Chapter 41
Chapter Forty-One
The end of the week was fast approaching. It had been a couple of days since I’d seen Mason and Garrett strolling along the beach, and Mason hadn’t made any effort to contact me since.
I thought back to the other day, when he’d loomed over me, looking troubled.
He’d appeared to be on the verge of confiding in me about something, but then those shutters of his had come rattling down again.
I knew Mason wouldn’t appreciate my attempt at psychoanalysis, but I could only think that his mistrust had begun after the collapse of his marriage.
Geri, his ex-wife, must have really eroded a lot of his belief in people.
Well, if Mason felt he couldn’t talk to me, then there was no point in even hoping that we could progress things.
We’d started off as acquaintances, united by our fascination with the Scarlet Highwayman, and I’d foolishly thought that something deeper might develop between us, but then there were the women he’d been seen with, the memories of Nick and how he’d cheated on me; it was a disaster waiting to happen and I’d had enough of that in my life.
The best thing for me to do was occupy myself with the cottages and my artwork and just hope that I didn’t cross his path too often.
As for the Scarlet Highwayman, I was sure I could make progress with that on my own.
Okay, so I wasn’t a historian with Mason’s research skills, but I was enthusiastic and had managed to pick up a few tips from him along the way.
I went into the rear part of the office to collect some correspondence I was printing off. Katie and I had been making the most of an unusual quiet spell to catch up on emails and admin. But then an exaggerated cough at the front of the shop attracted my attention and I darted out.
Alex Lapley was leaning on the desk; his lacquered blond hair swept to one side. He tapered his thin fingers down his sliver of mint-green tie. In that light-grey suit, he reminded me of a prowling lizard.
‘Good morning, Ms Summers,’ he smirked. ‘I’m sorry to hear your latest efforts with that ridiculous highwayman character have been in vain.’
I adjusted the sleeves of my cream scooped-neck top. ‘Who said they were in vain?’
His lips flinched. ‘I have a proposition for you.’
Katie materialised behind me.
‘Oh, how sweet,’ he grinned. ‘You’ve got your bodyguard with you.’
I could sense Katie’s normally calm chakra burst into flames at my shoulder.
‘I’m not interested in anything you have to say, Mr Lapley, nor do I have any intention of surrendering my business to anyone, let alone you.’
Alex’s reptile-like eyes raked over me. ‘Well, that’s a pity.
I was going to ask you to drop this ridiculous Scarlet Highwayman jape, and I’ll allow you to continue with those little cottages of yours.
’ He adjusted the silver link strap of his watch.
‘Everyone with a modicum of intelligence knows that my ancestors were the backbone of this community. They invested so much of their own money into worthy causes round here. This highwayman character was nothing but a common criminal.’ He came a little closer, his ice-like eyes burning into mine.
‘Do the sensible thing, Poppy. Drop all this and we’ll see what we can do. ’
White anger bubbled up inside my chest. ‘Let me spell this out for you, as you’re obviously not the brightest crayon in the box.
’ I strode out from behind the counter towards him, my knees in my black, flared trousers quivering with rage.
‘I’m not surrendering my business and I’m not stopping my research into the Scarlet Highwayman. ’
His face sharpened, but I carried on. ‘I know that you’re worried I’ll uncover something about your family, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take.’
Alex hitched his pale eyebrows up to his shiny hairline. ‘You don’t know who you’re dealing with.’
‘Oh, I think she does.’
Mason was towering in the doorway, firing lasers into Alex. ‘I hope that wasn’t a threat, because from where I’m standing, it sounded like it was.’
‘Mason,’ I blurted, before realising how stupid I sounded.
Mason gave me a brief smile.
Alex shrank at the sight of Mason, tugged down the hem of his jacket and took a nervous step backwards. ‘You’ll be hearing from my solicitor with instructions on when to vacate.’
‘And you’ll be hearing from us too very soon,’ Mason replied, stepping slightly to one side for Alex to leave.
Alex ground out, ‘Have a good day now,’ but didn’t hang around.
Once he had vanished, Mason loitered. ‘Could I have a word with you, Poppy?’
I found myself staring at him, wishing in one way that he’d evaporate like the evening tide. Things wouldn’t be so complicated then.
His eyes glittered. ‘It won’t take long. It’s important.’
I glanced over my shoulder to look at Katie, and she nodded her encouragement.
Oh, good grief!
‘Okay,’ I conceded. ‘Give me five minutes.’
I snuck a glance in our bathroom mirror to tidy my plait and dashed on a fresh coat of lipstick. Then I realised what I was doing and got annoyed with myself. Mason seemed unable to trust me or confide in me, let alone want to take things further, so why was I making such an effort?
I rammed my lipstick back into my bag and grabbed my phone on the way out, expecting us to take a wander down by the harbour or out towards the park perhaps. Instead, Mason pointed to his car.
‘Where are you taking me?’
‘Back to Dracula’s lair,’ he replied in a dodgy Transylvanian accent.
I would have laughed if the circumstances had been different.
‘Look, Poppy, I need to explain where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing. In order to do that, you need to come home with me.’
My stomach did a flip, but my expression remained stoical. ‘I don’t need to do anything, Mason.’
‘Okay. You’re right. That was clumsy of me.’ He dropped his gaze for a moment. ‘There’s a certain canine who has really missed you.’
‘Oh, that’s a low blow,’ I answered. ‘Using Darwin? Really?’
Mason lifted his hands in surrender. ‘What can I say? I’m desperate.’
I looked out towards McKerron Castle, its rain-lashed turrets now bathed in strips of mellow sun that was fighting its way through a bank of grey cloud.
‘Is Darwin in the car?’
‘He is.’
‘Okay, but I can’t stay too long.’
Mason smiled his appreciation. ‘I’ll drop you back as soon as you’ve heard me out.’
I pointedly stared out of Mason’s car window as he negotiated the short drive to his apartment.
I was licked, leaped at and pummelled by Darwin as soon as I set foot in the car, and he was now sitting bolt upright on the back seat.
When we parked up outside Mason’s apartment block, Darwin bounded out of the car in a shaggy cloud of fur.
Mason swung open his apartment door and gestured for me to enter first. ‘Can I get you a coffee or tea?’ he asked, indicating for me to go and sit down. If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve thought Mason was nervous.
‘No thanks. I don’t have much time to spare.’ I glanced around as I stroked Darwin, who sat himself at my feet. ‘Is Garrett out sampling the delights of Port Starr?’
‘No, he went home this morning. He only came for a short visit.’
Mason hovered for a moment, before sitting down in the chair opposite me. His eyes flashed. ‘Look, Poppy. I wanted to see you to explain. I’ve been busy for the past couple of days – but not with other women.’
I eyed him warily.
He leaned forward, a lock of his hair flopping onto his brow.
‘I wanted to tell you about the other day on the beach, but it was awkward with Garrett being there.’ He stretched out his long legs.
‘Garrett only told me he was coming to visit a couple of days ago and it just threw everything up into the air.’
‘Is everything all right?’
Mason rubbed his chin. ‘It is now, but it wasn’t at the time.
’ He let out a sigh. ‘I should have rung you to explain, instead of dashing off such a hastily written text, but Garrett had just spoken to me, and he was in a bit of a state.’ He opened his hands.
‘I had to rush out and get some food shopping in, before picking him up from the train station.’
The grocery shopping Maisie saw him with; me jumping to women-related conclusions. Two pops of colour smeared my cheeks.
Mason spoke again. ‘His ex-boyfriend is an archaeologist like him – they met at uni in London – and Garrett had just discovered Johnny had secured work on the same dig as him.’ He gave Darwin a pat as he wandered past him.
‘Their breakup was messy and Garrett didn’t take it at all well.
He’s a lot stronger than he thinks he is, though, and was beginning to get back on track until Johnny suddenly turned up in Cambridge on the site. ’
‘What happened?’
Mason shifted his eyes to the spotlight studded in the ceiling for a moment. ‘Garrett rang me and he sounded so distraught, asked if he could get away for a couple of days. He was due some holiday anyway and thought that by escaping up here, he could get his head straight again.’
‘And you’ve been undertaking the role of supportive big brother,’ I concluded.
‘I’ve tried to,’ he said, ‘as well as feeding him up again on his favourite puddings and lots of chocolate.’ He shook his head.
‘Garrett has never been a big, strapping lad, but I got such a shock when I collected him from the train station. He obviously hasn’t been looking after himself, after all this with Johnny. ’
He gave an appreciative smile. ‘Thank goodness his work colleagues have been so supportive. Do you know his old boss at university heard about his fragile state? She was up visiting relatives in Scotland and came to see me a couple of times.’ Mason rolled his eyes.
‘Garrett hadn’t told me how he was feeling or about Johnny to begin with.
It was only when his old boss, Professor Curtis, dropped by that I found out how stressed my brother was about it all.
’ Mason let out a short laugh. ‘I felt so guilty, sitting there in a restaurant and being told by my brother’s old mentor how heartbroken he was. ’
I inclined my head, a thought lodging itself there.
‘And then Annabel – Professor Curtis – returned again for a catch-up on Garrett’s progress.’
This Professor Curtis must have been the woman Maisie saw with him. ‘Professor Curtis,’ I asked as casually as my voice would allow, ‘what does she happen to look like?’
‘Tall, thin, bobbed red hair … why?’
I forced my face into an innocent, wide-eyed look. ‘Oh, I think I might have seen her around Port Starr when she visited.’
Mason nodded and sighed.
I tried to refocus on what he was saying.
‘The first time I wondered if something was up with my brother was when he rang me just after I’d moved here.’ He explained that he’d been taking a walk along the beach with a contact from the UK History TV Channel to discuss plans for his new show, when Garrett had called and sounded rather low.
‘Poor Lily,’ mused Mason. ‘Instead of discussing formats and production, I ended up distracted about my brother.’
Realisation pulled me up. Hold on. Was that the brunette Caleb saw him with?
‘That’s a pretty name.’
‘Yes, Lily Chow,’ remarked Mason without another thought. ‘Her father’s from Hong Kong.’
My thoughts bounced around my head like skittles.
Caleb said the girl Mason had been seen with on the beach was of Chinese heritage.
He hadn’t been up to no good with various women.
The poor man. He’d been consumed with worry over his brother’s welfare, as well as his parents’ visit, and yet he persisted in helping me.
I let the truth sink in for a moment. I tried to gather myself. ‘And how’s Garrett now? Do your mum and dad know?’
Mason looked appalled at the suggestion. ‘Good grief, no. Garrett made me swear not to tell them and there’s no way I was going to betray his confidence.’ Mason went on to explain they would have thought they were helping by fussing over Garrett, but that was the last thing he wanted.
‘All he was after was a bolthole and someone who would listen to him. I think our long walks along the beach, eating till he almost exploded and being mauled by Darwin did help Garrett to get a bit more perspective on things.’ Mason’s compelling features slid into a smile.
‘Well, that and the fact that one of his new site colleagues is a tall, blond, handsome American who’s been making it very clear he likes him. ’
He added that he thought it was more the surprise and shock of seeing Johnny again that threw Garrett, rather than anything else.
‘We sat and talked till late, and I think it made him feel better about things.’ Mason hesitated. ‘I’ve realised a few things about myself, too.’
I was about to ask him what he meant, when he sprang up from his leather armchair and approached his desk in the corner of the sitting room. He pulled out Georgina’s diary and strode back with it, then sat down again next to me.
‘I’ve managed to read some more of this.’
My curiosity peaked. ‘Have you discovered something else in there?’
Mason’s fingers caressed the worn cover in such a tender way.
‘There’s an entry much later on, where Georgina says that the Scarlet Highwayman gave her a gold horseshoe pendant.
’ His enthusiasm was infectious. ‘She obviously couldn’t wear it in public, as it wasn’t from her husband, so she says she concealed it. ’
‘Does she say where?’
Mason’s expression brimmed with hope. ‘Yes. In a manner of speaking.’ He leaned forward. ‘She mentions her best friend’s hat shop in Port Starr and that she placed the pendant in a jewellery box in the garden of the milliners to keep it safe.’
‘Wow,’ I breathed. ‘If only we knew where that might be.’
Mason’s grin caught me off guard even more than usual.
‘Are you trying to tell me you know where it is?’
‘I think I might.’
‘But how? Where was the shop? How do you know all this?’
‘That’s why I’ve been to the Old Library in Glasgow. I dropped by there after taking Garrett to the train station this morning. I looked up maps of Port Starr in the eighteen hundreds.’
My heart zinged inside my ribcage as I continued to study him. A thought struck me. ‘We need to notify the business owner who might be affected by this – or the person who owns the land.’
I expected Mason to agree or ask me to rein in my enthusiasm a little longer, until we had some additional proof. But instead, he gave me a wink. ‘There’s no need to contact the current business owner or landowner.’
‘What do you mean?’
Mason angled his head at me. ‘I’m looking right at her.’