Chapter 17
SEVENTEEN
I decide to forgo my quest to see the sunrise and stay to serve breakfast. The atmosphere is more upbeat than I would have expected, and Jarvis has a way of getting everyone to open up. He is very well suited to this role.
We run out of eggs, and I turn to Jarvis. “Do we have more?”
“Yes, I’ll come and help you get them.”
We walk together to the kitchen, where an oversized pan with a lid sits on the stove. Jarvis is about to pick up the lid when he stops and faces me. “This might seem completely random, but I want to check something.” He steps forward, cups my face with his hands, and kisses me.
I’m too shocked to respond, and then my body seems to react first—probably because it remembers Jarvis’s touch.
But this feels different to the times we kissed in the future. Here is fresh and new—and as much as I hate to admit it—exciting in a goosebumps-inducing way.
I kiss him back, his soft lips pressed against mine. Why does this feel so good? And so right?
We continue kissing until someone clears their throat behind me.
“We have some hungry patrons out here,” the elderly lady says.
I quickly pull back and turn to her, blushing. “Sorry.”
“Is this what people who aren’t in relationships do these days?” she teases.
“Sorry, Dorothy,” Jarvis says, grinning.
“At least wait until the breakfast rush is over.”
“Will do.”
Jarvis faces me again. “It was exactly as I expected…”
“What was?”
He’s about to respond when his expression changes. “I feel a little dizzy.”
As he says it, I start to feel the same. I guess we are going back early.
I gently take his hand and guide him over to an empty corner of the kitchen. I pull him down to the floor so we’re sitting side by side.
“It’s okay,” I assure him. “You’ll be fine in a minute.”
I close my eyes and take a few deep breaths. Jarvis doesn’t seem to want to let go of my hand, and I feel the warmth seeping into my skin.
After a few moments, I open my eyes again.
The mask is obscuring my vision, so I push it up.
I’m back on the plane.
And I’m still holding hands with Jarvis.
Oops.
He opens his eyes and looks down at our interconnecting fingers for a moment. And then he rips them away. “Sorry. I had a weird dream.”
“What was it about?” I ask.
“I went back to the past—to a more carefree part of my life.”
“Oh?”
“And you were there. Only it wasn’t really you. It just looked like you, but it was someone else.”
“What do you mean? How could it have been me and not me?”
“Dreams are like that, aren’t they? They don’t really make sense. In this case, you were still called Rachel, and you looked a little like how I assume you would have looked when you were younger, but you were actually someone else I knew from back then.”
Hmm. “How do you know it wasn’t completely me?”
“Because I would have known. I’m sure it was just my subconscious blending things together.”
“Who is this other girl? Do you have a photo of her?”
“I didn’t really know her that well back then. She was just someone I saw around town.”
Someone you wanted to date. And as of several minutes ago, you must have liked enough to want to kiss.
I’m suddenly confused and annoyed. Jarvis had a crush on me when we were younger, but he didn’t know it was actually me? So who was that kiss for? His previous teenage self to fulfill a fantasy he never saw through?
“I’m going to read for a while,” I say, getting out my phone and opening a book on my reading app.
“Are you okay?” he asks. “Are you upset I grabbed your hand? If so, I apologise. I didn’t know I’d done it until I woke up.”
“It’s fine,” I say flatly.
I try to block him out, but I still feel him watching me.
I should have insisted on getting a seat in another row.
That way, none of this would have happened.
And I wouldn’t feel so conflicted right now.
***
I keep to myself as much as possible for the rest of the trip to Edinburgh. It’s a twenty-five-minute taxi ride from the airport to the castle, and I almost insist on getting a separate ride, but I don’t want to look petty.
I also remember how I talked to Kelsey about getting my own accommodation. It’s just after 2pm on Thursday, so I figure I have enough time to make plans to book a hotel once I’ve accompanied Jarvis to the castle for an initial viewing.
It’s an overcast day, but the fields outside of the city are very green. Florence’s castle sits on a couple of acres of land surrounded by farms. It all looks much more polished than the wild bushland back home in Australia.
The taxi drives us up the long path to the castle, which is a four-storey structure resembling a Jenga tower. To its side is a long rustic barn.
The driver pulls to a stop near the front of the castle, and we unload our bags. Jarvis pays for the ride, presumably with the allowance Florence left for expenses, and we head for the front door.
An elderly man emerges from the barn and comes over.
“You must be Jarvis and Rachel.” He holds out a hand for us to shake. “I’m Lee, the groundskeeper.”
Jarvis steps forward to shake his hand first. “Nice to meet you.”
“It’s a shame I wasn’t around when you were here on your honeymoon, but at the time, I was in England with my wife Ginny, visiting some relatives. Ginny is the housekeeper here, so you’ll meet her at some point.”
“Ah.” I also shake hands with Lee and look at the surrounding garden beds. “You’ve done a great job with the place.”
“It was a pleasure serving Florence all those years.” He looks wistfully off into the distance before collecting himself. “Anyway, Ginny has set up the main suite for you on the top floor. It has the best view.”
“Oh, I won’t be staying here,” I say hurriedly.
Lee frowns. “You won’t be staying with your husband?”
“He’s my ex-husband, so no, I won’t be staying with him,” I say firmly.
Lee chuckles. “Ex-husband? Why wasn’t I informed of this?”
“We probably got our wires crossed somewhere,” Jarvis explains. “Don’t worry, we’ll sort something out.”
“I can ask Ginny to set up one of the other rooms?” Lee offers.
“Ah, no, that’s not necessary. We’ll take care of everything.”
“If you say so. But let us know if you change your mind.”
“Will do.”
Jarvis strides determinedly to the front door and pulls it open. He’s acting a bit weird. Is it because of the dream on the plane? Did I inadvertently break him?
I follow him inside. The ground floor has a large kitchen and one of several living rooms. While it’s a tall building, it’s not particularly wide, so the individual rooms are a similar size to a normal house.
I look around, re-familiarising myself with the layout. I only spent a couple of days here several years ago, but it feels strangely like home. Maybe I’m linking the very short period of time I was happy with Jarvis with this place.
He looks around too and nods, satisfied. “The place isn’t very cluttered, but we’ll have a few days’ work cut out for us.”
“What are we going to do with the furniture? Sell it with the castle?”
“Or donate, I suppose.”
“I was going to book a hotel in town, so I’ll look for something now, and then I’ll spend a few hours here before heading off.”
Jarvis looks at me. “You do realise this is a castle with seven bedrooms?”
“Yes, but this is your relative’s place, not mine. It feels wrong to stay here, especially if your great aunt thought we were still married.”
He doesn’t say anything for a moment but then sighs.
“She knew we’d split up. I told you I’ve kept in touch with her, and our last correspondence was only a few weeks ago.
So can you please put your disdain for me aside for a short while and stay here in the castle?
If it makes you feel any better, you can sleep on a different floor. I’ll make up the room myself.”
“She definitely knew we got divorced?”
He nods wearily.
“Then why did Lee not know? And why did Florence leave me half her castle?”
“I don’t know. Maybe she didn’t think she had to share her entire personal life with her employees. And maybe she left the inheritance to you because she liked you.”
“Still…”
“Please stay,” he says quietly. “I’d really appreciate it.”
His tone is so serious and earnest that my heart skips a beat.
After a moment, I look him directly in the eye.
“Okay. I’ll stay.”