around to the front of the car.
Thankfully, the impact with the tree had been minimal; there was barely a hint of blue paint on the coarse brown bark.
These trees were hundreds of years old, and she knew she’d have never forgiven herself had she really damaged it.
But her relief was short-lived. As she turned to look at the vehicle, her stomach sank.
It might have only looked like minimal paintwork on the tree, but the large gashes spanned across a solid two feet of the car’s bumper.
Ugly, white-grey against the pristine bright blue that it should have been.
And that was only half the problem. The left and right sides of the bumper now sat at very different angles.
A good four inches of height difference between them.
‘How? I barely even touched the tree!’ she yelled in disbelief, only to shake her head and let out a long groan. It looked like she was going to have to make another stop before heading back to the White Hart.
Five minutes later, Bex was drawing up outside Eddie’s garage at a pace that would have put even Fergus’s most arthritic old dog to shame.
She couldn’t have gone any faster than ten miles an hour the entire way, and every slight bump or pothole caused her to flinch.
Now she was finally there, and her entire body was wrought with tension.
‘Bex!’ Eddie’s face lit up when he saw her.
‘I wanted tae come and find you. Was talking to my cousin, lives on t’other side of the loch.
She’s got a wee bakery business, doing well and all, but having bother with ’er tax.
Said you might be able to have a word with her.
She’s not in a mess like me. Just lots of numbers, you know. ’
‘Yes, yes.’ Bex nodded. She would have agreed to anything at that precise moment just to get Eddie to stop talking.
‘Grand. Well, I’ll ring her now.’ It was only when he moved to grab his phone that Bex realised what he’d said.
‘No, actually, Eddie, I wasn’t here to talk about business. I need a bit of help.’
‘Eh? What you done?’
‘It’s probably best if you come and see.’
Outside, Eddie scratched his beard as he looked at the rental car, the left-hand bumper now hanging only three inches from the ground. Beside him, Bex chewed on her nail.
‘I could re-fit the bumper,’ he said after a moment, ‘but it ain’t gonna get rid of them scratches there.’
‘Which means the rental place’ll still know. Mum and Dad’ll still get charged,’ Bex muttered.
‘Aye, for sure,’ Eddie replied, even though Bex had been talking to herself more than him.
‘So what other options do I have?’ Bex asked.
Eddie let out a slight sigh. ‘Well, easiest thing would be tae get a new bumper. I’ll need tae order one in for you.’
‘How long do you think that’ll take? And cost?’ It was the cost that was an issue, as much as the timeframe.
‘Put a rush order on it, should have it in the morn, next day at the latest. I can fit it for you straight away. Least I can do considerin’ how you’ve helped me.’
‘Two days.’ Bex pondered the choice. She would just have to find more things for her parents to do in the village so they wouldn’t think about using the car. ‘Thank you, Eddie, that’ll be amazing,’ she said. ‘The sooner the better. And obviously, I’ll pay for a rush job.’
Eddie waved her comment away. ‘No, lass, don’t be daft. All the help you’ve done me, this one’s on the house.’
Bex raised her eyebrows at him, surprised by the anger that rolled through her. ‘Do you remember what got you into this trouble in the first place, Eddie?’ she said pointedly. ‘No more favours, remember. I will pay what I owe, and extra for the rushed job.’
‘I… Aye,’ he replied, his face paling. ‘I’ll fix that bill for you too, then.’