A Highland Family Affair (Highlands #3)

Chapter 28

28

It was almost eight in the evening and the long gallery was filled with smartly dressed people quaffing champagne and dancing. Some of the so-called dignitaries who would have attended a wedding at the cathedral were present for the evening reception, in all their finery, medals and brooches.

Olivia was dancing with her Uncle Innes, but she could see Bella standing over by the wall, chewing on her thumbnail, a crease of concern to her brow. Olivia wondered if she’d maybe had words with Harris. But a further glance along the same side of the room showed Harris chatting happily to Brodie and Ben. Isla was dancing with Will, and she looked merry enough. And to top everything off wonderfully, Kerr was dancing with Mirren. She turned to focus on her uncle and decided she would ask Bella later if everything was okay.

‘I hope you’ve had a wonderful day, my darling girl.’

Olivia smiled up at him. ‘It’s been magical.’

‘You’re happy?’ Innes asked with a tilt of his head.

Olivia nodded. ‘Deliriously so.’

Bella approached and took Olivia’s hand. ‘Excuse me, Innes, but could I borrow Liv for a few moments?’

Innes let go of Olivia and smiled. ‘Of course you can. Apologies for hogging our beautiful bride. I shall go and see if my good lady would like a champagne top-up.’ He turned and walked away towards Adaira, who was sitting chatting to one of the dignitaries’ wives.

Bella pulled Olivia by the hand until she dug her heels in. ‘What’s going on, Bells? You’ve looked really worried all evening, but you were fine this morning.’

Bella glanced over Olivia’s shoulder. ‘I need to talk to you for a sec. Can we go somewhere a bit quieter?’

Olivia nodded and allowed Bella to lead her along the corridor to the drawing room. Once inside, Bella closed the door behind them. The three drowsy dogs in their faux fur bed in front of the fire lifted their heads to see what the commotion was but Wilf and Marley lay back down again. Sir Lancelot, however, walked over to Olivia and began sniffing her dress again.

‘I don’t have any food, Lancey. Go and lie down, there’s a good boy.’ Instead of leaving, he sat, gazing up at her, nudging her with his nose. She huffed and turned her attention back to her friend but stroked the dog’s head to appease him. ‘What’s wrong, Bella? You’re worrying me.’

Bella placed a hand on both of Olivia’s arms and fixed Olivia with a concerned gaze. ‘Is there something you’d like to tell me?’

Olivia’s brows knitted and she shook her head. ‘Erm… thank you for coming all the way from Skye to be my bridesmaid? I’m sorry if I’ve neglected you today but it’s all been a bit full on and?—’

Bella tilted her head back and made an unladylike groaning sound. ‘Not that, you loon. Anything else you need to tell me? Anything exciting?’

Olivia shook her head. ‘I just got married?’

‘Not that either. In case you hadn’t noticed, I was here when that happened.’

‘Give me a clue here, Bella, because I haven’t the foggiest idea what you’re talking about.’

Bella rummaged around in her dress pocket. She pulled something out and thrust it in Olivia’s face. ‘Like this, perhaps?’

Olivia widened her eyes. ‘Oh.’ Olivia took the pregnancy test from her hand but didn’t look at it.

Bella scoffed. ‘ Oh ? Is that all you’ve got to say?’

Olivia curled her top lip. ‘And eeuw, what were you doing rummaging around in my waste bin?’

‘I’d left my lip gloss on your dressing table, so I went up to get it earlier and decided to borrow your loo while I was up there. But it wasn’t in the bin. It was on the cistern as plain as day. So…?’

Olivia sighed. ‘Oh. I could’ve sworn I put it in the bin. Anyway, it’s fine. I’ve just been feeling a bit off for a few days. A week or so maybe and my periods have been a bit hit-and-miss. I only took the test to be sure. But it’s clearly not that, so it must just be the wedding planning that’s wiped me out. Stress can play havoc with your menstrual cycle.’

Bella frowned. ‘Erm, hang on. What do you mean it’s clearly not that ?’

Olivia held up the stick. ‘Durrr! It’s negative, see? So that’s that.’

It was Bella’s turn to widen her eyes now. She took the test back and held it up. ‘Negative? Olivia, I’m not sure if you read the instructions properly but this test is not negative. It’s the complete opposite of negative. In fact, this test and negative are so diametrically opposed they aren’t even in the same universe.’

Olivia felt the colour drain from her face. ‘I’m sorry, what? No… no, I checked, and it was negative, that’s why I threw it away. Or at least why I thought I had.’

‘Erm, no! It’s positive! Very much positive. As in the clearest lines you can get.’

There was a knock at the door. ‘Go away!’ Bella and Olivia shouted simultaneously.

‘Aw, come on! It’s only me!’ Skye called. ‘If you’re having a girls’ conflab then I’m… oh, shit! Whose is that?’ she asked with a gasp as she walked into the room and spied what was in Bella’s hand. ‘Bells, are you?—’

‘It’s mine apparently,’ Olivia replied in a daze, taking the test from Bella again and staring at the lines that were showing in the little window.

‘Never mind that, Skye, did anyone follow you?’ Bella asked urgently.

Skye, a little worse for wear, giggled, then in a theatrical whisper she said, ‘Shhh,’ and glanced over her shoulder before singing the theme tune to Mission Impossible and moving around on her tiptoes. ‘Why? Is Tom Cruise about to lower himself from a hole in the ceiling?’ She burst out laughing but Bella whacked her arm. ‘Oy! What was that for?’ she whined, rubbing the spot.

‘This is serious, Skye,’ Bella hissed through pursed lips, clearly trying not to laugh at her tipsy friend.

Skye crumpled her face and slurred, ‘Why? She’s a married woman.’

Bella paused for a moment and gave a laugh. ‘Oh, yeah. Of course you are, Liv.’

A wave of nausea washed over Olivia along with the same light-headedness she’d felt a few times in the past week. ‘I need to sit down.’

They all walked around to the sofas and sat. The door opened again. ‘Caught you!’ Harper said with a loud laugh. ‘I came to see what you’re all being so secretive about.’

‘Shhhh!’ Bella and Skye hissed in unison.

Harper frowned and joined them at the sofas. She glanced at the little white stick with the royal blue lid that Olivia clutched in her hand and covered her mouth. ‘Shit. Is that…?’

‘Yup,’ Skye said with an overexaggerated nod and wag of her finger. ‘It sure is.’

Harper flopped onto the sofa by Olivia. ‘That’s amazing news!’ she said excitedly until she took in Olivia’s expression. ‘Hey, honey, are you okay?’ she asked gently.

Olivia lifted her face. ‘How am I going to tell Brodie?’

‘What do you mean?’ Harper asked.

Olivia swallowed. ‘We got married a matter of hours ago. What if he’s not ready for this? What if I’m not ready for this? It’s so sudden. What if he feels trapped? What if he leaves me?’

Bella came over and crouched before her. ‘Hey, stop that. You’re being ridiculous. Brodie adores you. And I’m not being funny here, but you didn’t exactly make this happen alone, did you?’

‘She’s right, babe,’ Harper agreed. ‘You just need to speak to him. Be honest.’ Harper paused. ‘Are… are you okay about this? I mean, it’s your body. How do you feel?’

Olivia shook her head. ‘At this moment in time, I feel shell-shocked. I can’t think straight. I thought it was negative. I mean, I haven’t had morning sickness or anything. I’ve felt a bit dizzy and… soooo tired but… I did a test this morning just to be able to discount pregnancy. But I never expected this. Not now. Not today.’ Her heart began to race, and a cold sweat broke out on her brow, her breathing became shallow, and her hands shook.

‘Come on, Liv, breathe, okay? Breathe. You’re panicking when you haven’t even spoken to Brodie. Why don’t we go get him and you can talk in here away from everyone?’ Bella said.

Harper nodded. ‘She’s right, Liv. You can’t worry until there’s something to actually worry about. But honestly, I think you’ll be absolutely fine.’

Olivia nodded. ‘Yes, you’re right. I do need to talk to him.’

Bella and Harper stood and helped Skye to her feet. ‘What’s happening?’ Skye asked, her eyes half closed.

‘Harper’s going to find Brodie and you’re coming outside with me for some fresh air,’ Bella told their drunk friend. ‘The last thing we need is you blurting it out in front of anyone. Loose lips and all that.’

Skye frowned. ‘Blurting what out?’

Bella rolled her eyes. ‘Never mind, come on, drunken Doris.’

Harper, Bella and Skye left Olivia sitting there on the sofa. Sir Lancelot came and nuzzled at her again. This time he was sniffing around her belly, and she gasped. ‘Is that what’s been wrong with you, Lancey? Can you tell I’m pregnant?’ She had heard of dogs being overly sensitive to such things but had never quite believed it; however, he had been so fussy with her recently. Nuzzling at her and lying close beside her. She had thought it was just crumbs he was after but now she realised it was probably not that at all.

After what felt like an eternity, Brodie hobbled into the room on his crutches. ‘Hey, wifey, are you okay? Bella said you needed to see me. You’re not going to ask for a divorce, are you?’ He laughed. ‘Because I swear my dancing will improve when the crutches are gone.’

Olivia covered her face with one hand and burst into tears that fell so fast she could barely wipe them away fast enough.

Brodie rushed to her as fast as his injury would let him and sat beside her on the sofa. She lowered her face, terrified of what was going to happen next.

Brodie took her empty hand. ‘Oh, God, Liv, you’re not really regretting marrying me, are you? I mean, we can usually get through anything so just tell me what it is, and I’ll try my best to fix it.’ His voice wavered and when Olivia lifted her gaze to look at him she saw the anguish in his eyes. ‘Oh, God, is it Kerr? What’s happened? Has he?—’

She shook her head and turned in her seat to face him. ‘No, no, it’s not that, Brodie. I swear Kerr has done nothing wrong. It’s just…’

He shook his head. ‘It’s just what? What’s wrong? You shouldn’t be sobbing on your wedding day.’

Slowly, and with a great deal of trepidation, she lifted her other hand and held it out flat with the positive pregnancy test resting on her palm. ‘This.’

He peered down at it, his face changing expressions faster than she could acknowledge or read them. But eventually he stood quickly and stared down at her, eyes wide, chest heaving. He leaned on the arm of the sofa to steady himself, possibly because of his leg but possibly out of shock. It was hard for Olivia to tell.

Olivia stared up at him. ‘Aren’t you going to say anything?’

He rubbed a hand over his face then pointed at the test with wide eyes. ‘Is that… Does that mean…?’

Olivia stood, leaving the test on the sofa. She cupped his face in her hands. ‘I’m so sorry. I have no idea how this happened. I know it’s not the news you wanted to hear on your wedding day. I mean, we haven’t even been married a day yet and now… this.’ Her chin trembled. ‘We can talk and make some decisions, but please let’s not allow this to ruin everything for us.’

Brodie’s brow crumpled again. ‘You’re sorry? But Liv, this isn’t something where blame needs to be placed. It takes two.’ He shrugged. ‘And… when you say make decisions, what do you mean, exactly ?’

Olivia glanced back down at the test. ‘I mean… we don’t have to do this right now. We have time.’

He tilted her face to make her look him in the eyes. ‘Olivia, are you saying you don’t want to go through with this?’

She closed her eyes and more tears spilled over her cheeks. ‘No… I’m not saying that. It’s just that we both agreed we’d have children someday . And now…’

‘Open your eyes, Liv,’ he said gently. She did so and found him smiling. ‘It looks like our someday is happening sooner than we expected. But aren’t you happy?’

Olivia gave a single laugh. ‘I want to be.’

‘Olivia MacLeod, do you want to have this baby with me?’ he whispered, his gaze not moving from hers.

‘I do,’ she said. ‘More than anything.’

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her with a tenderness that spoke of how much he adored her and when he pulled away, tears were cascading down his cheeks too. He placed a hand on her flat stomach and wiped her tears away with the other. ‘I’m going to be a daddy,’ he said before kissing her all over again.