Chapter 45
45
C ally walked into the sitting room in the cottage and let out a long whoosh of a sigh. Just as her previous time in Scotland, she loved the little house, and with its roof and gardens covered in a blanket of white, it was even better. There was something about it that felt as if it insulated her from the world. As if it cocooned her from real life. It always made her chuckle that the cottage was referred to almost as a side thought by those at the estate. To her, it was a sizable house – and not a small one at that. She plumped up a cushion on the sofa, put her mug on the coffee table, and sat down.
Nothing had changed since she’d visited earlier in the year apart from the fact that it now wore pretty Christmas decorations. It still had the same timeless wallpaper, the same beautiful old sofa, and the same picture over the fireplace. The cosy, comforting smell remained, just like before and it was all still immaculate, a testament to how well everything was looked after on the estate. There was not a speck of dust to be seen, the beautiful curtains fell into folds just so, the rug appeared to be freshly vacuumed, and there was a faint smell of furniture polish in the air. Now, it also sparkled with festivity: a Christmas tree twinkled next to the window and a beautiful real fir garland doused in white lights glittered from the mantelpiece.
Cally sipped her tea, looked out the window and just stared at the view, and hugged herself about having a weekend in the countryside with people she loved. Logan came and stood by the fire with a mug of tea and smiled.
‘All good?’ he asked, raising his eyebrows.
‘Yep.’
Logan gestured towards the window. ‘Would you rather have stayed at the house with everyone else?’
Cally shook her head. ‘Absolutely not. Cottage every time for me.’
Logan shook his head and laughed. ‘I don’t think Birdie is with you on that.’
‘Nope. She loves it at the main house. I reckon she’d have been put out if she was in one of the cottages.’
‘Ha, yeah. I thought the same, too. She’d make a good lady of the manor.’
‘Wouldn’t we all?’
‘It's been a nice break so far, hasn’t it?’
‘It really has.’ Cally was grateful that Logan had planned the weekend. Despite her concern more than a few times that Logan might have planned something to do with Alastair’s passing, that hadn’t happened. Since they’d arrived in Scotland, there hadn’t been a whiff of anything really at all.
‘We’ll have to make a tradition of coming up here at this time of year.’
‘I can work with that.’ Cally smiled.
Logan finished his tea. ‘Right. Okay, I’ll love you and leave you then.
‘You’re going to meet Reg and Robby at the pub?’
‘Yep. Enjoy your afternoon tea. Don’t make yourself sick on Mrs MacPherson’s shortbread.’
Cally smiled and widened her eyes. She was going to the main house for afternoon tea with Birdie, Eloise, and Nina. She intended to consume as much shortbread as humanly possible.
I f anyone had ever looked in their element and been as pleased as Punch, it was Birdie sitting in a wingback chair in the drawing room by the fire just shy of a tall, twinkling real fir Christmas tree. Cally laughed as she looked across; Birdie had smug written all over her face.
The drawing room, set up for afternoon tea, was full of chat and clinking of tea cups. A cake stand held layers of tiny pastries, cakes, and sweet things, a platter was piled with shortbread, and there were three different pots of tea from far-off exotic lands.
Nina, who was perched on the edge of the sofa next to Birdie, also looked to be in her element. She smiled and lowered her voice. ‘I could get used to this life.’
Cally nodded. ‘It’s not a bad perk from my boyfriend, is it?’
Eloise chuckled. ‘Better than that boy racer you went out with that time.’
Birdie shuddered. ‘Yikes. Who was that? Doesn’t sound like my cup of tea.’
Eloise raised her eyebrows. ‘You don’t want to know.’
Cally laughed. ‘Let’s not talk about that episode in my life.’ She changed the subject and gestured around the drawing room. ‘Logan mentioned making coming up here a yearly tradition.’
‘I’m in every day of the week,’ Birdie joked.
Nina nodded. ‘Me, too.’
Cally lowered her voice. ‘I’m glad there weren’t any surprises in the end. Not yet, anyway.’
Birdie coughed. ‘Nope.’
Cally kept her voice low. ‘The family seems to be feeling a bit better. It’s good to see. I think there still might be a long road ahead…’
‘Yep. It takes a long time.’
Eloise gestured with her cup. ‘This helps. The scenery and peace here make everything feel better. You said it was nice, but it really is something else.’
Nina nodded. ‘I know. I wondered what it was going to be like but this has topped anything I thought.’
Birdie agreed. ‘Same. I’ve wanted to come here for so long but I genuinely didn’t think it would be as good as this.’
Cally chuckled. ‘You’ve been in your element.’
‘I know. I think I need to buy myself a manor house.’
Nina laughed. ‘You do.’
Cally shook her head. ‘I’m not being in charge of deliveries.’
Birdie giggled. ‘Don’t worry, you’ll be busy being in control of my empire.’
Cally smiled as she leant forward and took another piece of shortbread. So far, the weekend had been great for everyone involved but mostly for Logan. She thought about the few times back home when he’d hit the bottle once too often and how stressful it had been. It had got so bad that, at one point, she’d become really concerned about his wellbeing. The trip to Scotland had somehow reset him. She hoped he remained the same. She was so pleased he was back to his old self. Back to the man she’d thrown a chicken breast at in a boat.
She smiled as she looked around the beautifully decorated, quietly elegant drawing room. The weekend was proving to be a lovely one without any surprises. Calm, easy, comfortable and just right after the year they’d had. She hoped that she would see the year out in the same vein.