Page 48 of A Scottish Highland Hideaway

If I hadn’t known better, I’d have thought it was my mum I was talking to and not Finn.

I was ashamed to say I’d even wondered for a dark moment whether my mum had offered him money to vanish.

I aired my suspicions to Marcus at the time, but he said he could never imagine even our mother sinking to such depths.

As I’d sat there that night in my bedraggled Alice outfit with panda eyes and a runny nose, my big brother suggested that even if Finn had been on the receiving end of Countess Tweed Muir’s machinations, he could have said no. “He could have stood up to her and refused. That’s if he really lov⁠—”

He had drawn himself up as he clasped my hand in his. My eyes were blurry with self-pity and tears. “You were going to say if he really loved me.”

Marcus had pulled me into a big hug and I remained there for what seemed like forever, burying my heartbroken face into the crook of his neck.

* * *

Back in Flower Power, the afternoon limped along – the terrible weather had put off locals from venturing out, even for Christmas gifts. Having despatched Rowan and Amber home, I was just putting the finishing touches to a winter bridal bouquet, while preparing my “snow” (layers of cotton wool) in the window in preparation for my ice palace and winter wonderland display.

I stood back to admire my bouquet handiwork of frosted pine cones and berries, laced around spray roses and seeded eucalyptus.

Marcus was upstairs in the flat, finishing off a Zoom call with one of his clients and had insisted he would rustle us up some dinner.

Satisfied with my work, I sighed, scooped up my coat and bag from beneath the counter, clicked off the shop spotlights and turned the sign round to CLOSED. Trudging upstairs to the flat, I knew I had to find a way to join the dots between Jacob’s volte-face on Marcus and Declan’s exit from his relationship with me…

Chapter Ten

Through the shop ceiling the next morning, I could hear the faint creak of the floorboards, signalling that Marcus was out of bed.

Mornings seemed to be the toughest part of the day for my big brother at the moment. I guessed it was waking up and realising that he and Jacob were no more. I sympathised. The first few mornings after Declan had deserted me were tough for me, too. I’d got through it by sleeping in and remaining in my dream world for as long as possible – until I’d decided to end the pity party and made plans for a new life, that is.

I’d caught Marcus a few times reaching for his left hand and blinking down at his empty ring finger, as though he couldn’t quite believe it.

I hadn’t told him the truth yet about my sudden visit to Glasgow, or that I planned to confront Mum. But if Declan did try and disgrace or implicate my family in some way, then at least they’d be prepared.

I waited about an hour or so before slipping upstairs to the flat to see how Marcus was. I was relieved to see that he was hard at work on a Zoom call with a client. Reassured that he wasn’t moping, I glanced at my phone. It was Thursday. If I was going to go to Bannock House, it had to be this weekend. Mum was returning from her pre-Christmas trip to New York on Saturday and would either be full of good cheer, or be jet-lagged, shopped out, and grumpy.

I could feel an incubation of butterflies exploding in my stomach at the prospect of re-entering Bannock House. It carried such dark memories of the weeks after Declan had left me. As doubt started to sneak in about what I was planning to do, I made myself think of Marcus. He’d stood by me ever since we were kids, when we were teased by some of the jealous school kids about being Lady Anastasia and Lord Marcus. He’d supported my decision to marry Declan (even though he’d later confessed he’d harboured some reservations about him at the time). It was the least I could do to try and help him, to try and get to the root of why Jacob had called time on their engagement so that Marcus might be able to move on.

To quash my increasing trepidation over returning to Tweed Muir after more than a year, I concentrated on the customers flooding through the door, asking to place more orders for Christmas wreaths and table arrangements or purchasing the new russet, amber, and white carnation festive bouquets I’d started selling. I’d also made a note to chat to the girls about putting a couple of finishing touches to our Ice Kingdom festive window display.

When there was a lull mid-morning, I snatched the opportunity to leave Amber and Rowan at the helm and dart up to the flat.

Marcus had showered and dressed and was setting up his laptop on the kitchen table. There was a half-empty cup of tea and toast crumbs on a plate at his elbow. At least he’d eaten some breakfast. The lilac smudges of disturbed sleep under his eyes were still very much in evidence though.

I adopted a cheery demeanour. “The forecast isn’t as bad today. Fancy a walk a bit later?”

“Sounds good.”

He hesitated, staring at his laptop screen as it fired up. “I just took a call from Jacob.”

“What did he want?”

“Nothing. It was just to say that he’s moving the rest of his things out of our flat this morning.”

“Where’s he staying?”

“Well, he was crashing at Gareth’s, but he’s secured a rented place now.” Marcus dragged a frazzled hand down his face. “Look, Anastasia, you’ve been amazing, but I can’t keep imposing on you like this.”

“You’re not imposing.”

He glanced back at his laptop screen as it shimmered into life. “I can’t hide away. I’m going to have to return to Edinburgh and get on with things. Paul has been fantastic, but I can’t stay away from the office forever.”