A Christmas Romance in the Scottish Highlands (Scottish Highlands #6)

Chapter 4

4

ELLA

Ella slid the Magic Mops company van to a stop at the front of Pinecone Manor and gulped when the vehicle shuddered and whined. It had been playing up all morning and was due an MOT in the next few days, which she suspected it wouldn’t pass. She eased the tension from her shoulders as she checked her watch and grimaced. ‘Crappity drat,’ she said wearily, because she was over an hour and a half late for her lesson with Henry.

‘Come on, Wyatt!’ she called into the back seat as she opened the van door and jumped onto the icy snow, barely registering the slivers of ice as they seeped into the not-very-sensible slippers she wore while she was cleaning. She’d forgotten to change them after mopping the hallway tiles in the house Clyde had left her to clean, because she’d been in such a hurry to leave. It meant she’d also left her boots sitting in the client’s hallway, she realised with a groan. So she’d have to figure out when to get them back.

There had been a lot more to do at the house than her stepbrother had led Ella to believe – and it had taken her three very long hours to finish. Clyde had barely touched the kitchen and hadn’t ventured onto the second or third floors at all. The four sitting rooms hadn’t been polished or hoovered, and all five bathrooms had been filthy. In a moment of rare irritation, Ella had wondered if he’d done anything other than raid the biscuit tin and toss crumbs all over the floors. But she’d quickly shaken off the feeling – he’d been ill, after all.

Wyatt climbed slowly from the van onto the ground. Then he stopped, his black nose twitching. Ella was so absorbed in grabbing her art supplies and locking up that she missed him approaching the silver Volvo that was parked a few metres to their right. He growled suddenly, the sound low in his throat, and Ella spun around and then went to join him so she could see what the problem was. She reached Wyatt just as he cocked his leg.

‘No!’ Ella wailed as Wyatt peed all over one of the car’s shiny wheels. ‘What are you doing?’ she admonished, as she picked up the dog’s leash and tugged him away. Then she stopped as she studied the vehicle, and her mind began to whir.

‘Is that…?’ she gasped, quickly skirting around the car with the dog lead loose in her hand. The bloodhound went to sniff at the handle on the driver’s side, before dropping his nose to the snow. ‘It is!’ Ella gasped, watching Wyatt sniff again before following the scent.

‘It’s the car that almost squashed you. The one the eejit was driving,’ Ella told her pet as Wyatt – who’d obviously already worked that out – continued to smell the ground, leading her towards the front of Pinecone Manor. ‘What’s it doing parked here?’ The dog didn’t respond, and suddenly tugged the leash forcefully, almost pulling Ella over. She righted herself just in time.

‘Hang on!’ Ella said as she skidded behind Wyatt, almost tripping again – clutching even more tightly to her bag of art supplies.

As they reached the porch, Ella heard ‘Honky Tonk Woman’ playing inside the manor and guessed Henry must be painting in his studio, which meant she’d probably missed most of her lesson.

Wincing with guilt, Ella rang the doorbell and immediately dropped down to lift up the Santa Claus ornament where the older man usually left a key, but it wasn’t there.

Wyatt whined as a gust of wind barrelled into them and Ella rang the doorbell again, pressing her ear to the wood panelling, hoping to hear footsteps. She knew Henry wouldn’t hear his mobile if she called and had no other way of getting in. Although she could try Aggie? Ella was searching in her bag for her mobile when the door swung open.

‘Ach, lass, what are you doing standing out here?’ the housekeeper asked, dragging her and Wyatt into the hallway before frowning at Ella’s outfit. ‘Did you come straight from work?’ she gasped. ‘Are those slippers ?’

Ella pulled a face. ‘I was late for my lesson, and I forgot to change into my shoes.’ Aggie tutted. ‘Is Henry in his studio?’

The housekeeper didn’t have a chance to respond because Wyatt suddenly pressed his nose to the tiles and then growled before leaping forward. As Ella was still clutching his lead, she found herself being dragged towards the sitting room door.

‘Aye, lass,’ Aggie shouted as the dog pulled Ella through it. ‘Henry’s in the studio with his latest protégé. I’ll meet you there in a minute – I just want to fix you some lunch. I’m guessing you didn’t find time to eat again.’ She had to shout the last few words because Wyatt had already hauled Ella to the opposite side of the sitting room and was now racing up the stairs.

By the time they reached Henry’s studio, Ella was out of breath, and she’d lost one of her slippers somewhere on the journey.

She stood at the top, her chest heaving, and let go of the lead, watching as Wyatt charged up to the man standing in front of one of Henry’s easels. Then the bloodhound began to growl.

Henry switched off the music and grabbed Wyatt’s lead. ‘Calm down, lad,’ he soothed as Sprout leaped in front of the bloodhound and began to yap too. ‘What’s going on?’ the older man asked Ella, raising his voice above the din.

‘This gentleman.’ It took all of Ella’s willpower to call him that. ‘Was driving his car too fast and almost knocked Wyatt down this morning.’ She took a step forward, and the man lifted his dark eyes to meet hers.

‘We’ve been through this,’ he said testily, and his shoulders tensed as if he were gearing up to argue with her. ‘I think you’ll find the fault lies with your dog.’

Wyatt barked again, then glanced at Ella as if asking for permission to yell more – but she reluctantly shook her head.

‘Could be you were both at fault,’ Henry suggested, glancing between them, picking up on the obvious tension.

‘I’m a very careful driver,’ the man insisted, but when Henry frowned, he dipped his chin. ‘But you’re right of course. If it was my fault that I almost hit you, then I apologise.’

He addressed the words to Wyatt who glanced at Ella again. This time when she nodded, the dog took a step away. Ella didn’t want to make up with the man, but it was clear he was Henry’s latest protégé. If he was going to be working here, there was no point in prolonging their fight.

‘You’re late, lass,’ Henry said gently as the tension finally eased. He swept an arm towards the easel where Ella usually worked. ‘And that’s been gathering dust.’

‘I’m really sorry,’ she said quietly, wiping her hands on her jeans. ‘Something important came up,’ she admitted.

There was no point in elaborating. Late was late and Henry didn’t need to know about Clyde’s doctor’s appointment. Besides, he might not be very sympathetic. She’d missed an art lesson the week before because Dane had booked to see the dentist, and she’d had to clean four rental cottages for him which had taken a whole afternoon.

She heard the man at the easel make a tsk-tsk sound under his breath, but when she glanced his way, he was staring at his blank canvas. She wandered up to her easel and put her bag on the ground.

‘I’ll start with introductions,’ Henry said. ‘This is Alexander Forbes-Charming, he’s going to be studying with me until Christmas.’

‘You can call me Alex I suppose,’ the man said reluctantly.

Henry smiled. ‘This is Ella McNally. She runs Magic Mops. The team help Aggie to keep the manor in order. Ella could be a very successful artist.’ His tone grew dark. ‘If she committed herself.’

She sighed. Henry knew about her promise to her da and obligations to the family, but to him, the world revolved around art and nothing else. ‘I’ll be teaching you together as often as I can.’

Neither Ella nor Alex spoke, but the heavy silence communicated their disappointment at the news.

‘It’s fortunate you’re getting the chance to meet now, because Alex will be at the pantomime rehearsals tomorrow evening. I’m sure you’ll make him feel welcome.’ There was a hint of mischief in Henry’s voice. Ella saw a flash of surprise flicker across the younger man’s face before he hid it.

‘I will?’ Alex asked roughly.

‘Aye, why do you think my protégés always come here in the run-up to Christmas?’ The older man chuckled. ‘I take care of all the scenery for the annual village pantomime – and I like to hand-pick my assistants. You’ll be helping me while you’re staying for at least two nights a week, starting tomorrow.’

Henry winked as Alex’s mouth bunched. ‘Perhaps your da forgot to mention it. Then again, I may not have remembered to tell him.’ He gave the younger man an amused look, and Ella had to give Alex points for staying silent because it was obvious he was horrified by the idea.

From the look of his designer haircut, fancy clothes and shiny car, Alexander Forbes-Charming wasn’t the type of person who’d usually be seen dead at a village pantomime, let alone helping out with the scenery. He was probably too busy mowing down pets.

‘Ella is in the pantomime,’ Henry said proudly, but Alex’s expression didn’t change. ‘The cast is in the fourth week of rehearsals which is around the time I like to visit to consider scenery options. We’ll leave here after dinner tomorrow and you can drive.’ Henry shot Alex a long look. ‘Assuming you haven’t got any other plans?’

‘Nope,’ Alex murmured, his expression dark.

The older man tutted when Aggie suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs carrying a tray.

‘More soup?’ Henry asked sharply as she sidestepped him.

‘Not for you. But I noticed that you managed to force all yours down at lunch,’ she shot back, looking smug.

‘Only because I was starving.’ Henry looked embarrassed.

Aggie ignored him as she fussed around Ella, supplying her with a bowl of steaming soup and a crust of bread before putting down bowls of water for Sprout and Wyatt. Both dogs immediately buried their noses in them, and Alex looked more relaxed.

Henry left Ella to eat and turned towards Alex before pointing to the blank canvas. ‘What are you going to paint first, lad?’ he asked as Ella dipped a spoon into her bowl.

‘I like that view.’ Alex pointed past Ella to the row of windows.

‘Why?’ Henry asked, his gaze fixed on the younger man’s face. Ella sipped the soup, watching him too. He really was quite beautiful – with an angular jaw, dark eyes and a full mouth which didn’t look like it had ever smiled. Did he have a reason to be sad? Perhaps she’d been too hard on him…

Alex looked pained. ‘It’s…pretty,’ he offered, obviously caught off guard.

Henry shook his head before he turned to Ella. ‘And what do you want to draw next? That cat is almost finished so I’d like you to start thinking about your next project.’ Ella quickly swallowed another mouthful of soup, considering her walk earlier.

‘A robin,’ she said simply.

‘Because?’ Henry asked.

Ella considered. She knew what Henry wanted so took her time. ‘There’s one that visits a garden I walk past. He’s friendly and sometimes when it’s quiet and Wyatt isn’t around, he sings. Those moments make me feel –’ She pressed a hand to her chest as she tried to find the right words. ‘– Like I’ve got a candle burning inside of me. That robin doesn’t want anything but my company, and I’d somehow like to capture the joy of that.’

She could have sworn Alex snorted, but when she checked, he was staring out of the window again.

‘Aye.’ Henry nodded before he turned back to the younger man. ‘That beats “pretty”, doesn’t it, lad?’

Alex’s cheeks reddened, and Ella felt a twinge of guilt. She hadn’t meant to make the man look bad.

‘Before you put a pencil to that paper.’ The artist pointed at the easel. ‘I want you to think about how your picture is going to make you feel. Because that will show in every stroke of your brush.’ His tone was intense. ‘You want to make whoever sees it feel exactly like you. If you want them to love, hate, cry, laugh – you have the power to do it. But you’re not going to achieve anything if you’re aiming for something as mundane as pretty.’ With that, Henry turned away.

As he did, Ella caught Alex’s eye – he looked lost. For a nanosecond, she wanted to reassure him, but then his face changed as if a shield had slid down, blocking any emotions he might be feeling.

‘I’m sure I’ll work it out,’ he said, his voice flat. He gave Ella a brief glance, which was anything but friendly – then he turned to face his easel again. Leaving her wondering if Alex Forbes-Charming had any feelings, or if he was just as cold as he seemed.