‘Yes, I know. He rang me yesterday. We speak on the phone every couple of days.’
‘And has he told you how he’s getting along?’
Even as he asked the question Keir knew it wasn’t Noah’s welfare that was uppermost in his mind. He admired the younger man, of course—his professionalism, ability to work hard and deliver on a promise were commendable. But right then Keir was actually dwelling on the obviously close relationship he enjoyed with his disarming sister. To speak on the phone so often when they were away from each other was hardly something he could have imagined doing with his own brother.
He and Robbie had drifted apart many years ago—with Robbie preparing to take on the mantle of Laird after their father, with all that that entailed, and Keir leaving Glenteign just as soon as he could, to pursue his determination to go into business for himself and put his less than joyful childhood memories firmly behind him. Talking to his brother on a regular basis would only have reminded him of that dark period in his life, and Keir definitely didn’t want reminders. The fact that he was back at Glenteign now, after all these years, and had inherited the role of Laird of the estate himself when he’d never wanted anything remotely to do with it again, was a twist of fate he hadn’t foreseen. He was still learning to live with it…
‘He seems happy enough…settling in and immersing himself in the job that has to be done.’ The edges of her mouth lifting in a tentative smile, Georgia laid her hands one on top of the other in her lap, as if considering her words very carefully.
Sensing that his cutting remark had made her nervous, Keir told himself he should have been more guarded. Usually he was. After all, shielding his true feelings from others had become second nature to him since childhood.
‘It was very good of you to recommend him to your friends in the Highlands,’ Georgia continued. ‘He’s grown to love Scotland, and I know he would have found it a wrench to leave. Also, I don’t think I thanked you for offering me this job of filling in for your own secretary. It’s good to get out of London for a while. How is she, by the way? Your secretary, I mean?’
‘Recovering slowly. It was a bad break, unfortunately, with some complications. She may have to have another operation to put it right.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that.’
‘That’s why I needed someone who could step in and competently take over where Valerie left off. I’ve only been back at Glenteign for nine months myself, and what with organising the work on the gardens and getting them up to scratch again after the death of my brother…Well, there’s a lot of work involved in running an estate like this and it doesn’t get done by itself. Come and sit down, Moira…Is Lucy bringing the soup?’
‘She’ll be along directly.’
Georgia felt relief that the other woman had reappeared. Even though she’d been shocked and sympathetic to hear that Keir had so recently lost his brother, and she longed to learn more, she was also wary of saying the wrong thing again. Hunger was also gnawing at her. Fast food at a motorway service station was no substitute for good home-cooked food, and that was a fact! She was honestly looking forward to her meal.
Sitting opposite Georgia at the beautifully laid table, Moira let her friendly brown eyes focus kindly on her.
‘I just wanted to tell you, lassie, that Hamish has had the food you left for him, and is now curled up by the range in the kitchen. He was looking quite content when I left him, so there’s no need for you to worry. I’m sure he’s going to settle in just fine!’
‘Thank you. It was very good of you to see to him like that. I’m sure he’s loving every bit of all the extra attention he’s been receiving!’
‘He’s a wee lamb, that’s what he is! It’s lovely for us to have a dog about the place again…isn’t it, Chief Strachan?’
‘If you say so…’ Refusing to be drawn, Keir glanced impatiently at the doorway just as the soup arrived, carried on a large solid silver tray by a very pretty auburn-haired girl who couldn’t have been much older than seventeen.
When she would have served Keir first at the head of the table—as no doubt she usually did—surprisingly he directed her down to Georgia instead.
A brief smile touched the corners of a mouth that seemed somehow reluctant to utilise that gesture too often, and his gaze was wry. ‘No doubt you’re only too ready for your meal after your long drive, Georgia, and we won’t keep you waiting any longer to fulfil your great need!’
Although pleased by his apparent thoughtfulness, Georgia was slightly embarrassed too. Perhaps he’d seen her relieved glance at the bowls of steaming soup on the tray Lucy carried and secretly thought it unseemly somehow that a woman should so unwittingly display her hunger? She was inhabiting a whole new world of manners and formality that she wasn’t used to, and she would probably have to learn to be a little less impulsive and less apt to reveal her feelings.
‘Well, it smells absolutely delicious! Carrot and coriander, if I’m not mistaken?’
‘That’s right lassie. So…do you like to cook yourself?’ Moira asked politely.
Daring a swift glance at Keir from beneath her curling chestnut lashes, Georgia picked up her spoon, waiting for both he and Moira to do the same before she started eating. ‘I’ve always tried to prepare fresh food for me and Noah when he’s at home, and, yes, I do enjoy a bit of cooking…But it’s not always possible when we’re both busy working and invariably get in quite late. I usually try and do something nice at the weekends, though…like a roast on a Sunday, with a home cooked pudding to follow. Apple crumble is Noah’s favourite.’
‘There’s not many young women of your age who know a lot about cooking in my experience,’ Keir commented thoughtfully. ‘Apart from your brother, do you often cook for other people?’
In the flickering candlelight, his blue eyes glowed like the glint of fireflies, and for a moment Georgia felt as if they were the only two people in the room. ‘No, not really. Like I said…’ Her cheeks throbbed and burned beneath his unflinching cynosure. ‘I’m usually busy working…both outside and in the home.’
‘Are you telling me that you don’t have a social life?’
Where was this leading? Georgia wondered, a sense of panic flowing through her bloodstream. All she wanted to do was enjoy her soup and assuage her hunger—not answer too awkward questions that made her feel vaguely as if she was being interrogated.
‘I see my friends, and we do the usual things—like going to the cinema or eating out…So, yes—I do have a social life.’
The fact that she hadn’t done any of the above for quite some time now, because she’d been too busy working hard, worrying about finances and fretting about Noah’s welfare, was Georgia’s private business and not the kind of thing she would remotely want to discuss with people she’d just met…however curious.
Keir saw the slightly agitated rise and fall of her chest in the unremarkable pink dress and didn’t know why he was suddenly fishing for details about her private life. He was only aware of a disturbing tension deep inside him whenever his glance happened to settle on her beautiful face, which it seemed to be doing at a rather compelling rate. He should have quizzed Noah more about his sister. He should have somehow learned that she had the ability to mesmerise with her eyes, her smile, her voice…he should have learned that she blushed easily when discomfited or embarrassed,
