Page 11 of Chasing a Highland Dream

The long gallery had been completely transformed. Pedestals topped with vases of fresh flowers sat around the room, their gentle fragrances floating through the air and their bursts of colour complementing the old artwork adorning the walls. The shimmering white fabric backdrop of the stage was seamless and looked like it had always been there.

Welcome to Drumblair Castle

was being projected from a booth at the opposite end of the gallery and calming classical music played from well-hidden speakers. A buzz of excitement vibrated through the air and Bella could feel her nerves jangling.

‘Doesn’t this look incredible?’ Olivia said as she arrived beside her.

‘It’s stunning, Olivia. You must be over the moon,’ Bella said as she hugged her best friend.

‘I’m just sad that Nina and her crew couldn’t be here,’ Olivia said, her eyes momentarily filled with sadness. ‘Especially Harper.’ Harper was Olivia’s New York bestie and flat mate when she’d lived in the Big Apple and Bella knew how much she missed her.

Bella squeezed Olivia’s hand. ‘I’m sure she’ll come over as soon as she can.’

Olivia inhaled deeply and smiled. ‘I’m sure she will too.’ She turned to Bella. ‘This evening is so important, and you’ve worked so hard. I’m guessing everyone RSVP’d to the invites? I’m sorry I dumped that on you and just left you to get on with it, but I knew you’d do an amazing job. I bet we’re going to have a full house.’

Bella forced a smile but didn’t admit she hadn’t been able to check the RSVPs because Kerr had handled it all, and every time she had tried to check in with him, he had sulked and given her puppy-dog eyes while commenting she didn’t trust him. ‘Yes, I bet,’ was all she managed to say.

Mirren appeared in the doorway. ‘Lady Olivia, I think some of the guests have arrived early. Would you like me to show them through to the dining room?’

Relief flooded Bella’s body like a wave of hot water. People were early! Kerr had done his job well. She made a mental note to thank him for his help and, of course, apologise for doubting him.

‘Oh gosh, that’s eager! I’ll be right there,’ Olivia said, beaming. She turned back to Bella and grappled her into a hug. ‘I honestly don’t know what I would do without you.’ And with that she kissed Bella on both cheeks and left the long gallery. Bella allowed a flutter of excitement to replace the worry.

6

Bella arrived outside the dining room doors at 5.20 and was about to enter when Mirren opened the door from inside. A distinct crease of worry furrowed her brow and her face was pale.

‘Mirren? Is everything okay?’ she asked, glancing past the housekeeper and into the dining room. ‘You look like you’ve seen a ghost.’

Mirren shook her head. ‘Lady Olivia is getting really worried. No one has arrived yet. She asked me to come and find you to check over the RSVP list. She’s worrying she made some ridiculous mistake on the date.’

Confusion washed over Bella. ‘But… you said guests had arrived early.’

‘Aye, but only the staff, Skye and her fiancé Ben, Innes and your granny. No one else is here yet, none of the businesses or press and it’s gone five. She’s thinking people aren’t coming. She’s beside herself, the poor wee lamb. I was coming to look for you so you could reassure her about the RSVPs.’

Bella’s stomach plummeted to the floor and she felt the colour drain from her own face. She steadied herself on the door jamb. ‘But… I don’t understand.’

‘No, neither does Olivia. She knows you’ll have done everything right but she’s worried people aren’t interested and she’s thinking maybe she invited the wrong folks.’

Bella forced a smile. ‘No, that can’t be the case. Leave it with me.’ She turned and dashed off to the library, where she took her phone from her handbag and dialled Kerr’s number. There was no reply.

Shit, shit, shitty shit. As she paced the room, anger bubbled up inside her, all aimed directly at herself, for having the stupidity to hand over such an important task to someone with a less than perfect reputation. Why had she insisted on seeing the best in him? She tried Kerr’s number again but once again there was no reply. She rifled through her emails to locate the list she had forwarded to him and decided she would begin calling around to each and every number. It was the least she could do, seeing as this was entirely her fault.

The door opened and Kerr wandered in like he hadn’t just ruined Olivia’s event. He nonchalantly sauntered over to her and gave a long whistle. ‘Well, look at you, I could eat you right up in that dress,’ he said before flicking his tongue out to skim his lips lasciviously.

‘Kerr, what the hell have you done?’ Bella blurted.

He shrugged but his face remained expressionless. ‘I’m not sure I know what you mean.’

Bella took a deep breath as she tried to compose herself. ‘Of course you do! You promised me you’d help. You assured me I could trust you. What did you do about the invites? Did you even send them?’

He smirked. ‘Whoops, there may have been a glitch in the space-time continuum, and they got lost in the black hole of the internet.’

Her skin prickled and her eyes welled with angry tears. ‘You did this on purpose,’ she whispered, half in disbelief and half with the sad and disturbing realisation he hadn’t changed at all. ‘This was sabotage, wasn’t it?’

He stared at her with one eyebrow raised. ‘Maybe you’ll think twice about messing me around in future,’ he replied with a curl of his lip. ‘And maybe my darling sister will realise she can’t just invite strangers into our family home! My home. It’s all rightfully mine!’

Bella’s stomach knotted with guilt and shame at what she had allowed to happen to her best friend. ‘How could you do this? You said you were fine with being friends. You said you wanted to help, to make amends with your sister.’