insect repellent?’
He chuckled, remembering her constant battle with the midges. ‘Probably.’ He held the door, and she went in and sniffed the air, making him smile.
‘Oh, the coffee smells good.’
‘It is good. What are you having?’
‘Cappuccino, and—they look tasty.’
‘They are. Do me a favour and don’t even ask about the calories.’
‘Don’t worry, I won’t,’ she vowed, making him laugh. ‘I’m starving.’
He ordered the coffees and two of the trademark gooey pastries, and they headed for a table by the window. He set the tray down and eased into the seat opposite her, handing her her cup.
‘So, how did the wedding go yesterday?’
A flicker of distress appeared in her moss- green eyes before she looked down at her coffee. She poked the froth for a moment. ‘OK. Lovely. Very beautiful. Very moving. The bride’s mother’s not well—that’s why I couldn’t hand it over.’
He frowned. ‘Why didn’t they postpone it?’
‘Because she’s about to start chemo,’ Maisie said softly. ‘They had to rush the wedding forward, and the last thing I could do to them was upset them at this stage. They wanted me, they trusted me, and I’d promised.’
‘Of course. I’m sorry, I didn’t appreciate that at the time. I can quite see that you had to stay, and I’m sorry if I implied that anyone else could take over from you. Of course that isn’t true, especially under those circumstances. You had no choice.’
She blinked. He’d really taken her comments on board, if that was anything to go by, but she wasn’t surprised. He’d always been one for doing the right thing—even when it was wrong.
‘You’ll be wanting to send them the images.’
‘I’ve done it. I downloaded them on the train and posted them at Euston. Just in case.’ She sighed softly as she broke off, biting her lip and thinking of Annette.
‘Poor woman,’ he murmured. ‘It must have been hard for the family, dealing with all those emotions.’
She nodded, but then she went quiet, sipping her coffee, absently tearing up the pastry and nibbling at it. ‘Rob, this wedding—are you sure it’s right for them? They’re so young.’
‘Not that young.’
‘They are! Just like we were. We were far too young.’
‘You can’t compare them to us. They’re three years older than we were—’
‘No. I was eighteen, she’s twenty. That’s only two years.’
‘She’s almost twenty-one. She’ll be twenty-one by the wedding, and Alec will be twenty-four. And those years make a lot of difference. You were only just eighteen and pregnant, and I was twenty- one and committed to the navy for six years, and we didn’t know each other nearly well enough.’
‘We still don’t.’
‘No. Jenni said that on Tuesday, and I think she was right. But they’re different, Maisie. They know each other through and through. They’ve been friends ever since they were children, and this has been growing for years. They’re genuinely deeply in love, and it’s great to see them together. We didn’t stand a chance, but they do. I think they’ll be very happy together.’
‘You don’t think they should wait?’
‘What for?’
Good question. She stared out of the window over the gently rippling waters of the loch and sighed. ‘I don’t know,’ she murmured. ‘To be more settled?’
‘They are settled. Alec’s got a good job—’
‘One you’ve given him. Rob, you are sure about him, aren’t you?’ she asked, her anxiety surfacing. ‘You don’t think he’s using her?’
Rob frowned. ‘Using her? Of course he’s not. They’ve known each other for years!’
‘That wouldn’t stop some people.’
‘Maisie, Alec’s not like that.’
‘So what is he like? Tell me—I’m worried, Rob.’
‘You don’t need to be. They’ve known each other since they were children—he taught her to ride a bike, for heaven’s sake. They used to play together when she came up in the holidays, and they’ve always got on. He was born in the cottage his parents still live in, and his father was my estate manager until he retired five years ago. He worked for my father, and my uncle before him, and his father before him, so he’s the third generation to look after Ardnashiel. It’s in his blood, even more than it is in mine, and I can’t think of a safer pair of hands either for the estate or for Jenni. He’s kind and decent, honest as the day is long, and he really loves her. You honestly don’t need to worry.’
She nodded slowly, reassured by his measured assessment of his future son-in-law. ‘And your mother? How does she feel about him?’
‘She likes him. She’s very fond of him, actually.’
‘Really? Even though he’s one of the estate employees? I’m surprised she thinks he’s good enough for her.’
His brows scrunched together in a frown. ‘What makes you say that?’
‘Well, they made it clear I wasn’t good enough for you—or was that just my lack of morals?’
He gave a harsh sigh. ‘You don’t change, do you?’ he said. ‘You always were a little too quick to judge.’
‘I wasn’t judging her, she was judging me! That’s unfair!’
‘Is it?’ he said softly, his eyes searching hers. ‘You didn’t give my father the benefit of the doubt, you rebuffed all my mother’s offers of friendship and you walked off and left me. That was unfair.’
She opened her mouth to argue, thought better of it, here in this public place, and shut it again. She’d tell him another time—maybe—just what his mother’s offers of friendship had consisted of. And as for his father, there was no doubt to give him the benefit of. He’d hated her, despised her, and he’d made sure she and everybody else had known it. And she hadn’t left him, she’d left the castle, and he’d let her go, made no attempt to follow her, to find out what was wrong.
‘This is neither the time nor place to go over all of this,’ she said, equally quietly. ‘And anyway, it’s time we got on. I’d like to see Jenni now, she’ll be wondering where we are.’
And without waiting to see what he did, she got to her feet and walked out of the café, leaving her coffee half-drunk and her pastry in shreds all over the table.
Stifling a sigh, Rob threw down a few coins for the tip and followed her out, wondering how on
