Chapter 18
Cormac sat on the wall and looked down at the loch. It was looking ominous today, even with the nice weather. Something was wrong.
He wasn’t sure what, but he wasn’t about to ignore his gut.
As soon as he received the letter from the solicitor, he would be able to put some of his suspicions to rest. William knew Julian was bad news, and Cormac had interacted with the man enough to know his friend was right. But he needed to confirm it.
Then he would know what to do. William would have made sure of it.
“Cormac.”
He looked over his shoulder. Hamish was walking toward him, his expression grim. That was enough for Cormac to straighten up.
“What is it?” Swinging his legs over the wall, he stood up. “What’s happened?”
“It’s not there.”
“What?”
Hamish shook his head.
“I went to the receiving office, and the clerk said that it had already been collected. It was signed for and everything.”
Cormac frowned. What was going on? It was meant to be for him, and it couldn’t have been signed out. The only two with authorization for that was himself and Hamish.
“But… how is that possible? Does it say who signed for it?”
“You.”
“What?”
Hamish nodded, still not looking happy.
“It’s your signature. Looks identical to it. I can’t explain it except…”
“Someone else forged my signature and took away my letters,” Cormac said with a growl. “And the clerk didn’t do anything?”
“Apparently, he wasn’t there when it happened. He just saw the signature when he came in from the back office.”
“Oh, I’m sure that’s what happened! He wouldn’t leave any parcels unattended.”
“You think someone paid him off?”
Cormac nodded, rubbing his hands over his face. This was bad. He didn’t need to guess that it was Ellingham who’d done this. He’d gotten ahead of Cormac and gotten what William didn’t want him to see. It was like giving him a weapon that he could use.
Now Ellingham knew what was going on, and Cormac didn’t have a weapon against him.
That meant Rosalind and Theo were still in danger.
“We need to get back there,” he said, heading toward the stables. “We have to make sure they’re all right.”
“But do you think we can just visit without being questioned about it?” Hamish asked, hurrying after him. “Now Ellingham’s there, he’s not likely to want us to intrude all the time.”
“We can say we’ve brought something for Theo.”
“Like what?”
Cormac had already thought about that. Every time Theo saw him, or visited the stables, he kept begging to have one of the kittens. Cormac had promised him one once they were bigger, and now the kittens had opened their eyes and were able to get around a little.
He wanted to give Theo one of them personally. That would make the little boy’s day. Ellingham couldn’t argue with that, surely?
“Get the horses ready,” he said, heading toward the stall where the kittens were. “I’ll be right back.”
He stepped inside, and found the cute little babies with their mother, who was licking at one of the kittens to clean it. Cormac scratched the cat’s head.
“I’m going to be taking one of your babies to a good home,” he said. “You won’t have to worry about them. I’ll make sure they’re taken care of.”
The cat purred and bumped her head against his hand. Cormac then looked through the kittens, deciding which one to pick. He settled on a ginger and white kitten that he knew Theo had been enamored with, picking up the little mite and cradling it against his chest.
“You’ll be loved and looked after,” he said, kissing the kitten’s head. “You’ll be fine. Your master is going to adore you.”
He headed out, managing to climb into the saddle while holding onto the kitten. It squeaked a little as it almost got squashed, but Cormac managed to keep it mostly out of harm’s way. Hamish gave the kitten a rueful look.
“Let’s hope this works,” he said.
“We’re neighbors, and Rosalind said we could visit whenever we wanted. Theo approved it as well.” Cormac gave him a sly smile. “Besides, don’t you want to see Bea again? I’m sure she’ll be delighted to see you.”
Hamish’s face went bright red, and he cleared his throat. Chuckling, Cormac rode out and headed along the road toward Corrieden. Even if Hamish protested, he knew his factor wanted to go and visit Bea. He just couldn’t think of an excuse to be there unless he was with Cormac.
He had a reason now.
As did Cormac. As he rode along, he thought about the time when he and Hamish met Rosalind, Theo, and Bea in town and walked through the market.
It had been fun, and Rosalind had been a lot more relaxed than he had ever seen her.
She was smiling and laughing, not seeming to care that her scars were on display.
There was a light in her that Cormac hadn’t seen before, and it made his chest feel warm.
She wasn’t even trying, and she was drawing him out of his dark place in his head. Six years of wanting nothing, and Rosalind had turned that around. Theo, too; he’d managed to touch something inside Cormac that he thought was long locked off from everything.
He couldn’t imagine life without either of them, and that was a sobering thought. How was that possible? What had Rosalind done to make that happen?
He was still thinking about it as they arrived at Corrieden.
Theo was out in the grounds, running around with Bea.
Rosalind stood nearby, watching them with her hands clasped in front of her.
Even at a distance, Cormac could see that she was looking reserved and quiet, very different from when he last saw her.
He slowed the horse and dismounted, careful of the kitten in his arms. Hamish jumped down beside him.
“What is it?” He peered at Cormac. “I can see that something else is troubling you.”
“Something feels different.” Cormac nodded in Rosalind’s direction. “I can’t tell what, but it does feel different.”
“It’s probably you being worried now the letter’s gone missing,” Hamish remarked. “Maybe there’s nothing really wrong.”
Cormac knew that was a possibility, but it didn’t stop the unease in his stomach. As their horses were led away, he and Hamish walked over. Theo saw them first, and let out a delighted laugh.
“Cormac! Hamish!”
Bea and Rosalind both turned, Bea’s face turning bright red.
She bit her lip as her eyes alighted on Hamish.
He also went a little red and cleared his throat.
Rosalind, on the other hand, regarded Cormac coolly, something flickering behind her eyes.
Cormac was certain now that something bad had happened.
If it hadn’t, why would she be looking at him like that?
“What have you got?” Theo reached them, jumping up onto his tiptoes to see what was in his arms. “Is it a present for me?”
Hamish laughed. “Do you think that everything Cormac brings is a present for you?”
“Well, isn’t it?”
Cormac chuckled and crouched. “I do have a present for you. But you have to be incredibly careful. And you’re going to need to listen to how to look after it.”
“What?”
Then Theo’s eyes went round as Cormac showed him the kitten. The little animal mewled and looked around, curious at its new surroundings.
“A kitten!” Theo breathed. “For me?”
“For you. If you promise to look after…” Cormac quickly checked the kitten, realizing he hadn’t done it yet, “her. She’s tiny and not as agile. You’re going to treat her like she’s made of glass.”
“Of course,” the boy said quickly. “I’ll look after her really well!”
“Good.”
“Can I hold her?”
“You may.” Cormac carefully passed the kitten over. “What are you going to call her?”
Theo looked down at the cat, who was wriggling a little in his arms. But he didn’t drop her.
“I think…” He pursed his lips as he thought about it. “I’ll call her Dinnsear.”
Cormac raised his eyebrows at the choice.
“Dinnsear? Do you know what that means?”
“I do. It means ginger in Gaelic, and she’s got ginger fur.” Theo beamed. “Mrs. Rivers has been teaching me some Gaelic. We went around the kitchen and the vegetable garden the other day.”
“I’m glad Mrs. Rivers is teaching you something.” Cormac ruffled the boy’s head. “Dinnsear it is. A very good choice.”
Theo trotted away, showing the kitten to his mother. Rosalind bent over, stroking Dinnsear’s head with a smile before kissing Theo’s head. Hamish leaned in to Cormac.
“You could’ve just gotten someone else to bring the cat,” he murmured.
“I like doing things myself.”
“I’ve noticed.”
Cormac noticed that his factor was looking at Bea, who was standing off to one side with a shy look on her face. He nudged his friend.
“Go on. Talk to her.”
“Are you sure?”
“You’re not stuck to my side. Go on.”
Hamish looked relieved as he went over to Bea, giving her a bow and saying something that made Bea blush even harder, but she smiled. Then she said something that made Hamish laugh. At least they could fall into an easy conversation. Cormac thought he could do the same with Rosalind.
From her current demeanor, he didn’t think he could this time.
As Theo sat on the grass and placed Dinnsear on the ground, Cormac moved over to Rosalind, keeping a respectable distance between them. He felt like she needed the space, especially with the way she shifted subtly away from him.
“Thank you for the gift,” she said, not looking at him. “But you didn’t need to.”
“I wanted to. And from the look of it, Theo is happy with it as well.”
“He’s going to be treating that kitten like it’s a baby now.”
“At least he’s not getting into trouble.” Cormac glanced at Rosalind. “What about you?”
She blinked and glanced quickly at him.
“What do you mean?”
“Are you all right? You’re looking rather… off. I can’t put my finger on it.”
Rosalind looked away and straightened up.
“I’m well,” she said stiffly. “And I’m busy.”
“Busy?”
“Yes, busy.”
Cormac could tell that he was being dismissed, and that confused him. What was happening here? Why was Rosalind so cold with him now?
Then he noticed someone watching them out of the corner of his eye and looked around.
Ellingham had walked around the side of the house, strolling as if he was the one who owned the place.
Beside him was a fat, jowly-looking man who seemed to be rather uncomfortable with the situation.
They were in conversation, but Cormac knew Ellingham was looking right at them.
And he could feel the dread pooling in his stomach.