A Highland Family Affair (Highlands #3)

Chapter 6

6

Olivia awoke on the Saturday morning to find that Brodie had already left on his morning walk, meaning she could finally stretch and luxuriate in her empty bed a little longer. It was Dougie’s Saturday to be on duty in the grounds so she could have some real, honest-to-goodness leisure time. She planned on taking her time to prepare for the evening out with her man and noticed a flutter of excitement in her belly when she thought about it. She checked her phone and saw a message from Bella.

Hey honey! We’re all settled in. The house is really nice but needs my touch. Granny Isla may already have a fancy man! Talk about quick work. Harris has today off so we’re heading out for a day touring Skye on his motorbike. I’m getting used to it now. And apparently, I’m improving as a pillion passenger. I miss you already though. Make sure you call me or message me as soon as Keanu Reeves proposes to you! Love you xx

Olivia smiled. Her friends had compared Brodie to the famous actor since they saw him at her mother’s funeral and didn’t recognise him. He had simply been a dark-haired, handsome and mysterious stranger then.

She fired a quick reply.

Hey my lovely. Missing you like mad. And well done on the motorbike. You’ll be getting your own next. Glad to hear Isla is settling in and making friends (wink emoji). Brodie is taking me out tonight to the Glenmoriston Town House, so you never know! I’ll keep you posted don’t worry. Love you too xx

She reached for her book from her nightstand and relaxed back into her pillows to read. But her peace was short-lived when there was a knock on her door. She sat upright.

‘Yes?’

The door opened a fraction. ‘Am I okay to come in for a minute?’ Kerr asked from behind it.

‘Yes, sure.’

He walked in, closely followed by Sir Lancelot, aka his permanent shadow, and sat on the edge of the bed. ‘I’ve found a meeting I can attend in Inverness. They deal with addictions and provide support for people like me.’ He fixed her with a determined gaze. ‘I’m ready to tackle this thing head on, Liv. I told you I was sincere, and I meant it. I haven’t touched alcohol since I came home.’

Olivia nodded, a little taken back by his raw honesty and willingness to change. ‘That’s… that’s amazing.’ She reached out and took his hand. ‘At the risk of sounding patronising, I’m proud of you, Kerr. And I think you’re doing the right thing.’

His eyes seemed to brighten, and he straightened his back. ‘That means a lot. Thanks, sis.’ He sat there with pursed lips as if he had more to say.

‘What is it?’ she asked.

‘I was going to say… I mean… although you’re probably busy…’

Olivia laughed. ‘Come on, spit it out.’

His cheeks coloured pink. ‘I know this is totally out of character for me… well, the old me anyway, but I wondered if you’d like to go out to dinner this evening? Just us two? I think we have a lot of catching up to do.’

Olivia’s heart sank. ‘Oh… that would’ve been lovely, but Brodie and I are already going out this evening.’

He nodded and held up his hands. ‘It was really short notice, don’t worry. Another time maybe?’

‘Absolutely. I’d really like that.’

He smiled again. ‘Great.’ He stood. ‘I’ll let you get back to your book. If I don’t see you before, have a lovely evening.’ He walked towards the door and paused when he reached it. ‘Hey, maybe he’s going to propose.’

Olivia felt her cheeks warming. ‘Oh, I don’t know about that.’

‘Well, he should. You deserve to be happy.’ And with that he left.

Later on, Olivia sat at her dressing table applying her make-up as Brodie fastened his white shirt. He was wearing dark blue jeans and a tweed jacket too. His facial hair was neatly trimmed back, and his naturally wavy hair was freshly washed and sitting around his collar where it flicked out a little. She had told him that Kerr had found a support group.

‘He seems determined, I’ll give him that,’ he said as he sat down on the edge of the bed to watch her with fascination as she applied a sheer gloss to her lips. ‘Maybe he has changed.’

‘If he hasn’t, he’s putting on an Oscar-worthy performance. He asked me to go out with him tonight. Said we have a lot of catching up to do.’

Brodie stood and walked over to her. ‘Wow. I suppose he’s right. I mean you’ve never really had a traditional sibling relationship. I remember when we were kids, he used to be pretty aloof with you. Perhaps this could be the start of something good for the two of you.’ He rested his hands on her shoulders. ‘I’ll leave you to finish getting ready.’ He kissed the top of her head. ‘You already look beautiful.’

She glanced down at her comfy old fluffy robe. ‘I can just go out like this if you prefer,’ she said with a giggle.

‘As cute as you look, I think I’d prefer you in that,’ he replied, pointing at the navy-blue lace-covered dress hanging on the closet door.

She rolled her eyes. ‘Okay, I suppose I’ll wear that instead then.’

He chuckled. ‘See you downstairs, Lady MacBain.’

Once he left, Olivia couldn’t help wondering if his use of her full name had been purposeful. A herd of elephants began to stampede around her insides, while simultaneously playing basketball with her heart, or so it seemed.

She pulled on the beautiful navy-blue dress with the lace across the décolleté that he had asked her to wear. It was one she had purchased in New York from a trendy boutique she and her American bestie Harper had found. It had reminded her of a scene from Pretty Woman where the staff were rude to Julia Roberts’s character as they too were eyed suspiciously by the glamorous assistant. She almost didn’t buy the dress and suffice to say they never returned.

As they headed for the boutique’s exit, Harper had announced with a sneer, ‘I think it’s great that you design for Nina Picarro and still choose to support these independent boutiques, Liv.’ The shop assistant’s eyes were suddenly like golf balls, and she followed them, effusing over how much the dress had suited Olivia and how she hoped they’d be back very soon. Funny how a change in status can influence people into being nice when human kindness costs nothing , Olivia had thought. She had only worn the dress on a handful of occasions, but it made her feel nice. It skimmed her curves and sat just below her knees at a demure length; not too dressed up to be formal but smart enough to look like she had made an effort for her man.

She stood before the full-length mirror to assess her finished appearance and glanced at the photo of her mother that was lodged into the frame there. The older she was getting, the more she could see of herself in that photograph. She reached out and touched it. In the picture, her mother was sitting on one of the benches in the castle grounds with a beaming smile on her face. It had been the height of summer around five years ago when Olivia had snapped the image and the sun highlighted her mother’s Titian hair, creating a sort of golden halo around her.

She was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion. She missed her mum so much that her heart ached. She closed her eyes for a moment when the stinging of threatened tears needled behind her eyes. She didn’t want to ruin her make-up. ‘Well, if he doesn’t propose to me tonight, Mum, there’s something seriously bloody wrong,’ she told the photo. She could imagine her mother’s reply. ‘ It’ll happen, darling, give it time .’

She took a deep breath and grabbed her big, smart, warm black coat with the faux fur collar and flung it over her arm. She usually felt like the Michelin man when she put it on, but it was freezing out and she wasn’t prepared to suffer in the name of beauty. At twenty-nine, she was past that point of her life where a flimsy little top could miraculously fend off the winter chill.

As she descended the stairs, she was greeted by Kerr in the foyer. ‘Wow, you look beautiful, sis,’ he said with a genuine smile. She still couldn’t get used to him calling her sis so naturally as if it had always been that way.

‘Thank you,’ she replied with a smile. ‘Have you seen Brodie?’

He pointed towards the corridor. ‘I think he’s in the drawing room.’

‘Thanks.’ She walked along and opened the large oak door. Sure enough, Brodie was standing by the piano looking at her family photos. ‘We need to put one of us on there,’ she told him as she joined him.

He turned to face her. ‘That’d be great. Let’s do it soon. Perhaps we can get a photo of us this evening. Maybe Kerr will take one before we leave.’ He bent and kissed her cheek, and the deliciously familiar smell of his cologne infiltrated her senses. ‘You look stunning,’ he told her.

‘And you look so handsome,’ she replied.

There was a knock at the door, and it opened a crack. ‘Erm, sorry to interrupt… again … but your taxi’s here,’ Kerr said through the sliver of an opening, without entering the room.

‘Kerr, mate, could you take a photo of us before we go?’ Brodie asked, holding out his phone.

Kerr walked in smiling widely. ‘Sure. Absolutely. Why don’t you stand by the fireplace?’

Brodie held Olivia’s hand and they walked over to where the fire was roaring as usual. ‘Here?’ he asked.

Kerr took the phone. ‘Perfect. Say gorgonzola,’ he said with a grin.

‘Gorgonzola?’ Olivia asked with a scrunched nose.

Kerr shrugged. ‘Bit more interesting than just “cheese”.’

Brodie and Olivia looked at each other and laughed. ‘Aye, I suppose,’ Brodie said.

Kerr quickly snapped the photograph while the couple were smiling at each other. ‘That’s a really nice photo of the two of you,’ he said as he looked at the screen on the phone. ‘You look really happy. Here you go.’

Brodie took the handset and smiled. ‘You’re right. That’s really good. Cheers, Kerr.’

Olivia walked over and kissed Kerr on the cheek. ‘It’s lovely, thank you.’

Kerr’s face flushed and he cleared his throat. ‘Och, stop it, you two, my head’ll not fit through the door. Anyway, enjoy your evening, I’m going to take Lancey for a walk around the grounds.’ He scuttled off, clearly embarrassed and possibly a wee bit emotional too.

As they left the castle to climb into the waiting taxi, Olivia was thankful she had chosen the huge coat. The temperature was definitely in the minus figures and, even with the thick layer of wool between her and the evening air, she shivered as she sat in the back seat.

Brodie immediately took her gloved hands and rubbed them. ‘It’s bloody Baltic!’ he said with a shiver. ‘I’m really looking forward to this evening.’ He patted his breast pocket as if checking something was there and Olivia’s stomach flipped.

The journey into Inverness was punctuated by music from the local radio station. A string of old hits that Olivia hadn’t heard in ages wafted over the airwaves as she rested her head on Brodie’s shoulder.

Simply Red’s ‘Stars’ played, and she closed her eyes to absorb the beautiful lyrics which seemed very apt in that moment. She hadn’t been born when it originally came out, but she had heard and loved it plenty of times since.

Brodie rested his head on hers and squeezed her hand. ‘I love you,’ he whispered.

She lifted her head and gazed into his eyes. ‘I love you too.’

The taxi came to a halt outside the Glenmoriston Town House and Brodie paid the driver before getting out and walking around to open Olivia’s door.

‘M’lady,’ he said with a flouncy gesture of his hands.

‘Why, thank you, kind sir,’ she replied, taking his offered hand and climbing out too.

A layer of snow covered the ground again now and glistening flakes floated down to mingle with the blanket already coating the pavement beneath their feet. The twinkling lights of the theatre across the river reflected in the still water and gave a festive appearance to the place, even though it was weeks from Christmas.

Once inside, the warmth of the restaurant wrapped Olivia in a blanket of heat that she was grateful for. One of the waiting staff took their coats and the ma?tre d’ showed them to a table in the atmospherically lit dining room. The dark chocolate-coloured walls were a contrast to the crisp white table linens, and each table was lit at its centre with the glow of candlelight. Brodie pulled out Olivia’s chair and she sat as a waiter brought over a couple of menus and a wine list.

‘Could we have a bottle of Mo?t, please?’ Brodie asked as he handed back the wine list.

The smartly dressed waiter nodded. ‘Certainly, sir. I’ll leave you to have a look at the dinner menu.’ He left them.

Olivia couldn’t help the beaming smile that had spread across her face. ‘Are we celebrating?’ she asked as her heart fluttered.

Brodie shrugged. ‘I wanted to really splash out, that’s all. You deserve it.’

She reached to take his hand. ‘You work just as hard as I do.’

He smiled in return. ‘Well then, we both deserve it. Now… what are you fancying?’

The waiter delivered their chilled bottle of champagne and glasses, then took their order before leaving them once again.

Brodie held up his glass. ‘To us,’ he said.

Olivia clinked his glass with hers. ‘To us,’ she repeated.

‘Have you heard from Bella?’

Olivia sipped her champagne and let the bubbles tickle her tongue before she spoke. ‘Yes, she’s settling in well and exploring the island,’ she replied.

‘I must admit I’m a tad envious. Skye is so beautiful. We’ll have to visit soon.’

‘That sounds like a good idea to me. I do miss her. And Granny Isla.’

Brodie laughed. ‘Oh, aye. Isla is a character. I loved having her around when they were living at Drumblair. She had this way about her, she’d speak her mind and bugger the consequences but at least you knew where you were with her, eh? It’s not the same without her and her wee dog. I think Wilf misses his playmate now that Marley is slowing down a bit. Beau was so on his wavelength.’ He shook his head.

‘Well, there’s always Sir Lancelot. He and Wilf get along well.’

Brodie almost choked on his drink as he laughed. ‘Honestly, I thought Wilf was a funny name for a dog.’ He shook his head. ‘He’s a sweet wee thing, though.’

Olivia raised her eyebrows. ‘I would hardly call him wee .’

‘Aye, fair comment. He’s a sweet muckle thing.’

Their main courses arrived and as Brodie tucked into his succulent steak, Olivia enjoyed her melt-in-the-mouth salmon with a cream and dill sauce. As she glanced around the dining room, she smiled to herself. Amongst the other guests there was an elderly couple holding hands across their table. The adoration for each other was clear in the way their crinkled eyes were fixed on each other as they talked and laughed. How sweet , she thought. And for a moment she imagined herself and Brodie like that.

The place wasn’t overly crowded but there was a lively atmosphere and a low rumble of conversation which was backed by a soundtrack of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons . She distinctly recognised ‘Autumn’, one of her father’s favourites, and recalled evenings sitting in the library reading by the glow of firelight as her father sat, eyes closed and a small smile on his lips as the sound of violins wafted through the air.

Once their plates were empty and cleared away, the waiter returned. ‘Can I offer you a dessert menu?’

Brodie nodded enthusiastically. ‘You sure can. But… can we have a bit of a break before dessert, please?’

‘Absolutely,’ the young man replied and with a nod he turned and walked away.

Brodie reached for Olivia’s hand. ‘We should do this more often. You work so hard, and I worry about you. You’ve taken on so much since becoming the owner of Drumblair. So, it’s my intention to make sure that we get as much time for us as possible.’

Olivia smiled and she tilted her head. ‘You’re so sweet. You take such good care of me.’

‘Aye, for someone who doesn’t like being taken care of. Miss Independence,’ he teased.

‘Would you rather I was a damsel in distress?’

His brow crumpled and he huffed. ‘Definitely not. I love that you’re a boss lady. It’s sexy as hell.’ His mouth curled upwards.

Olivia felt her face heating. She may have appeared to be a ‘got it all together’ type of woman on the surface, but underneath she sometimes wanted someone else to take charge. Of course, now that she knew he found her sexy when she was assertive, she wouldn’t be admitting to it any time soon.

‘Anyway.’ He cleared his throat. ‘There’s something I need to ask… or say… or well… something important we need to do… or talk about…’

God, she loved it when he got all shy and stumbled over his words. It was cute and endearing. ‘Really?’ Her heart leapt in her chest, and she felt sure her voice had pitched so much so that dogs would be running to the restaurant from all over Inverness. She cleared her throat too and repeated in a lower, more casual register, ‘Really?’

He reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out…

An envelope? Oh. Okay. Right then…

He slid the envelope across the table and was clearly trying to stifle a grin.

‘What’s this?’ she asked, staring at the decidedly un-ring-box-like thing on the table. Disappointment tugged at her insides just a wee bit and she hoped it didn’t manifest in her expression. He didn’t deserve for her to be ungrateful.

‘Open it,’ he instructed firmly, his grin immovable.

She lifted the envelope with shaking hands. Maybe he’s written his proposal in a note? She fumbled out the envelope that was within the original envelope, a little confused by now. She took out the contents of the second envelope. ‘A trip to Skye?’ she said with a gasp.

‘I thought you might like to see Bella and visit where she’s living now. I know how much you miss her.’

Olivia shook her head. ‘But… Brodie, I don’t understand. These are for the week before Christmas. That’s… only a few weeks away. I can’t go on holiday. I have the Christmas Countdown Fayre happening at the castle and… I have no assistant. I can’t just up and leave.’

Brodie took her hand. ‘So, we’ll employ someone ASAP. Someone with experience. Or I’m sure Innes will step in. He’s good at taking charge. It’s only a few days and we’ll be back just in time for Christmas with the family. Don’t you want to see Bella and Isla?’

‘Of course I do. And this is so sweet of you, don’t get me wrong, I really appreciate it but…’

He fixed her with a determined stare. ‘No buts, Olivia. We’re going. There, I’m putting my foot down. You work so hard, and I think the break will be good for both of us.’

It was evident he was brooking no argument on the matter, and he was right, a trip to Skye would do them the power of good. Since opening the castle to the public there had been little time for trips away and Skye would be very romantic.

‘I’ll call the agency first thing on Monday then,’ she said.