Chapter 9
Rose woke the next morning still in her cocktail dress from the night before, but underneath the duvet on her bed. Her shoes had been removed and placed neatly by the side of the bed. She almost trod on them as she stood up.
Alastair must have carried her to her room, she realised. Oh my goodness, how embarrassing and unprofessional! She’d been supposed to be organising an event for him and had ended up falling asleep on duty after drinking his whisky!
She headed to the bathroom, noticing that Alastair’s bedroom door was open and his bed made. She showered and dressed, taking her time so she could avoid facing Alastair for as long as possible. Finally, her rumbling stomach, now used to eating a proper breakfast every day, demanded to be fed, so she made her way downstairs like a prisoner off to their execution.
She gave a sigh of relief when she entered the kitchen and saw he was nowhere around. The kettle was still warm though. Maybe he’d gone out?
She put the kettle on to boil again and popped a couple of slices of bread in the toaster.
She was spreading peanut butter on her toast when Alastair came in through the back door with the dogs, making her jump. He rubbed his hands together to warm them up as the dogs came over to say good morning to her.
“I’ve just been checking on Houdini. It’s cold out there,” he said, conversationally.
“It looks it,” replied Rose.
“Stick a slice in for me, would you?” he said.
“Sure.” Rose was careful to avoid eye contact as she put another piece of bread into the toaster.
“Did you sleep well?” Alastair asked, an air of fake nonchalance in his tone.
Rose readied herself and turned to face him. “I’m really sorry about last night. I can’t believe I fell asleep . . .”
“You were exhausted,” Alastair said kindly as he reboiled the kettle for himself.
“You should have just woken me up . . .”
“You were fast asleep and looked so peaceful. It’s not like you weigh a lot, you’re tiny.”
“It’s not that . . .”
Alastair looked aghast. “I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I just carried you up to your bed, took off your shoes, and put the cover over you so you didn’t get cold.”
“Oh, no, no, it’s just I’m embarrassed. I was supposed to be working and you’re my employer . . .”
“I’d already told you, you were off duty and we’re also housemates at the moment,” Alastair reassured, gently.
Rose smiled. “Okay, well, thank you for looking after me.”
“Really, it wasn’t a problem. I was even going upstairs myself,” he added with a grin, making Rose laugh. “Do you want to come out with me, Houdini and the dogs when you’re finished eating? I was going to take them for a walk before picking up Isla.”
“Sure,” said Rose. It was a dry day for once and the sun was even trying to pop out from behind the clouds. The fresh air would do her good and the cleaners weren’t due to arrive to finish the clean-up operation until after lunch.
* * *
Rose made sure she was well bundled up for their walk, and put on as many layers as she could fit underneath her coat. Scotland was definitely colder than London, that was for sure.
Alastair was waiting with the dogs and goat as promised.
“I thought we’d hop in the car and I’d take you to some woods I like. It’s not far and we can pick up Isla on the way home.”
“Sounds good,” said Rose as they walked to the car.
“The looks I get when I’m walking with Houdini are so embarrassing but can you imagine how much trouble I’d be in if I left him at home?”
“You’d be in a lot of trouble,” confirmed Rose. “Much easier just to put up with some funny glances.”
Alastair put the animals in the car while Rose climbed into the passenger seat, wondering whether it had been such a good idea to accept Alastair’s offer. What if he was planning to walk for twenty miles or something? She should have checked.
Just a few minutes later they parked up by a gate that formed the entrance to the woods.
“There are several trails that zigzag through these woods. Isla and I did all of them last summer. The one I’m going to take you on is probably our favourite.”
Rose took a deep breath as she got out of the car. The air smelt delicious and piney, which made her smile. How had she ended up here, walking through a remote Scottish woodland with a man whose amazing house she was living and working in?
“Not too cold?” Alastair asked.
“Nope.”
“Good, I’m not sure you could have fitted any more clothes on anyway.”
Rose laughed. “Better to be safe than sorry. I’m not used to Scottish winters, remember.”
Alastair let the animals out of the car.
“These woods aren’t more of your estate, are they?” Rose asked.
“No. This one’s owned by the Woodland Trust.” He pointed to a sign on the gate.
“But you do own woodland?”
“I do,” Alastair said, attaching Houdini’s lead to his collar.
“What’s it like being a laird then?”
“Mostly quite unexciting I’m afraid.” Alastair opened the gate and held it for Rose and the dogs to go through.
“It’s a big responsibility,” Rose commented.
“It is,” he agreed. “I feel a duty towards my tenants, and of course to the animals we farm, but I suppose it’s what I’ve always known. My family has held our land for a very long time.”
“Do you ever wish you did something else?”
“No,” Alastair mused. “I’m not a natural with the animals like my father was, but I have a brilliant estate manager and I’ve built up the business and maintained the estate. Honestly, I’ve loved doing it.”
“Will Isla take over the estate eventually?”
“Only if she wants to. I wouldn’t force her. Fiona never had any interest in staying here. She was off to London and then Manchester as soon as she could, but I belong on the estate.”
“Agreed,” said Rose. “You look quite out of place anywhere else.”
“You noticed, eh?”
“I noticed,” Rose confirmed with a smile.
They walked and talked with Houdini trotting along beside them on a lead. The dogs’ tails didn’t stop wagging for the whole walk. Rose appreciated that no part of this amble was as steep as the hill she climbed with Isla, but the views were still incredible in places. In fact the couple of hours they walked for flew by and Rose was surprised when she spotted the car park and realised they were nearly done.
They piled into the car with three very muddy animals and drove to Isla’s friend Lucy’s house.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” Alastair said, opening the car door.
Rose watched him walk up and knock on the front door which was quickly opened by Lucy’s mum, Sarah. Who happened to be wearing rather a low cut top despite how cold it was. She leant against the door and flicked her red hair as she chatted to Alastair.
Rose knew she shouldn’t be spying but she couldn’t help but watch the interaction. It was some relief, not that she wanted to think about why it was a relief, that Alastair could not have looked more uncomfortable. Finally, Isla appeared at the door with her rucksack and Sarah had to move to let her pass.
Alastair and Isla turned towards the car. “Rose!” Isla cried out, waving at the car. Rose saw the scowl on Sarah’s face before she closed the front door.
“Did you have a good time?” Rose asked Isla as she climbed into the car and greeted Houdini.
“Yeah! It was great, but I think Lucy’s mum really wanted to come to your party, Dad. She kept talking about it.”
“She’s coming to the event next weekend,” said Alastair. “Sarah’s my accountant so doesn’t work for the company,” he explained to Rose. “I thought it made more sense to invite her to the other evening.”
“She showed me the dress she’s going to wear. I think she fancies you, Dad.”
“I think you are a mischief maker,” said Alastair with a laugh as he started the car.
“Dad . . .” said Isla, a few minutes later. Rose immediately suspected she’d been building up to asking whatever it was she was about to launch into.
“What are you after?” Alastair asked.
“What makes you think I’m after anything?” asked Isla innocently.
“Oh, so, you’re not wanting something from me . . .”
“I didn’t say that . . .” Isla said, making the adults laugh.
“What can I do for you, darling daughter?”
“Well,” began Isla. “School breaks up on Wednesday and I wondered if I could have some friends round for an end-of-term thing . . .”
“How many friends?” asked Alastair, suspiciously.
“Lucy, obviously, and Charmaine, Emily, Lizzy and Bethan. Not a sleepover but a cool evening thing.”
“Six of you in total?” confirmed Alastair.
“Yep,” said Isla, hopefully.
“That sounds doable,” he said.
“Hooray!”
“What do you want to do? The cinema and then come back to the house?”
“We went to the cinema for Lucy’s birthday so I’d rather do something different.”
“I can organise it if you like,” offered Rose. “It’s a Christmas event, so officially it falls under my remit.”
“Really?” asked Isla. “That would be so cool!”
“Are you quite sure?” asked Alastair, shooting her a concerned look. “I mean, it’s certainly not in your contract and I wouldn’t expect . . .”
“It’s fine, I’d like to do it. Let me have a think, Isla and we can plan something awesome.”
“Cool!”
“Can we make a bit of a detour on the way back?” Rose asked.
“Sure,” Alastair said. “Where to?”
“Just follow my directions.”
* * *
Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the Christmas tree farm.
“What are we doing here?” asked Isla.
“It was such a shame you couldn’t choose the trees with us, I wondered if you’d like to pick one for your room.”
“I’d love to! That would be so cool!” said Isla, excitedly. “But . . . do you think we could put it in the library? That way we can both see it when you’re working and I’m helping you or doing my homework in there.”
Rose turned to Alastair to check that was okay. “Fine by me,” he said. “Though I can’t believe I have to strap yet another tree to the roof of this poor car. Nothing bigger than 6 feet! I’m not dealing with another botanical monster.”
They wandered around the farm while Isla took her time choosing. It was freezing, but Rose barely noticed as she watched how happy Isla was.
The tree she finally decided on was, honestly, a lopsided runt. Isla’s good nature had naturally led her to choose a tree she felt sorry for.
Alastair had the bright idea to stop at a Tesco they passed and Isla managed to find decorations pink and glittery enough to satisfy even her extremely girly tastes.
Rose planned to leave father and daughter to set up and decorate the tree when they got home, but they both asked her to help. Rose was touched and, of course, she joined in, even though it wasn’t easy for three people to hang objects on such a small tree at the same time.
In its pot and decorated, the tree was no straighter or less spindly, but Isla was thrilled.
“Thank you,” said Alastair mouthed to Rose as Isla hugged her and told her yet again how much she loved her Christmas tree.
* * *
Rose used the time the cleaners were working later that afternoon to come up with some fun things for Isla to choose from. The little flat in which she’d grown up, and still lived in, was never big enough to host five friends, but she would have loved to have been able to and she really wanted Isla to have a good time.
Alastair brought her a hot drink while she was googling ideas.
“Thank you,” she said.
“No problem, thanks for doing this for Isla. She’s so excited.”
“I thought she might like to go bowling . . .” Rose said. “There’s a bowling alley not too far from her school.”
“And there’s a burger place next door to it which she loves. We could take them there for food afterwards,” Alastair suggested.
“I think she’d like that,” Rose said. She certainly would have done at that age.
“And then back here I guess to play some of their K-pop and paint their nails or whatever it is they like to do when they get together.”
“Maybe we could do an ice cream bar for them and set them all up with pamper kits?” Rose suggested. “That should keep them busy.”
“She is going to absolutely love that. We’ll need to use both cars . . .”
Rose nodded. “Why do you have a spare Land Rover, by the way?”
“They’re quite temperamental . . . it pays to have a backup.”
Rose laughed. “Fair enough. And, yes, I can manage some of the girls and you take the others.”
“Shall we tell her what’s planned or keep it as a surprise?”
“Definitely a surprise. We’ll just ask the parents to pick up from our house at like ten?”
“Sounds good. Thanks for organising it all.”
“It’s an absolute pleasure,” said Rose.
* * *
Rose was dreading facing Mrs Reed on Monday morning. It had been embarrassing being caught in the cellar with Alastair, not that there had been anything going on of course. They were just friends. She smiled at that thought. When she’d first met Alastair just over two weeks ago, there was no way she would have thought they would ever be friends. They just seemed so different. But now she was getting to know the real Alastair and she liked him.
She waited as long as possible before going downstairs, planning to take her breakfast into the library and to start work straight away.
Mrs Reed was in the kitchen when Rose entered. Rose steeled herself and said, cheerfully, “Good morning.”
“Good morning,” Mrs Reed replied, in nothing like her usual tone. She sounded more quiet . . . Subdued? “I trust you enjoyed the rest of your weekend.” She didn’t look up from the dishwasher which she was unloading and this was probably the longest Rose had been in the kitchen with Mrs Reed without being offered a hot drink. Something was definitely up.
“I did, thank you,” she replied tentatively.
“Isla tells me you went to pick her up from her friend’s house and that you and Mr Duncan cooked together.”
“We did, yes,” Rose admitted, desperately trying not to smile at the memory of the lovely cosy evening she, Isla and Alastair had spent cooking and hanging out together. The mammoth game of Monopoly last night had been a particular highlight. But she was sobered by the fact that she could practically feel the disapproval radiating off Mrs Reed.
“Alastair’s been very kind trying to make me feel welcome and not too homesick,” Rose said.
Mrs Reed finally turned to Rose. “You’re only going to be here for another couple of weeks. I know he’s handsome, and I’ve noticed the way he looks at you, but . . . Mr Duncan has been hurt before and I don’t want to see him hurt again,” she said gently but firmly.
“There’s nothing going on between the two of us,” Rose managed to say, reeling from Mrs Reed’s little revelation that Alastair looked at her . . . did he? Was Mrs Reed just imagining things? Or was there some truth in what she said? “We’re just friends. You know Ala— Mr Duncan doesn’t like parties. He was hiding away in the wine cellar and I was bringing him back to join everyone when you saw us. That’s all.”
Mrs Reed didn’t appear entirely convinced but seemed willing to at least consider that what Rose was saying was true.
“He’s a good man . . .” said Mrs Reed.
“He is,” said Rose. “But he’s also my boss.”
Mrs Reed nodded. A truce of sorts had been declared. She patted Rose on the arm. “You must be gasping for a cuppa. What can I get you?”
* * *
Happier now that things were back on an even keel with Mrs Reed, Rose took her coffee through to the library and opened up her laptop to start work. There was going to be plenty to do with the Christmas dinner event on Saturday and Alastair’s family arriving the day before. Isla’s little gathering was another thing now on her plate, but that shouldn’t take up much time. The bowling alley was booked as well as two tables at the burger place next door, one for the girls and one for Rose and Alastair ― they didn’t think the girls would think it very cool for the grown-ups to sit with them. Rose had made sure that the tables were as far apart as possible so that Isla had her space, while Alastair could keep an eye on them. All she needed to sort out was the ice cream and the pampering goodies which she planned to go out for the day before.
Her phone rang and Alastair’s name flashed up on the screen.
“Hello,” she said, as she answered, unable to help a little smile appearing on her lips.
“Hi, Rose. I wanted to speak to you without Isla around. I need to go shopping for her Christmas presents as well as those for everyone else in my family, to be honest . . . I was going to take the day off tomorrow to do it and I wondered if you’d join me? I mean, if you’ve got time, of course.”
Rose quickly went over in her mind what she needed to do in the next few days . . . It was certainly a busy week and it was a lot, but helping Alastair with his Christmas shopping fell within what she was contracted to do so she could hardly say no . . . She also realised that she really wanted to go Christmas shopping with Alastair. She pushed that thought swiftly to the back of her mind.
“I have time,” she said. “Everything for Saturday is set up.”
“Great! We’ll drop Isla off at school tomorrow and drive to Edinburgh from there. And it’ll mean you get to see some of the city while you’re here.”