Chapter 30
Thirty
It’s ten in the morning and the entire castle is entirely still and silent.
Mrs. Wolf took her son to visit family in Manchester.
Henri is also absent, although it has always seemed to me that he waits for Keir to need him and magically appears.
I swear, the man moves so silently that I’m going to have to put a bell around his neck, like people often do to outdoor cats to keep them from killing birds.
Keir is in his office, in a tizzy over some kind of unexpected budget shortfall. At least, that’s what I heard when he was storming upstairs and yelling to no one in particular.
The slamming of his office door made me jump. It also told me everything I need to know about Keir’s black mood.
I’m sitting out back on the broad slate patio, spread out on the ground. Isla is at her first day of science camp. Since I have the whole day to myself, I figured I would break out my tights and leotard and try to do some basic stretching and ballet combinations.
At the moment, I have worked my way into the splits and I’m hugging my left leg, even though it is mildly painful. My quads are screaming at me, begging me to stop stretching.
It’s been far too long since I forced myself to feel this specific kind of pain. I close my eyes and breathe deeply, trying to picture myself on a tropical beach.
The smell of the salt air.
The feel of the hot sand between my toes.
The heat of the relentless sun beating down on me as I sunbathe in my itty bitty black bikini—
“Ella!”
Keir’s yell pierces right through me like the wind on an icy cold day.
My eyes snap open. I straighten my back and look behind me to the house.
“I’m out back!”
My heart pounds. Keir sounds angry. But I didn’t do anything wrong. If anything, I’ve been avoiding him since we got back from Glasgow a few days ago.
He stalks out the door, his face contorted in a grimace, his fists clenched. He spots me sitting on the ground, my legs all akimbo, and that gives him pause.
“What are you doing?” he demands to know.
“Stretching.” I sit up with a slight huff. “What are you so upset about?”
Keir points a finger toward the door. “Those idiots at Isla’s summer camp have asked me to come get her.”
“What? Already?” I blink, trying to absorb that information. I flush slightly, realizing that this is right in line with what I expected from Isla; she was a little bratty about leaving for camp this morning.
Keir folds his arms across his chest. “Come on. We have to go retrieve my daughter from yet another program taught by an absolute bunch of clowns.”
I stand up, brushing myself off. Keir turns and heads through the castle, leaving the door wide open. This seems eerily familiar to the last time Isla was asked to leave a place of learning.
If Keir just wants me to come along to be an audience while he screams at some hapless teacher or administrator, I don’t want to feed into his energy. But by the time I catch up to him, he is already sitting in the driver’s seat of his SUV, gripping the wheel tightly.
“Hurry up!” he shouts.
His order makes me freeze. I look at him, opening the door to the passenger side of the vehicle but not getting in.
“Keir.”
He glances at me, his face red with anger. “What?”
“I’m not your staff. I’m not your employee. I don’t have to jump just because you snap your fingers.”
“I know that!” he snarls.
“Well, act like it! You have done nothing but order me around since I’ve arrived here. My suggestion to you would be to ask me to accompany you.” I cross my arms. “Nicely.”
He looks at me, a fire crackling in his eyes. “Will you just get in the car?”
“I don’t know. Can you say please?” I tilt my head. “Using my name wouldn’t hurt, either.”
He looks away for a second, his throat working. “Please, Ella.”
“Those are the magic words,” I announce. Climbing into the truck, I slam the door closed. Keir wastes no time in starting the engine and pulling off, grumbling under his breath as we head down the steep driveway.
I buckle my seatbelt and look at Keir, nakedly trying to guess at his emotions.
“Why are you so angry?”
He flashes me an impatient look.
“The people at this camp are supposed to be qualified. They are supposed to be top notch educators. Yet they call me not two hours in, telling me that I need to come collect my daughter. They’re obviously idiots.”
I narrow my eyes on his face. “Because they refuse to put up with Isla’s bad behavior?”
“Her behavior isn’t the problem!” he growls.
“No?”
He stares straight ahead, his posture stiff.
“Isla’s mother abandoned her. Okay? Kingsley left, and Isla started acting out a little. She just needs time. Nothing more than that. I shouldn’t have to explain to the people in charge of camp that Isla might act out on occasion. It just seems like they can’t handle even the most basic things!”
He hits the steering wheel a few times, punctuating his point. I try to formulate a response, watching his face carefully.
“If everyone around you says that Isla’s lashing out is unacceptable to them, to the point of kicking her out of school and camp, then maybe there is something to it.”
“It’s fine! They are all just overreacting.
There is nothing wrong with my little girl.
And there’s nothing wrong with the way I’ve raised her.
” He glances at me, his expression begging me to understand.
“She doesn’t have a mother. How can she be expected to be normal? I’m doing the best that I can for her.”
I glance out my window, trying not to let my complete shock show on my face. So that’s what this is all about?
Feeling like Isla is in need of protection from all the naysayers in the world? No doubt, some of Keir’s family said negative things when Keir and Kingsley split…
Keir pulls down a rutted road. The summer camp is housed in a collection of little white cottages next to a very pretty lake.
There are a number of kids outside assembling pieces of a telescope in the grass when Keir stops the SUV.
I glance at them as Keir storms past, on a collision course with the administrator’s cottage.
As a teacher looks on, a boy fits a black plastic scope onto one side. Two girls work together to fit the telescope on a tripod.
These are Isla’s peers. Especially if they are as interested in exploring the galaxies as she seems to be.
So what exactly happened here?
Rushing to catch up with Keir, I catch the door just as he barrels through it. A woman sits at her desk, several framed certificates on the wall next to a giant poster of outer space. It’s a gorgeous full colored image, with small white labels pointing to each cluster of stars.
“Where is my daughter?” he roars at the woman.
She smiles coolly at him. “Mr. Grayrose.”
“It’s Lord Grayrose,” he snarls.
She inclines her head. “Apologies, Lord Grayrose. I’m Dr. Summers, the head of this summer program. Would you mind if we all took a seat?”
She beckons to me, pointing at the seats in front of her desk. I can see Keir opening his mouth to protest. To forestall him, I shut the door behind me and speak up.
“Keir, let’s do as she suggested,” I say softly. “We are all civilized here. Right?”
He shoots me a glare. But he does lurch over to one of the chairs and sit down, silently seething. Dr. Summers sits down behind her desk and folds her hands.
Moving quickly, I pull my seat close to Keir’s and perch on the corner.
“Well?” he spits. “What is it that Isla has supposedly done?”
“Thank you for coming down. I realize that Isla has only been with us for a few hours. And I also can tell that she is bright and that she has a ton of potential.” She pauses, her lips pursing.
“However, Isla has already exhibited some bullying behavior. As head of this program, I feel it is in everyone’s best interest to deal with it now. Nip it in the bud, as they say.”
Keir makes a sound that’s akin to a soft growl. I put my hand on his arm, seeking to keep him from going on the attack.
“How do you suggest that Lord Grayrose ought to deal with it?” I ask.
“I’m prepared to pull her out and sue the whole camp,” Keir sputters.
I give him a look, tightening my grip on his arm. He glowers at me.
“I don’t think that will help matters. If anything, it will reinforce the behavior,” Dr. Summers says, not unkindly.
“I think that instead, I should have her brought in here. And then you two, as her parents, can explain to her that the taunting comments and bullying behavior will not be tolerated here.”
Parent? No way.
My heart practically jumps out of my chest. My eyes go wide and I stumble as I try to explain to Dr. Summers that I’m definitely not Isla’s parent.
“Oh, we’re not—” I start.
“She’s not Isla’s mother,” Keir asserts, jabbing his finger onto Dr. Summers’ desk. “This is her au pair.”
I slice a look at Keir, but he’s too wrapped up in the moment to notice.
Dr. Summers looks surprised. “Oh! Sorry, I assumed. My point still stands, though… Every child here wants to learn about the sky and the stars. Nothing more, nothing less. It might help Isla if you were to promise a reward for good behavior?”
Keir looks a little surprised. “I… I could try that, yes.”
Standing up, I clear my throat. “It sounds like you all have it covered. Why don’t I wait in the car?”
I don’t need to be any more involved than I already am. If Dr. Summers mistook me for Isla’s mom, that clearly is a sign that I’ve definitely stayed in Scotland for a little too long.
Keir’s brows lower and he gives me a gruff nod. “Fine.”
I can’t get out of the cottage fast enough. Climbing in the SUV, I stare out the window. This morning, I got up and had breakfast with Isla. The thought that I need to return to Atlanta never even crossed my mind once as I chatted with the excited, nervous child about her upcoming day.
Now I’m stewing about the fact that it’s been nearly a month without any concrete movement on the whole Wendy issue.
This whole thing started because some journalist supposedly taped Keir and I fucking.
It’s definitely time to get to the bottom of things and for me to be done with all things Scottish.