Page 56 of A Scottish Highland Surprise

I considered Jake’s invitation. “Look, thank you for the invite but after such a hectic day, I’m going to be exhausted. All I will want to do is relax with a glass of wine.”

“Well, in that case, I’ll come round to yours with a takeaway.” Jake’s slash of white smile dazzled. “Give me a note of your address and I’ll see you around 7p.m.”

A small voice inside my head insisted that whatever it was Xander was supposed to have done, I didn’t want to know, but that wasn’t satisfying my burning curiosity. I couldn’t leave things like this.

Chapter Twenty-Five

“So, what is this all about?” I asked Jake, scooping some shreds of lemon chicken and pineapple chunks onto my warmed plate in the kitchen.

“Sorry?”

“What you wanted to discuss with me? About Xander?”

Jake helped himself to a heaped tablespoon of egg fried rice and a portion of crispy shredded beef. “Oh yeah. That.” We were sitting opposite one another at the kitchen table. He took a sip of white wine, looking concerned. “Well, it’s a bit delicate.”

I rested my knife and fork on the side of my plate. “Look, Jake. Please just tell me, whatever it is. You can trust me.”

He abandoned his dinner and sank back in his chair. “Okay. So, it was a couple of years back and I was starting to get noticed by the art world. It had been one hell of a slog. Anyway, I met this girl and fell for her. What I didn’t know was that she was the girlfriend of Xander North.” Jake let out a painful sigh and continued. “Their relationship was all but over. She was miserable with him. But as soon as he found out, he was determined to ruin my career even before it started.”

He must have noticed me frowning. “Oh, I know you might be struggling to imagine him being a spiteful sod, but he’s good at the Jekyll and Hyde stuff.” He took another gulp of wine.

“So, what happened?” I asked, feeling trepidation.

Jake’s shoulders sagged under his dark shirt. “The review he gave me was malicious. Full of vitriol. Then there were others. When you take into account the number of valuable contacts he has in the art world, I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that my career took a nosedive.”

I pushed my food around my plate with my fork, my appetite beginning to wane. “And then?”

“I had no option but to make a complaint – to the newspaper he was working on at the time.”

“And did Xander admit to what he’d done?”

Jake gave a brief nod of his head. “He had to.”

My head was struggling to slot and slide all of this into place. I thought about Xander. I realised I didn’t know him all that well, but to maliciously go after someone like that, in the hope of destroying their career… It just didn’t seem like him at all. “What happened with his job on the paper? And the girl?”

Jake’s mouth contorted into a smirk. “Old boys’ club. They let him keep his art critic column at the paper, once he had apologised to me and assured me that his stupid vendetta would stop. As for the girl – her name was Nadia – well, after all that, I think she’d had her fair share of the both of us and decided to move back to Croatia.”

I forked up a piece of lemon chicken. My understanding of Xander, or at least what I knew of him, was tilted on its axis. It didn’t seem like he would be capable of doing something so spiteful and unprofessional. It was understandable that he would be hurt that his girlfriend had fallen for someone else. But to go after Jake in such a savage and public way was not something anyone should be proud of. Then I recalled his dismissive attitude towards the Briar Forsyth letter and his remarks about only being interested in the value of the peacock tea set. Perhaps there was a ruthless side to him that I was unaware of.

I lowered my fork again and took a sip of water, my thoughts zooming all over the place.

Jake tilted his head to one side. “Sophie? Are you okay?”

I forced a smile. “Yes. Yes, I’m fine, thanks. I’m just a bit surprised.”

Jake rubbed his forehead. “Shit! I knew I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“No,” I faltered, my voice becoming more insistent. “No, I’m glad you did. And I’m sorry about Nadia.”

Jake was resigned. “I believe in things happening for a reason. Don’t get me wrong. It hurt like hell at the time when Nadia told me she was going back to Croatia. But now…” He let his hands rise and fall. “I’m moving on with my life.”

And I felt myself blush as he winked across the debris of Chinese takeaway cartons.

I considered what Jake told me about Xander, while I rinsed out the plastic takeaway containers and stacked them up in one of my kitchen cupboards.

Even though Jake had been chatting about his up-and-coming commissions, I had only been half listening. Confusion gnawed at me. I could see Xander’s crashing expression when he saw Jake’s painting up on the shop wall. I could hear the growl in his voice when he spoke his name.

“Coffee?” I called through to the sitting room, distracted.