A Highland Family Affair (Highlands #3)

Chapter 23

23

With only days to go until the wedding, it was a relief to have Brodie home even though he was on strict rest. Just the feel of him beside her in bed was comforting and she was secretly enjoying looking after him too.

As Olivia helped him into bed, he said, ‘We need to get you a sexy nurse’s outfit.’ There was a cheeky, joking glint in his eye.

‘Sexy nurse? Really?’

He shrugged and chuckled. ‘Why not?’

She rolled her eyes. ‘I’m going to forget you said that but only because you used your charm on the bishop about us not getting married at the cathedral.’

He pulled her arm so that she fell almost on top of him. ‘It wasn’t the wedding you wanted so it had to be done. I want you to have your perfect dream wedding,’ he whispered into her ear.

Shivers travelled the length of her spine, and she closed her eyes as he kissed her neck. ‘Ahem, down boy, we agreed we’d wait until the wedding night. You know your leg needs to heal, Mr MacLeod.’

He stuck out his bottom lip. ‘Spoilsport. But I’m really looking forward to the wedding night.’ There was that glint again.

There was a knock on the bedroom door and Olivia went to answer it. Kerr stood there, as white as a sheet. ‘Kerr? What’s wrong?’

‘It’s Will. He’s gone missing. Charlotte has phoned to ask if he’s here but he’s not. She’s tried all of his friends, but no one has seen him and now PC Sherburn is downstairs.’ His words came out in a rush of panic.

Confusion clouded Olivia’s mind. ‘Why would he have gone missing? He’s probably with a friend she doesn’t have a number for.’

Kerr shook his head and closed his eyes. ‘She told him, Liv. About me being his dad. He went ballistic and stormed upstairs. She thought he’d gone into his room to sulk but… when she went to check on him his window was open, and he was nowhere to be found. She’s really panicking. I’m going to go and help her look. I just wanted to let you know and to ask if I can borrow the Land Rover.’

‘Aye, of course you can, mate. I’m sorry I can’t come and help,’ Brodie called from the bed.

‘I can come with you,’ Olivia said.

Kerr’s face brightened. ‘Would you? That’d be really good, sis.’ He chewed his fingernail. ‘I’m… I’m terrified he’s hurt somewhere and it’s all because of me.’

She reached out and gripped his arm. ‘ None of this is your fault, Kerr. None of it, okay? I’ll grab my jacket.’

They reached the foyer where PC Sherburn was waiting. ‘So, you haven’t seen him either, Lady Olivia?’ she asked in that familiar Yorkshire accent.

Olivia shook her head. ‘Sorry, I haven’t, but we’re going to join the search.’

‘Great. Just take it steady, okay? We don’t want you on crutches for your wedding too.’ PC Sherburn left them to it and went back to her patrol car.

Olivia and Kerr drove around Drumblair village staring at every teenager they passed and squinting into every alleyway. They even checked the graveyard just in case he was in there. It was eerily quiet, as graveyards often are, but there was no sign of him. After they had checked the bottom tracks of Ben Blair but there was no still no sign of Will, Kerr was pale and shaking.

‘I’m sure he’s fine, Kerr. He probably needed space to think after such a bombshell. It’s big news to receive out of the blue. Just remember your own reaction when you found out about him.’

It was over an hour into their search and Kerr suddenly turned to Olivia. ‘Do you think he might have gone to the nursery?’

‘Oh, gosh, I didn’t think of that. Maybe he has. It’s a place that connects him to you. Let’s head there now.’

As they pulled into the car park of the nursery, Olivia noticed that a vehicle was parked in the car park with a light on inside.

‘Look!’ She pointed across the car park. ‘Judd’s van is there, he might have seen Will.’

Kerr sighed. ‘Let’s hope so.’ He got out and jogged towards the old white van and Olivia followed close behind.

Judd got out of the van when he saw them approaching, a look of concern on his face. ‘Hi, Kerr, I was just messaging you. I’m not sure why but Will’s here in the cabin. He’s angry and looks like he’s been crying but he wouldn’t answer me when I asked what was wrong. He went into the cabin and shut the door. I didn’t like to interfere, so I thought I’d better let you know. I didn’t want to drive away and leave him as I was worried about the lad.’

‘Cheers, Judd, I’ll handle it from here. Thanks for staying, though, I really appreciate it.’

‘No worries at all. I’ll get going. I hope he’s okay.’ Judd climbed back into his van and drove away. After what Ali had imparted to her about Judd’s upbringing when she had visited the nursery, it was clear why he was so concerned.

When they reached the cabin, Kerr knocked on the door. ‘Will? Are you in there?’ His voice was strained.

‘Go away! I don’t want to speak to you!’ came a voice from inside. Olivia fired off a quick text to Charlotte to let her know he had been found.

Hi Charlotte. Will is fine. At nursery. Kerr talking to him. Please give them some space for a while and we’ll drop him home. Thanks. Olivia.

A reply came quickly.

Thank goodness! Thank you so much. Will let police know. Of course I’ll leave you to it for now. Please keep me posted. And please tell him I’m sorry. C x

Kerr glanced at Olivia, and she nodded in encouragement.

Kerr cleared his throat. ‘Look, Will, your mum’s worried sick so I’m coming in.’ Without awaiting confirmation, he opened the door and stepped inside with Olivia. Will was sitting on the old wing-back chair that had once belonged to Ali Gordon. Tatty old advertising posters for the nursery adorned the walls and there was a musty outdoor smell of damp soil and pine. Will’s head was low, his elbows rested on his knees and his hands were gripping his hair.

‘Hey, buddy. What are you doing all the way out here?’ Kerr asked gently.

Will lifted his head. His eyes were bloodshot. ‘Go away and leave me alone!’ he shouted. ‘It’s what you’re good at,’ he sneered.

Kerr took a step closer. ‘I’m sorry but I won’t do that, buddy. I’m worried about you.’

Will glared at him. ‘Oh, yeah? Well, one , I’m not your buddy and two , I know that’s bullshit! You don’t care about anyone! Least of all me!’

Kerr held up a hand. ‘Hey, hey. Mind the language, eh? And what do you mean I don’t care about anyone? That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it?’

‘Oh, piss off. Stop trying to act like you give a shit because you definitely don’t!’ The teenage boy had tears streaming down his face and his voice broke as he shouted. ‘You made out to me like my mum was your dream woman and you pretended to be all happy and then you dumped her for no reason. And you didn’t care about me when I was born so why would you care now?’

Kerr crouched down before the boy. ‘I’m guessing this is all because your mum has told you about me,’ he said with a dejected sigh. ‘I’m sorry if you’re disappointed to find out I’m your dad, Will. But I actually didn’t know about you until a few weeks ago.’

Will’s brow crumpled and he shook his head. ‘Eh? Again with the bullshit. Stop lying for once in your life, you dickweed.’

Olivia watched Kerr’s jaw ticking under his skin. ‘Come on now, stop with the bad language, Will. There’s no need for it.’

Will’s eyes widened. ‘No need? No need? There’s every need! You’ve known about me for fourteen years and you never once tried to get in touch with me.’ He jabbed a finger in Kerr’s direction. ‘You never sent a single birthday card. You never came at Christmas. You never turned up for football matches. You were never at parents’ evening. You never came to see me and make sure I was okay. Instead, I was made to think my “dad”,’ he made inverted commas in the air, ‘was some snobby Hungarian bloke who didn’t give a shit about me and refused to even give me his last name. And all this time Tabor wasn’t even my real dad. And you were up here in your sodding castle playing lord of the bloody manor while I was in Hampshire feeling lonely and like no one loved me,’ Will sobbed. ‘You have no idea how shit that is. To want a dad so badly and for him not to want you back.’

Olivia’s heart ached for the poor boy and her eyes began to sting.

Kerr shook his head and his chin trembled. ‘You’ve got it all wrong, Will. I honestly didn’t know about you. If I had, I’d have?—’

‘You’d have what? Been father of the year? Yeah, whatever. Adults always lie.’ Will turned away from Kerr and pulled at a thread on the chair.

Kerr reached out but Will snatched his hand away. Even so, Kerr continued. ‘Look, I’m not lying to you, Will. I had no clue you even existed until your mum sprang it on me too. And just to clarify, she and I split up because I felt lied to just like you do. Now I’m not trying to get her into trouble. She was doing what she thought was right for you. She moved you here to check me out. To make sure I wasn’t some axe murderer. But she wanted us to know each other. She wanted me to be your dad. She just went about it… differently .’

Olivia was amazed at how magnanimous Kerr was being. He really had changed.

‘But believe me, if I had known about you when you were born, I would’ve been there. I maybe wouldn’t have won the father of the year award, admittedly, but I would’ve never let you feel like no one loved you, Will. I would’ve proudly given you my name. And you would never … ever have had to look out into the crowd at a football match and have no dad there to support you. I would have been there, shouting the loudest for my son. My son.’ He laughed through the tears that were now cascading down his face. ‘I’d have been terrified, obviously. But I would’ve been there. I can promise you that. And I would have loved you. I’m being completely honest that you were as much of a shock to me as I am to you.’ He paused and glanced at Olivia. She wiped her eyes and nodded. Kerr turned back to Will. ‘We’ve missed out on so much life together and that really sucks… It hurts, Will. It bloody hurts. But I’m willing to make up for lost time now if you’ll let me.’

Will continued to pull at the thread but he turned his face towards Kerr. ‘You didn’t know about me? Really? Tell me the truth, Kerr. Because I’ve just found out that my whole life has been a complete lie. For once I just want someone to tell me the truth.’

Kerr swiped tears from his cheeks and nodded. ‘I swear on all the new transplants.’

Will’s eyes widened. ‘All of them? All the ones we just planted?’

Kerr nodded and smiled. ‘Every. Last. One.’

Will shook his head, the crease between his brows reappeared and deepened. ‘But… how come you didn’t know? It’s pretty hard to miss your girlfriend’s belly getting bigger.’

Kerr cringed and sighed. ‘This is probably too much information but… me and your mum… it was a one-time thing. I returned to Scotland a day or so after. We had swapped numbers but…’

‘It was never meant to go anywhere?’

Kerr nodded. ‘I don’t mean any disrespect to your mum. But we were young. Neither of us expected… you .’ Will’s eyes filled with sadness and Kerr continued. ‘But that doesn’t mean you weren’t wanted, Will. Your mum wanted you. And had I known about you back then, I would’ve wanted you too.’

‘So it’s all my mum’s fault,’ he spat, his words almost venomous.

Kerr held up his hand. ‘No. No, that’s not what I’m saying at all. Your mum was trying to protect you. She made a mistake in not telling you sooner, admittedly. But she did it for the right reasons. She didn’t want any harm to come to you. She thought that Tabor was going to be a father to you. He offered her security and she thought that was the best thing at the time.’

Will scoffed. ‘So it was better to be with some geezer who didn’t even talk to me instead of knowing my real dad?’ His anger was still evident in his red cheeks. ‘I spent all that time trying to make him love me, liking the things he liked, and all for nothing. I even watched Star Trek for that wan?—’

Kerr held up both hands. ‘Whoa! Will! You have to try and see this from your mum’s point of view. She was doing her best to protect you. For all she knew, I could’ve been a gambling alcoholic with narcissistic tendencies.’ He glanced at Olivia, who gave a wry smile. ‘And back then I probably wasn’t much better than that. But I’m making changes now. I’m trying to be a better person. Your mum waited to find me and, to be honest, she probably did the right thing. But I want you to know that I’m proud to be your father, Will. Since getting to know you and working with you here at the nursery, I’ve seen what a great kid you are. We have things in common, you and me. We laugh at the same things and we both love the trees and the plants, don’t we?’ Will nodded. ‘So maybe… if you’d let me… I could be your friend first, and then… maybe some time down the line you’d let me… be your dad.’

Will stared at him for a moment before grappling him into a hug. ‘We were already friends,’ he said.