A Highland Family Affair (Highlands #3)

Chapter 24

24

The following morning, Olivia awoke after a fitful night. Her legs and arms were heavy and her head fuzzy. Perhaps , she thought, I’m a little more stressed than I realised about the wedding . The frustration of being so ridiculously tired but unable to sleep annoyed her. It was having a knock-on effect to her appetite and her mood. She had thought she was relatively calm about her impending nuptials. Everything was in hand, after all. Her stomach roiled with hunger but at the same time the thought of food didn’t appeal at all.

She made her way down to the kitchen before anyone else and prepared a fresh pot of coffee. She was relieved to know that the castle and grounds were closed in the lead-up to the wedding, it made life a little easier and preparations would be smoother without having to navigate the public. She took two mugs back up to her bedroom for her and Brodie and relayed the events of the previous evening to him.

‘Bloody hell,’ Brodie said as he sat propped upright on the pillows against the tall headboard. ‘That poor kid. He’s been through such a lot.’

Olivia sipped her coffee, but the earthy aroma didn’t help her unsettled stomach, so she placed her mug down. ‘He has. But it was quite sweet to see him and Kerr sort everything out.’ She paused as everything sank in. ‘Kerr’s a dad,’ she said with a shake of her head. ‘I still can’t get my head around that. It’s crazy to think that the same person from only a few months ago is so remarkably different that he’s handled this whole thing so well. He really stepped up for Will.’

‘Good on him. I mean, it’s what he should do but after the way he found out about having a son, it could’ve gone very differently for someone in such a vulnerable state. I know it might sound a bit smooshy, but I’m quite proud of him.’

Olivia turned her face to Brodie. ‘Smooshy?’ she asked with a giggle.

‘Aye, I made it up, I think, but it fits.’

She narrowed her eyes. ‘It does, weirdly. I think you’ll make a lovely dad someday.’

‘And you’ll make a lovely mum,’ he replied with a smile. ‘So, what are you doing today?’ he asked, slipping his arm around her shoulders.

‘I’m interviewing again.’

‘Really? You didn’t want to leave it until after the wedding? It’s Wednesday and we get married on Saturday, you’re not expecting to hire someone and train them up by then, are you?’

Olivia shrugged. ‘Not really. But it would be nice to know that I’d at least made some progress with things.’

‘So, who are the candidates this time?’ he asked with an intrigued tilt of his head.

‘There’s a woman who’s around fifty-five, quite experienced in hotel management and says that her skills would transfer quite easily. There’s a guy who has just finished at Strathclyde university doing an MA in marketing, I could really mould him. There’s a man who took early retirement from the police in Aberdeen, not really sure what to expect there. And there’s a woman who is looking for work after taking a year out following her travel and tourism degree.’

Brodie nodded. ‘A few decent candidates, then. Good luck, sweetheart.’

Olivia sighed. ‘Thanks, I feel like I need it. Charlotte was good at the job, and it irks me that I had to let her go.’

‘But the trust was gone, there wasn’t a lot you could do.’

Olivia pursed her lips and huffed. ‘No, I suppose not. Right, I’d better get up and ready. What are your plans?’

‘I’m going to have one last check through the stuff for the new book.’

‘It’s a good thing you’d finished it when you had your accident.’

Brodie pursed his lips. ‘There was another walk I wanted to map but it’s not essential. I think there’s enough for people to go at with what I’ve prepared. We’ll just have to keep everything crossed that it actually sells.’

She kissed him on the nose and crossed her eyes. ‘If I cross everything, I won’t be able to interview people.’

He laughed. ‘Okay, maybe just metaphorically cross everything.’

‘Consider it done. Love you.’

‘Love you more,’ he said with tenderness and her heart flipped in her chest.

After a day of interviews, Olivia was worn out but felt like she had made a decision. It was a relief. The only thing now was getting the chosen candidate to accept the position. At five thirty, she made her way towards the kitchen to get herself a drink. There was an aroma of spices: turmeric, possibly ginger, garlic too, and meat emanating from the Aga that made Olivia’s stomach churn and she realised she hadn’t eaten. She wondered what Mirren had concocted. As she rounded the door, she found Kerr and Will sitting at the table chatting and eating shortbread. Kerr had a mug of steaming coffee in front of him and Sir Lancelot sat between them on the floor waiting for biscuit crumbs.

‘Oh, hi, Will. How are you doing?’ she asked with concern, knowing that the night before had been somewhat traumatic for the boy. She picked up a piece of shortbread and got a glass of water before sitting down with them.

Will seemed so much more relaxed than the last time she had seen him. He smiled brightly. ‘Everything’s good. My mum said I could go to the nursery straight from school and then I came here afterwards with Kerr. He says I can stay for dinner,’ he said quite shyly, as he twirled Sir Lancelot’s fur around in his fingers.

Kerr cringed. ‘If that’s okay, of course. Sorry to drop it on you. You’ve been busy all day or I would’ve checked.’

Sir Lancelot walked around and sat by her, resting his head in her lap so she stroked his head. ‘Of course you can stay for dinner. It will be nice to have you here.’

Will’s cheeks tinged with pink, and he lowered his gaze to his glass of water. ‘Thank you. And I’m really sorry about last night. I was out of order swearing like that in front of you, Lady Olivia.’

She smiled in a way she hoped was reassuring. ‘Hey, my name’s just Olivia, or Liv, okay? Until maybe you’re ready to call me Aunty Liv, but there’s no pressure there, okay?’

Will lifted his chin and nodded. ‘Thank you, Liv.’

She smiled. ‘So, what have you been doing at the nursery today? And I’m glad you had a change of clothes with you, looking at the mud on your top. Not sure your mum would be impressed trying to get that out of a white school shirt.’

He brushed futilely at the patches of greyish brown and winced. ‘Whoops. We’ve been weeding, haven’t we… Da… erm, Kerr?’

Kerr smiled but it was tinged with a little sadness. ‘Aye, we have. It’s mucky work but someone’s gotta do it, eh, lad?’

Will grinned. ‘Yup.’

Mirren walked in and immediately went to warm her hands on the fire. ‘It’s dropped a bit chilly out there this evening. I hope it gets warmer for the weekend or you’ll freeze in that lacy dress, Olivia,’ she said, rubbing her hands together.

‘Oh yeah, it’s your wedding, isn’t it?’ Will said. ‘That’s cool. I like Brodie. He’s funny.’

‘He is rather,’ Olivia agreed. ‘And I don’t even think I’ll feel it if it is cold. I’ll be too nervous.’

Will seemed to ponder for a moment. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever been to a wedding. Well, apart from my mum’s to Tabor but I was only little when that happened so it doesn’t really count.’

An idea came to Olivia, but she would need to run it past Brodie first, so she kept it quiet.

Mirren patted Will’s shoulder. ‘Now, young man, are you going to go and wash up before dinner? I’ve made a Moroccan lamb tagine. Goodness knows what it’ll be like because the recipe was from a website that Dougie found, I prefer cookbooks myself. He even ordered a special pot to cook it in from Amazon. Anyway, it smells all right.’

‘It smells amazing,’ Kerr said. ‘And, Will, you can go and wash in my room. If you look in the third drawer down, you’ll find some T-shirts. They’ll probably be a bit big on you, but it’ll be fine for tonight.’

Will stood from the table. ‘Thanks. I won’t be long. You coming, Lancey?’

Sir Lancelot paused, gazing up at Olivia for a second and leaning closer to sniff at her. ‘Sorry, buddy, I’ve eaten it all,’ she told the canine, so he sprang to his feet excitedly and scuttled after the boy.

‘I think you’ve got some competition there,’ Olivia said as the pair ran out of the room. ‘He seems to adore Will.’

Kerr nodded. ‘They’ve really bonded. Although he seems quite fond of you too.’

Olivia laughed. ‘When I’ve got food, yes.’ Kerr fell silent for a few moments until Olivia guessed he was holding something back. ‘What’s wrong, Kerr?’

Kerr glanced towards the door, as if checking the coast was clear, and he sighed. ‘He’s almost called me Dad three times this afternoon. But he keeps stopping himself.’

Olivia’s heart ached a little for her brother. ‘Oh, Kerr. I suppose it’s very early days, but have you told him he can call you Dad if he wants to?’

Kerr shrugged. ‘I said something to that effect last night at the cabin. But I don’t want to rush him. I mean, you’re right, I haven’t known him that long, and he’s literally known about me being his dad since yesterday. It’s probably too soon but… I get the feeling he wants to. I just don’t want him to feel pressured.’

Mirren squeezed his arm as she walked by. ‘Give him time. It’s a big deal,’ she said wisely. It had been the first time she had touched him affectionately since his return and the action warmed Olivia.

Kerr nodded. ‘Aye, you’re right. Charlotte and I have agreed to do a DNA test just to make it all official. Will’s given his permission too so we’re going to sort that out tomorrow.’

‘What will you do once the results confirm he’s your son?’

Kerr sighed. ‘I think… I’d really like to give him my name legally. Charlotte and I discussed it, and she says she’s happy to go ahead and allow it. It should take a couple of months apparently.’

‘Wow, she’s being quite amenable about the whole thing,’ Olivia said.

Kerr nodded. ‘She’s been really great, actually. Very understanding.’

‘As well she should be,’ Mirren said. ‘After what she’s done to the pair of you.’

‘I know, but I’m trying to keep things civil, for Will’s sake. He doesn’t need any extra stress from his parents.’

Olivia smiled. ‘You’re handling this well too, Kerr. He’s a lovely boy. Reminds me so much of you at his age.’

Kerr chuckled. ‘Oh, heck, don’t say that.’

‘Does anyone know where Brodie is?’ Olivia asked. She hadn’t seen him since their morning coffee.

‘Here I am,’ came his voice from the hallway and seconds later he hopped in on his crutches flanked by Will at one side, watching intently to make sure he didn’t fall, and the dogs on the other, intrigued by the big sticks he was using to walk but wouldn’t let them run off with. ‘This young man came to fetch me from the library,’ he said with a smile at Will.

Olivia was surprised to see that Will was wearing Kerr’s very old and faded Foo Fighters T-shirt that fit him perfectly. It was from the early two thousands and she’d no idea he still had it; it seemed uncharacteristically sentimental of her brother. Depicted on the shirt was the band’s name in a scratchy font and the black heart from the cover of their One by One album. Olivia could remember her older brother going through his rock phase around the age Will was now. And seeing him in the T-shirt brought back amusing memories of fourteen-year-old Kerr singing the track ‘Times Like These’ at the top of his lungs behind the closed door of his room, along with the CD. Although he was no Dave Grohl, that was certain. Now she saw Will in his dad’s clothes, it was astounding how much he really did look like him.

‘Thanks, Will, that’s very thoughtful,’ Olivia said.

‘Can I do anything to help, Mrs MacLeod?’ Will asked Mirren.

‘Aye, you can call me Mirren for starters. I’ve enough on with Radio Highland making me feel old,’ she said with a wink. ‘And yes, you can pass the plates out.’

Dougie arrived moments later, kissed Mirren on the cheek, washed his hands and then grabbed the oven gloves and carried the tagine pot to the table. ‘Evening, all. Wait till your taste buds experience this aromatic explosion.’

Will laughed and passed out the plates before sitting down by Kerr. Mirren dished out the food and as she was passing a bowl of couscous around the table, Brodie cleared his throat.

‘Erm, Will, I was wondering, are you busy on Saturday at all? If not, I wondered if you’d give me a hand with something.’

Will crumpled his brow, confusion evident in his eyes. ‘Noooo, I’m not busy… but you are , aren’t you? How can I help you with something when you’ve got a wedding to go to?’

Brodie’s eyes widened and he wagged his fork. ‘Dammit! I had a feeling there was something going on.’ He smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand and chuckled. ‘Actually, that’s what I wanted to ask you about. You see, I could do with another usher to help hand out the order of service and show people to their seats. And seeing as Kerr is going to be busy walking my beautiful bride-to-be down the aisle, I thought you might like to help.’

It was as if he had read Olivia’s mind. ‘Oh, yes! What a brilliant idea. Would you like to help, Will?’

Will sat there, open-mouthed for a few seconds, a little aghast. His eyes welled with tears and he sniffed. ‘Seriously? You mean like… I’d be like part of the family?’

It was clear to Olivia that being part of a family was something he had missed out on. His grandparents had taken a while to warm to the idea of him, his stepfather didn’t really want to be involved with him and so his mother had been his only family for a large part of his existence. Having been surrounded by family her whole life, even if some of the time it was difficult, Olivia couldn’t imagine what that must have been like for him. She leaned across and handed him a clean tissue, although she felt like she might need it herself at any second. ‘Will, you are part of the family,’ she told him.

His chin trembled and he simply nodded. Kerr leaned and pulled the boy into his side. ‘You’ll set me off, lad, I’m an emotional wreck these days,’ he said with a laugh, and he kissed the side of his son’s head.

‘That’d be bangin’, thanks,’ Will eventually said with a wide grin. ‘All the kids at school say that, so I hope it’s not rude.’

‘We’ll make a Scot out of you yet, son,’ Dougie said with a wink.