Chapter 13
THIRTEEN
TROUBLE
Scarlet
Devon’s voice droned in my ear, and I took a sip of my tea, eyeing the salad I’d yet to start eating.
Another week, another new favourite café for lunch.
Today, I was in Cardiff, visiting the head office of a manufacturing plant.
The people who worked there were pleasant, mostly, and the job interesting, and fortunately, this time I’d got away without Devon coming along.
Though I couldn’t get him off the phone.
He’d sulked with me since Edinburgh, which was fine by me. And he’d assumed I was dating Alasdair, making quips about my boyfriend.
Ally…
For the five hundredth time today, my mind travelled to Scotland, to the castle where, for weeks, he’d been busy recovering.
And ignoring me.
“If you send me your notes,” Devon continued, “I’ll check them against mine. We should send back a coordinated view.”
Translation: I haven’t done any work and want to steal yours.
Argh. Irritated, I knocked one of my earbuds out, my temper snapping. “What have you been doing these past weeks? Write your own report. You have the time and you’re perfectly able.”
Devon gasped, an affronted sound, then waffled on about how I could be more professional. I zoned out.
A message pinged up on the screen of my tablet. It was Toby, Dad’s PA. Guess what I’m doing?
I grinned and typed back. Tell me!
Booking flights to Hong Kong. Four of us are going to scope out a new office. I get to go too!!
Oh! That would be amazing. YES! When is it?
In 3 weeks. We can go partying in Lan Kwai Fong!
Toby had emailed me this morning, supplying interior shots of the Hong Kong apartment my father had proposed for me.
Designed for an executive, the space was sleek, the fixtures high-end and shiny, and the views were of the South China Sea.
I’d tried to imagine living there. For weeks, I’d been sleeping in hotels, visiting a new city every few days, so it wasn’t a stretch to picture myself somewhere else.
But to stay there permanently? Settle down to a new lifestyle?
I had some way to go to become familiar with the idea.
I tapped out a reply. If I move there, I’ll need a PA. Want in?
Toby took a minute to reply, and I pictured Dad stopping at his desk, chatting. To our amazement, since Dad had been told to slow down by the doctor, he’d actually listened. He and Mom were planning holidays and all sorts.
Toby replied. I’d love to, but I wouldn’t want to move my mom again. She comes first! I’ll miss you, though.
Aw. The difference was that I had no ties. No one who needed me around. I sent Toby a love heart then eyed my phone, Devon still talking.
My mind drifted yet again to Ally.
What he was doing, how he was healing, whether he was back in touch with the baby.
There was only so much I could glean from my sister.
We’d spoken this morning, and she’d happily chatted away about the spa hotel Callum had booked them into this weekend.
She was due to have her baby in the next couple of weeks, and that was her main focus.
Though excited about the baby, I desperately wanted to know more about Ally.
I’d asked to see him.
I’d told him I was here if he needed me.
If he ever returned my messages, I’d tell him I was being a friend, just in case he was worried about me getting the wrong idea after he’d made his position clear.
The last thought had me glum, and I speared a piece of wilted lettuce, no real appetite for anything.
My phone lit with an incoming call. The screen read Ally.
Holy hell!
“Devon? I’ve got another call coming in. Gotta fly.”
“But your notes—” he blurted.
I killed the call and answered Ally’s. I greeted him out of breath, though I was sitting still. “Hey!”
“Scar, how are ye?” His gentle Scottish accent washed over me.
“Better for hearing from you.” So much better.
“Sorry for the long time no speak. I’m just heading out to visit the bairn but I thought it about time I said hello.”
“I’m glad you did.”
“After all the drama I bring with me? I thought you’d be glad of the break.”
In the middle of a strange café in a strange city, a sense of acute loneliness descended, and I clutched the phone tighter. I hadn’t realised how isolated I’d felt until Ally’s call. It was a bright, blazing lifeline, vital and warm. “I’ve been worried about you.”
“I’m on the mend. Walking again.”
I took a deep breath, blocking out the memory of the last time I saw him—the moments before the crash. “I bet it’s fun rambling around the castle on crutches.”
He paused, then his voice came back firmer and more determined. “Are ye free this weekend? I’m home alone and could use the company.”
I sat taller, casting my mind over my diary and rearranging everything in the way. “Yes! I’d love to see you. Are you sure?”
“If ye want to. Only if you’re not doing anything else.”
Where was the cocky guy I was used to telling me what I wanted to do? Maybe more needed to heal than just his physical injuries.
“I really do. I can’t wait to see you.”
“Fair warning, ye might get a shock to look at me,” he added, a funny note to his voice. Then someone said something to him in the background of the call. “I’ve got to go, but see ye Saturday, aye?”
Just like that, Ally had let me back into his life.
Two days later, my cab pulled up outside Castle McRae.
I’d known Ally so long, and I’d been visiting the castle forever, but my stomach was in knots. My fingers shook as I handed over the fare. My mouth couldn’t string a sentence together to thank the driver.
It felt like a date. Except I doubted Ally saw me that way now.
I eyed the castle entrance, pulling my suitcase after me, expecting a tall figure to appear in the frame. I’d planned to run up and hug him.
Or perhaps not, because that might hurt.
I’d give him a gentle hug and let him show me what he could handle.
But no Ally appeared. I’d texted my arrival time, but he hadn’t replied. My anxiety worsened, and I pushed the heavy oak door, peering inside.
There was no sign of life in the darkness.
Then someone moved to my right, standing from the chairs by the barely glowing fireplace. “Scar?”
I took a sharp inhale and placed my fingers to my chest. “You scared the life out of me.”
“Sorry, lass. I must have fallen asleep waiting.” He stooped to grab a crutch then took a step, swinging around his chair.
I ran a cautious gaze over him. On his leg, a thick blue cast framed his calf and foot, the gap of his wide-legged cargo shorts showing red marks on his skin. Under his white sleeveless t-shirt, more lines marred his flesh. Others decorated his upper right arm.
He’d left them uncovered so I could see, I was certain.
Yet on his face, a bandage covered part of his cheek. I swallowed, guessing that the damage there was worse. How hard this must be for him.
“I’m so glad to see you.” I forced my slow feet to move.
Brilliant shafts of sunlight fell through the great hall’s high windows. They pierced the darkness and landed on us where we met, temporarily blinding me.
Ally stayed perfectly still.
I blocked the light with my hand. “I can’t see.”
“Perhaps that’s for the best.” He shook his head, and the corner of his mouth pulled from the bandage, or perhaps from the injury it concealed. “I didn’t think this would be so hard. For a couple of weeks, I haven’t covered up. Even going out in public. Even with the bairn.”
I winced, sidestepping to see him better. “Did you think I’d scream and run away?”
Dark humour lit his eyes. “Wouldnae blame ye.”
I wanted to call him out for being an idiot but doing so felt wrong. Everything felt wrong. “Shut up,” I muttered to the flagstone floor.
“Tell you what,” he said. “How about we go outside. If ye don’t mind driving, there’s something I’d like to show ye.”
“All right,” I agreed, and together, we slowly left the great hall.
Outside, Ally took the steps sideways and, at the bottom, produced a set of keys from his pocket then gestured at a white BMW. “We can use Mathilda’s car. She knows that you’re coming and that you’ll be the one behind the wheel.”
I followed his instructions, driving the track that led beyond the castle and down to the loch. I knew the route, it took us to his twin’s home, but instead of climbing the hill into the glen, Ally directed me right, and we wound our way to the water’s edge.
Of all the places on the estate, the loch-side walks were the prettiest. The expanse of water in one direction, the white-painted village on the far bank.
Little boats bobbed here and there, and wooden docks stretching out away from the shallows.
I’d swum here often and played around in canoes.
Boating used to be a hobby of mine, back when I had time for hobbies, and I’d been part of a sailing club in London.
The McRae estate had given me that inspiration.
The freedom of the place had my heart singing.
Ahead, a cottage came into sight. One I’d never noticed before.
Quaint but tall, it stood back from the banks, nestled in a copse of trees, with a garden surrounding it.
Wide picture windows reflected the magnificent view, and I imagined smoke rising from the chimney in a lazy swirl.
The owner must praise the Lord every time they came home, because what an amazing place.
“Who lives there?” I asked idly, switching my gaze back to the road.
Ally shifted in his seat. “Why, do ye like the look of it?”
“It’s gorgeous. Can you imagine waking up here every morning?”
A smile crept over his face—the first happy expression since I’d arrived. “I’ve nae woken up here, not yet, but,” he paused for effect, “it’s mine. Park up alongside, will ye?”
I gaped at him and slowed the car. “Yours?”
Ally grinned, running his teeth over his lower lip. “Aye, mine. I needed a place of my own. It was time.”
My gaping turned into a wide smile. “Oh my God! This place is incredible! I can’t believe you own it!”
I parked on a gravel bed alongside the house and jumped from the car.
“It’s a work in progress, so don’t expect much.
” Carefully, Ally eased out his side and slammed his door, leaning on the vehicle.
“My brothers have been helping me fix up the place over the past couple of weeks, but not every room is ready. It’s nae as bad as Wasp’s house: He chose a place with no roof and crumbling walls.
There’s nothing structural to do here, but the whole place needed modernising.
The kitchen isn’t done. But the lounge, bathroom, and master bedroom are. ”
Bedroom…
With a whomp, the sexual energy I used to feel around Ally twenty-four seven returned. It hit me like a bulldozer, and I wobbled, staring at him, likely with open lust in my eyes.
His gaze darkened. “Why are ye looking at me like that, Scar?”
I shouldn’t flirt with him. He was injured and hurting in any number of different ways. Still, when I’d imagined seeing him here, touching him had been part of that scene.
Every time.
And the way he was gazing at me now told me he’d thought the same.
“Because you and me plus a bedroom equals trouble.” Swinging my hips, I strolled to the front door.
It had been freshly painted a glossy red. Not unlike the colour of my hair.
“The key’s on a fob by itself on that chain,” Ally instructed in a low voice, coming up behind me. “Let us in, and we’ll see about this trouble you’re after.”