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

Chapter 21

21

ELLA

‘We’re sick, you can’t come in,’ Clyde rasped as Ella pressed her fingertips into the letterbox on the door of her stepbrothers’ house, trying to prise it open so she could see. She and Alex had been knocking for the last five minutes, but so far, he’d refused to let them in.

‘Dane’s been googling our symptoms,’ Clyde shouted in between a couple of hacking coughs. ‘It’s worse than tonsilitis. We might have a tropical disease. It’s infectious and we feel really, really bad. Even mam’s not come to visit.’

Ella rose from where she’d been kneeling and met Alex’s eyes. He was staring at her with an odd expression, one that said she couldn’t possibly be falling for their lies. She shook her head to confirm she wasn’t as she turned to peruse the front garden. Two snowmen had joined the single one she’d seen the week before. One of the new ones wore Clyde’s bright orange pantomime wig, and Ella stomped across the envelope of glittering snow so she could grab it. It was soaked. She sighed as she shoved it into her pocket. The McBrides were going to be furious – but she wasn’t going to be covering for her stepbrothers this time.

Ella turned in time to see Alex rise from where he’d been kneeling. The doormat was askew, and he was waving a door key. Ella grinned and took it from his hand, then opened the door.

‘What are you doing?’ Clyde gasped as Ella walked into the hallway and took in her stepbrother’s hastily tied dressing gown which was bulging. Ella guessed he was wearing his snowsuit underneath, probably with the legs pulled up. But a red and white spotty petticoat poked from the hem giving him away. His cheeks were bright pink – almost the exact same shade as the last time she’d visited.

Wyatt suddenly nudged past her and pressed his nose to the carpet, taking in a couple of noisy sniffs before he padded towards the two pairs of large snow boots that were sitting by the kitchen door. Ella saw a puddle of water had spread from the soles at the same moment her stepbrother noticed and widened his eyes.

‘I don’t know why they’re wet,’ Clyde blustered. ‘I think Wyatt just peed on them,’ he accused, snarling at her dog in an attempt to intimidate him.

‘I think you’ll find Wyatt prefers doing his business on my Volvo,’ Alex said dryly as he followed them in and shut the door.

‘You need to leave!’ Clyde complained, shooing them away petulantly with his hands. ‘I feel really bad, and I want to go to bed. If you’ve brought food, you can just leave it in there.’ He wafted a palm towards the kitchen door.

Ella regarded him as she began to unbutton her coat. ‘I’m here because we need to talk and I’m not going anywhere until we do,’ she said quietly. She knew she should be angry, but seeing her stepbrother exposed just made her feel foolish. It was way past time they had this conversation, and she wanted to get it over with so she could go home.

Wyatt let out a low whine and left the snow boots, heading into the sitting room.

‘He’s probably cold,’ Ella said as Clyde watched her dog disappear.

‘He needs to leave,’ her stepbrother snapped. ‘You all need to. I don’t feel good.’ He pressed the back of his hand to his brow.

‘Clyde, you’re not ill,’ Ella said wearily.

‘Oh, yes, I am!’ He opened his eyes again looking surprised.

‘Oh, no, you’re not,’ Alex said, emphasising each word, clearly making the most of the pantomime phrase which just helped to punctuate how ridiculous Ella’s life had become. Alex stepped forward until they were standing side by side.

It felt good to have his support. She’d felt so alone for so many months. Not that she was going to allow herself to get used to it. Alex was leaving; he had his big important job to return to. His father to impress. There was no place in his world for her.

‘Where’s Dane?’ she asked.

If they were going to have this conversation, it might as well be with both of them.

‘In bed,’ Clyde said just as there was a noise from the stairs and Ella’s jaw dropped as Dane came trotting down wearing a black snowsuit with his pantomime skirt pulled over the top. He had a pair of blue earphones over his ears and was singing ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’ at the top of his voice. The words trailed off when he reached the bottom and spotted them. ‘Um.’ His eyes shot to Clyde’s and widened. ‘What are you doing here?’ he croaked.

‘I have some things to say,’ Ella said, feeling sad. She’d suspected her stepbrothers were lying when she’d visited the other day – and her suspicions had grown at the pantomime rehearsals. Then the light Alex had shone on their behaviour in the form of his sketch had been the point she’d finally accepted the truth.

But there something truly hurtful about seeing it in all its glory – with realising she really had been taken advantage of. By her so-called family .

She cleared her throat. ‘You’ve been lying to me,’ she said simply. ‘About being sick.’

‘No, we haven’t!’ Dane said, hastily removing the pantomime skirt from around his waist trying to look indignant. ‘Ella, we just went for a walk. We’ve been cooped up in this house for days. I thought some fresh air would help, but it didn’t…’

Wyatt trotted back into the hallway from the sitting room carrying something between his teeth.

‘What’s that?’ Clyde asked, trying to grab the bloodhound’s collar and missing.

Wyatt wandered up to Alex and dropped the item by his feet.

‘That’s mine, you need to give it back!’ Dane said urgently, trying to grab it but not before Alex picked it up.

It was a circular golden container and Ella watched as he turned it over and flipped open the top. ‘This looks like?—’

‘The blusher the makeup department have been using at the pantomime,’ Ella said, shaking her head at her stepbrothers. ‘I knew you looked strange when I visited the other day. You were wearing blusher to make yourselves look sick. You’ve been lying to me all along.’

Dane gulped and Clyde shook his head. ‘Oh, no, we?—’

‘Haven’t?’ Alex asked, his tone sarcastic. Her stepbrothers both flushed. ‘You’ve been caught, boys, the least you can do is admit it.’

‘You’ve been letting me do all your work for months,’ Ella said as tears pricked her eyes and the truth unfolded in her mind. ‘Ever since you finished university and joined the business.’

She didn’t know what was worse – the fact that they’d lied, or that she’d been stupid enough to believe them. If Alex hadn’t come to Mistletoe, would she have covered for them for the rest of their lives?

‘We don’t like cleaning.’ Dane pouted.

‘You think I do?’ Ella snapped, getting into his face. Her stepbrother grimaced and his chin dropped. ‘I did it to help out, because I thought it was my duty. Do you know how many hours I’ve worked this week?’ She threw up her hands. ‘I’ve been cleaning, mopping, dusting and keeping on top of all of our clients – alone! This is a family business. Only it’s not, is it?’

‘What do you mean?’ Clyde asked, looking genuinely confused.

‘I mean I have no family,’ she said, her voice cracking. ‘I lost all of it when Da died.’

‘You have us,’ Dane said. ‘We’re your brothers, Ella.’

She shook her head as she gazed at them. ‘If you were, you’d never have left me to do all of the work.’

‘We’re young,’ Clyde complained. ‘Ask mam. We just need to grow up.’

‘Now you sound like Lucinda. The thing is, boys, you’re twenty-two and that is grown up. It’s about time you started behaving like men.’ Ella blinked as they gaped at her, and Alex took her hand giving her the strength to continue.

‘You need to know Magic Mops has debts.’ Dane and Clyde both frowned. ‘Aye, but I’m going to do whatever I can to pay them off. After I do, the rest is going to be up to you. I’m not covering for you anymore. You come to work or the job doesn’t get done.’

Her voice hardened. ‘My da wouldn’t want me to live like this. We either thrive and survive together – or the business dies.’ Ella stared at them wondering how she’d missed all the signs. Wondering if her father really would forgive her for giving up. ‘You two need to decide what happens now. Are you in or out?’

‘We’re in, obviously,’ Dane muttered.

‘Of course,’ Clyde echoed.

‘Aye, well, time will tell,’ Ella said before she spun around and marched to the door, guiding Alex and Wyatt through it, before turning and shutting it in her brothers’ pale faces.

‘I think they just got the shock of their lives,’ she said to Alex. ‘I don’t know how I feel about it, though. We might lose everything.’

‘It was time to make a change. But for what it’s worth, I think they might step up. They looked really upset,’ he said.

‘Thank you.’ She turned to him. ‘I don’t know if I’d have done that without you.’

‘You would have, Ella,’ Alex said gently. ‘It just might have taken you a little more time to get there.’ He took her hand. ‘How about I walk you home and you get some rest?’

‘Aye.’ She sighed.

‘And I’ll expect you at Pinecone Manor bright and early. You’ve got a picture to paint.’

‘Don’t worry.’ Ella squeezed Alex’s hand. ‘I’ll be there. I’m definitely due a few days off…’