Chapter 24
As she walked back into the village, Bex thought of Duncan, waiting for her in the room. She’d told him she was going downstairs to get a coffee. Now she’d been gone almost an hour. Fingers crossed he’d had a shower and fallen back asleep. That way he wouldn’t have noticed how long she’d been gone.
There was no way she was going to tell him about the confrontation she’d just had with Kieron, which meant she couldn’t tell him about the incident with the deer either.
But she’d have a harder time shielding him from the post. Knowing how quickly news spread, he’d probably already been sent half a dozen WhatsApp links to it.
Oddly, the thought was almost comforting.
At least she wouldn’t have to be the one to break the news.
Besides, something told her Duncan wouldn’t react quite the same way as she did.
This wasn’t like Kieron accusing him of stealing the dogs, where it was essentially one’s word against the other.
There were witnesses to this. Men who’d had to hold Craig back to stop him from going for Duncan a second time.
Of course, one of those men could have been the person who went to Kieron with the tasty titbit of gossip.
Even so, there were more than enough people that they wouldn’t be able to hide the truth forever.
As she walked back to the village, Bex knew there was no point trying to get coffees in the White Hart now, given that breakfast had already ended, so she headed to the café, still pondering how she was going to handle the situation with her parents, but by the time she had her two mochas, several pastries and an extra shot of espresso that she’d drunk then and there, she’d figured out a rough plan.
A rough plan that basically consisted of lying.
Her idea was to tell her parents that the White Hart got so busy there was a very good chance they would get blocked in if she’d parked the car there, and since she didn’t want that to happen, she’d parked it a little way off.
Lying wasn’t something she normally did to her parents, and it wasn’t like she expected them to be mad at her.
It had been an accident. A deer jumping out in front of a car was hardly something she could control, but it was their worry she couldn’t cope with.
If they didn’t think she was capable of driving a mile down the road without getting into an accident, they’d likely never let her out of their sight again.
Finally, she opened the door to her room to see – just as she hoped – that Duncan was back asleep, Ruby next to him.
‘What did I say about getting on the bed?’ She glowered at the dog.
Crouching low, in a manner that Ruby clearly thought made her invisible, the red Lab slunk across the bed and dropped down onto the floor. The slight thud of her paws against the ground was enough to stir Duncan from his sleep.
‘You got coffee,’ he said, sitting up.
‘I did. And croissants. Figured you needed something to soak up that alcohol.’
As Bex moved across to the bed, she caught a waft of the sweet, floral scent of shower gel that lingered on him. It was at odds with the normal rustic, woodland aroma she usually associated with Duncan, but somehow, she was still drawn to it. Or maybe just drawn to him.
With the drinks and croissants in her hand, she climbed up onto the bed, next to him.
‘Thank you,’ he said as he took a sip of the mocha.
‘It’s just coffee,’ she replied.
‘That’s not what I meant.’
Silence steeped between them, awkwardly filled by the rustling of her paper bag as she broke off a piece of her pastry. Duncan, on the other hand, wasn’t even looking at his food. He was looking solely at her.
‘Bex, about what happened last night—’
‘It’s hardly the first time I’ve seen you drunk, Duncan.’
‘I know. I didn’t mean that though.’ He bit down on his lower lip. ‘About that photo. Those girls…’
Bex looked down at her lap. She hadn’t been sure how much of the night Duncan would remember, and this was one part she’d hoped he’d forget. Purely so they wouldn’t have to have this conversation.
‘Duncan, you don’t have to—’
‘Aye, I do,’ he interrupted. ‘You know what I said before. At Burns Night. I meant it. I want to be with you. That’s all I want. And I know it will nae be easy, figuring out how we’re going to make this work. But we will. I promise.’
‘Dun—’ she started, but he cut her off again.
‘And I know what you’re thinking about the laird thing too. Worried it’ll change things. Change how I feel, or maybe how you think I should feel. Or maybe what folk’ll think, but I dinnae care. I dinnae care what anyone thinks ’cept you.’
Bex didn’t say anything, but the twitch of her lips gave her away. He let out a light chuckle.
‘God, you’re beautiful,’ he said softly, brushing his thumb over her hand. ‘And I love you. Laird or no laird, I’ll do whatever it takes to make this work, s’ long as that’s what you want.’
‘I do,’ she said, her voice catching. ‘I think… I think I do. No, I know I do. I love you. I love you too.’
They were the only words she could get out. Her mind wasn’t moving properly, but her body was. Slowly, she leaned towards him, her lips, her hands, every part of her drawn to him.
Her fingertips reached him first, finding the hair at the base of his neck. As her fingers threaded through it, Duncan closed his eyes, letting out a long sigh, as though his body had been just as desperate for her touch as hers had been for his.
He shifted slightly, but then winced.
‘Your jaw?’ she questioned. ‘I can get some more ice from downstairs.’ She went to stand, but before she could, Duncan grabbed her hand.
‘Not now,’ he said softly. ‘Please. Not now.’
She hesitated, then nodded. Her hands returned to the back of his neck, and she leaned closer again.
Since she’d returned to Scotland, this was what she’d longed for; to kiss him, to feel him, to be close to him again.
And now it was finally going to happen. Her lips brushed tentatively against his, nervous about hurting him.
Yet, seemingly unconcerned by the issue, Duncan placed her hand at the base of his spine, as if to pull her in close.
Only before he could, a sharp ringing made her jump.
‘You’ve got to be joking,’ Duncan groaned. ‘Whoever it is, tell them to sod off.’
Bex glanced at her phone.
‘It’s not me, it’s you,’ she said, her throat tightening as she realised it was probably Lorna, or someone else, telling him about the post online. ‘Just hang up. Call them later.’
Given how desperate he had been for the reconciliation, Bex expected Duncan to do as she’d asked, but instead, he was staring at his screen.
‘Who is it?’ Bex asked.
‘Gordon.’
Her eyes narrowed. Nervousness wasn’t an emotion she associated with Duncan, and yet she could feel the shift. The tension radiated from him. So much so that the phone had stopped ringing by the time she found her voice.
‘You think he wanted to get a DNA sample?’ she said quietly.
‘I already gave him one. Burns Night.’
‘You already gave him a sample?’ Bex’s breath caught in her throat as her stomach somersaulted and landed a good three inches higher than where it’d started.
It was a question Bex had been meaning to ask him for days now, but had never quite found the right time.
‘Aye,’ Duncan whispered, only for the phone to start ringing again. ‘And I reckon he’s got the results.’ He looked back at her, a weak smile flickering on his lips.
‘Ready to find out who my grandpa is?’ he asked, a glaze sheening his eyes.
‘Ready as I’ll ever be. I guess,’ she replied.
Duncan nodded in agreement as he looked back at his phone.
‘Aye, sounds right. Ready as I’ll ever be.’