Page 61 of A Scottish Highland Surprise

“You’re making assumptions, Xander.”

He let out a grunt. “It’s far more likely for a member of staff to have taken it. Perhaps they had money worries.”

I shook my high ponytail, even though Xander couldn’t see me. “I admit that it doesn’t look good, but it’s not for certain.” Warming to my theme, I continued talking. My voice was heavy with disappointment. “Often people can surprise you, and not in a good way.”

Xander listened to my loaded comments, but didn’t reply.

“I think it’s quite conceivable that anyone, not just a member of Castle Marrian staff, would be capable of stealing that tea set.”

Xander started to disagree, but I carried on. “I’m not saying that is what happened, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it had.”

“Let’s assume you’re right and that it wasn’t one of the Gray’s employees that stole the tea set. Who else could it be and what motive might they have for doing it?”

I pictured Briar Forsyth’s letter. “Whoever this Briar is, her letter suggests Jonathan Gray treated her very badly, so if he was capable of abandoning a woman in the snow, I’m pretty sure stealing a tea set from under the noses of his parents wouldn’t make him bat an eyelid. And we don’t know what they were arguing about when Victor Prentice spotted them on Christmas Eve.”

Xander digested this. “I suppose it’s possible, but unlikely. Quite a risky thing for the likes of Jonathan Gray to do. I still think it’s a member of the household who stole it.”

I pulled a face at the phone. Well, hopefully we would be able to find out for certain. I really wanted to disprove his theory.

While I was mentally mulling things over, Xander’s voice cut through my thoughts. “I have a confession to make, Sophie.”

My eyes widened. “Oh?”

“The real reason I rang was to apologise for dashing off yesterday straight after your shop opening.”

I rubbed at the edge of my desk with one finger. “I was a bit surprised when you left like that.” Was Xander going to confess to me what had taken place between him and Jake?

“Yes. Well.” There was a frustrated growl. “The truth is, I can’t stand to be in the same room as Jake Caldwell.”

My eyebrows rose to the heavens. I hoped I sounded surprised. I didn’t want Xander to realise Jake had told me about what happened between them. My stomach rolled. “Oh? Why is that?”

It was as if I could hear Xander deliberating with himself whether to confide in me about it or not. In the end, he decided not to. He let out a resigned breath. “Let’s just say our paths have crossed in the past.”

Part of me had hoped what Jake had said about Xander had been exaggerated or was even untrue. But Xander’s reluctance to talk about what had happened between them fanned my growing suspicions.

I gripped the phone tighter, my fingers flexing. Why was it so important for me to know Xander wasn’t the person Jake had portrayed him to be? Was Xander really vindictive? Petty? Had he deliberately tried to sabotage someone’s career?

That description didn’t fit with the Xander I thought I was growing to know. And yet I couldn’t be unaware of my track record of trusting people who didn’t warrant it. The way Callum had dumped me and moved on, drowned me in lies and lurid stories, always had his eye on “bettering himself” by being with someone who had her own detached five-bedroom house and a healthy bank balance… I suspected something wasn’t right, but thought that if I turned my back on it, it would slink away.

I swore to myself I would never do that again.

“Sophie? Sophie? Are you still there?”

I dragged myself out of my own, deep thoughts. “Yes. Sorry.” I rubbed my finger again at the imaginary smudge on my desk. “I’ve been thinking more about the tea set. I’m going to post a couple of those photographs I took of it, on the shop social media accounts. You never know. One or two of the locals might have some information about it.”

“That’s a good idea,” agreed Xander. “The sooner we can get some more background on the crockery, the better.”

I knew what he was implying again. I also knew my voice had adopted a sharper edge, but I didn’t care. “What you mean is, the sooner we can get to the bottom of its history and Briar’s letter, the sooner you can arrange for it to be sold at auction.”

Xander started to say something else, but I ended the call. “I’ll let you know how I get on.”

He appeared taken aback. “Oh. Okay.”

I slid into my desk chair, with a sinking feeling like that of a child who has just been told that Father Christmas doesn’t exist after all.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Even after a steady stream of customers and a bus load of enthusiastic day trippers, keen to see the area where the rumoured blue briar rose once flourished, I walked home deflated.