The Heir of the Castle

But his loyalty to Angus ran deep. Too deep.

If he walked away then he’d never find out who inherited the castle, or their plans for it. A tiny seed started to sprout in his brain.

Maybe being here wasn’t so crazy after all. Sure, inheriting a castle sounded good on paper, but once Angus’s relatives realised the implications, the upkeep, the financial commitments, he was pretty sure they would all run screaming for the hills. Maybe he could make them an offer? He’d always been prepared to pay a fair price, and if Angus wouldn’t accept it, maybe one of his children would?

His eyes fixed on Laurie. She was young. She was a lawyer in London. She wouldn’t want to be landed with a castle in the Highlands.

For the first time this weekend he actually paused to think. Maybe he should play nice?

He squinted at the name on his card. He hadn’t paid attention to any of the instructions about the Murder Mystery Weekend. ‘It appears I’m Bartholomew Grant, thirty-three, a stock-market trader.’

A cheeky smile appeared on her face along with the tiniest flush of red. ‘Hmm...Bartholomew Grant. Well, whaddya know? I believe you’re one of my two adoring men.’ She gave a little wave of her hand. ‘Here’s hoping you can play the part, Callan.’

The feather was bobbing in the wind. The shimmering red glass beads picking up the soft lights from the open doors of the drawing room. She hadn’t donned a short bob wig in keeping with the time; instead she’d left her long brown curls snaking around her shoulders.

She was watching him through her dark lashes with her big brown eyes. His eyes dropped automatically to her left hand. He couldn’t see anything through the satin gloves. No telltale lumps with giant diamonds. Surely a successful woman like Laurie must be attached?

She leaned forward again, this time the round neck of her dress gaping and giving a little glimpse of cleavage.

He blinked. What was he doing? Why was his brain even going there? He had far too much to think about this weekend. The last thing he needed was to get distracted by someone he’d never see again.

‘Do you think you can play the part, Callan? Or is it all just too much for you?’ Her voice was low and husky. She tilted her head to one side. ‘Do you even know how to play nice?’

The words made him start. In another world Laurie Jenkins could be quite mesmerising. But he wasn’t the kind of guy to fall for a coy smile and the flutter of some eyelashes.

‘Maybe I just like to pick my play friends carefully,’ he shot back.

She folded her arms across her chest. ‘Well, that’s a shame. You’re the only person around here who looked as if they might be capable of holding a normal conversation. I couldn’t get a word in edgeways with the Americans, the Canadians were too busy Googling antiques, and—’ she flung her hands up ‘—the two people that I think are my aunt and uncle from other parts of England have spent the last hour dozing on one of the sofas in the drawing room.’

He couldn’t help but smile. He’d already figured out she wanted to meet her family, but it seemed nothing was going to plan. He reached out his hand and grabbed hers, leading her over to a bench near the entrance to the maze and pulling her down next to him.

‘What did you think was going to happen this weekend, Laurie?’

He could see her take a deep breath as she glanced around them. The splendour of the castle was behind them and even though the grounds weren’t officially lit, the smooth front lawn, maze and rose garden were impressive to say the least. And she had no idea that just beyond that copse of trees lay a swan pond with slightly untrimmed foliage. She really had no idea about this place at all. She shrugged her shoulders, ‘I thought this would be a chance to meet some family. There’s only me and my mum now, and she lives in Portugal.’ She gave a little shake of her head. ‘She really couldn’t cope when my dad died.’ Her eyes had lowered and he resisted the temptation to reach over and squeeze her hand. But her fingers had already moved, automatically going to her throat and catching the gold locket around her neck.

He might not know her, but the pain on her face was real. She’d clearly adored her father.

She lifted her head, turned and stared up at the castle. ‘I have no idea what my dad would have made of all this.’ Her eyes were shimmering now with unshed tears. ‘He so wanted to know about his father. His mum just wouldn’t tell him anything.’ She lifted her hand and held it out. ‘This would have fascinated him, and the thought that he had other brothers and sisters scattered around the world...’ She let out a sigh and shook her head. ‘That would have blown his mind.’

Callan shifted uncomfortably on the seat. All of a sudden his reaction earlier seemed a bit snappy.

Now he understood a little of what she’d said. It seemed odd to him that Angus had never acknowledged the fact he had children. How must it seem to the newly acquired relatives? To know that Angus had provided for them in his will, but never acknowledged their existence?

He’d been so wound up with how he was feeling he hadn’t given much thought to anyone else.

‘I had no idea that Angus had children. He never mentioned it. Never mentioned it at all.’ He pressed his lips together. ‘It just doesn’t seem like him at all. The Angus McLean I knew had the biggest heart in the world.’

‘How did you know Angus? You seem a bit young to have been friends.’ Her brow was furrowed, as if she was trying to sort out in her head where Callan fitted into all this.

He chose his words carefully. Her question wasn’t unexpected. ‘Angus helped me out when I was younger. And friends—that’s exactly what we were. He was one of the best friends I had.’

‘And you stay here—in the castle?’ He could almost see the questions spinning around in her head.

‘Not exactly. I live in Edinburgh most of the time. I have a house there. But I’ve always had a room here with Angus. He needed a bit more help in the last few years.’

There was so much more she clearly wanted to ask. He could almost sense her biting her tongue. Instead her eyes fixed on the maze and gardens in front of them.

‘Do you know much about the estate?’

The words sent his hackles up. He tried not to let it show, but every question he’d more or less been asked by the relatives in the last twelve hours had revolved around money. He found it impossible not to grit his teeth. ‘I know every field, every tree, every fence and every stream. I’ve been in and around Annick Castle since I was a young boy.’

But Laurie hadn’t noticed his tension; she was lost in a world of her own. ‘Lucky you.’ There was a wistful tone in her voice as she leaned back on the bench and looked up at the elegant façade of the castle. She sighed. ‘This would have been my dream when I was a little girl, living in a place like this.’ She held out her hand. ‘I can only imagine what it must be like to play in a maze like this every day or to run up and down those fairy-princess stairs.’ She gave him a mischievous smile. ‘Go on, tell me. Did you ever slide down those banisters?’

He could feel his natural protective instincts kick in. Did he really want to tell her that he and Angus had regularly had competitions to see who was the fastest sliding down either side?

All of a sudden this was personal. These were his personal memories of his time here with Angus McLean. And he didn’t want to share them.

He didn’t want any of these people staying here. He really just wanted them all to leave. The piece of paper in his hand crumpled under his grip.

She was puzzling him. She wasn’t talking about money. She was talking about people and family. But maybe she was just cleverer than the rest? And what was more she was persistent. ‘Or did Angus forbid you from doing things like that?’

The words jolted him. Jolted him from a whole host of memories that flooded his brain. Diving in the swan pond, trying to build a raft to sail across it, swinging from the rope swings that he’d made amongst the trees. Angus wasn’t the kind to forbid him anything. He lifted his heavy eyelids and caught her staring at him with those big brown eyes. ‘Only if he caught me,’ he said quietly.

The moment passed just as quickly as it appeared. ‘Shouldn’t we be going?’ He stood up. ‘You’ve got a Murder Mystery to solve.’

‘Oh, that.’ She stood up, her dress catching the light again. ‘I’d almost forgotten about that.’

How could she forget about that? It was the key to owning this castle. Surely it should be the first thing on her mind.

He led her towards the open doors to the drawing room. ‘Let’s get this over with.’ She sighed, then turned around. Her hand reached up and rested on his chest. ‘Callan, tomorrow, will you show me around the grounds of Annick Castle? I’m only here for the weekend and I’d like to see as much as I can.’

His immediate response caught in his throat, because his immediate response was to say no.

The last thing he wanted was to be the genial host, showing everyone around the castle he considered a home.

But Laurie seemed a little more measured than the rest. A little more interested in the history of the castle as a whole.

Her hand was still resting on his chest, almost burning a hole through the thin cotton of his shirt. She bit her lip. ‘I was also wondering if I could see some pictures of Angus. See what he looked like.’ Her eyes drifted off... ‘I kind of wonder if my dad looked like him at all...’ then came back to meet his ‘...or if I do.’

The hairs were standing up at the back of his neck—and it wasn’t the cool evening breeze. It was her. And the effect she was having on him.

Had anyone else asked to see pictures of Angus? He couldn’t remember, but they must have—surely? If someone told him he’d a long-lost relative the first thing he’d want to do would be see what they looked like.

He gave a little nod. ‘I know where some of the family pictures are kept. Leave it with me. I’ll let you see them tomorrow.’

She gave a nervous kind of smile. ‘Thank you, Callan. That will be nice. And the tour?’

Her big brown eyes were fixed right on him. She obviously wasn’t going to let this go.

He wanted to say no. He really did. But how could he?

He could almost hear Angus’s voice in his ear. Show them around, make them fall in love with the place as much as we did.

‘Fine. I’ll meet you just after breakfast.’

She gave a little nod of her head. ‘Thanks.’

He gestured towards the dining room. ‘You better go on. I’ll be a few minutes getting changed.’ He turned and walked off along the corridor.

Dinner with the twelve potential inheritors of Annick Castle.

He really couldn’t think of anything he wanted to do less.

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