Page 18 of Chasing a Highland Dream

Bella had dressed in jeans and a patterned top that skimmed her curves nicely and she felt good about herself. ‘Are you sure you don’t want to come with me, Gran? We’re tasting all the local produce Innes has sourced for the castle gift shop. It should be good.’

‘Och, no, hen, you go on and have fun. I’m going to watch my programmes and have a wee glass of the sherry that Brodie dropped off earlier. He’s such a sweet young man.’ Olivia had texted Brodie to inform him about Bella and Isla being their guests for a while and without prompting he had called in on his return from Inverness with a bag of goodies including chocolates, sherry, wine and flowers.

‘He certainly is. Well, if you’re sure, I’d better get going. I won’t be too late.’

‘Don’t hurry home, dearie. I’ll be fine.’

Bella arrived at the gift shop that was the former games room when the castle had been modernised in the Georgian era, and walked inside.

Thanks to lottery funding, staff had already been employed and trained and a raft of volunteers had come forward from Drumblair village and the surrounding area to work as tour guides. They had all been invited to the tasting event.

‘Bella! Come and get a drink. I can highly recommend the Red Kite ale,’ Olivia said as she beamed at her from the shop counter, her cheeks a little flushed.

The shop was kitted out with oak shelving and glass cabinets. On the shelves were all manner of tartan gifts, soft toys, books and there was a refrigerated cabinet stacked with local cheeses, bottles of wine and beer. It had a wonderful quaint ambience like an olde worlde traditional shop and Bella felt sure people would be flocking to buy souvenirs once the castle was open to the public.

‘This looks amazing now the shelves are stocked!’ Bella said as she took in her surroundings. She walked with Olivia over to where the other guests had gathered around the counter and helped herself to a bottle of beer and a glass. ‘Evening, everyone.’

Uncle Innes raised his glass. ‘Ah, Bella, here’s to you and your help getting the place running smoothly. The stable block apartments are spectacular.’

Bella felt her face heating. ‘I’m glad you like them.’

Brodie slipped his arm around Olivia and said, ‘Aye, you’re missing a trick with such a talent for interior design.’

Olivia slapped his chest playfully. ‘Don’t be telling her that, she might want to leave!’

Brodie glanced at her, kissed her head and laughed. ‘Sorry. Hey, Bella, I’ve got something for you.’

Bella scrunched her brow. ‘You have?’

Brodie reached behind him and retrieved something from the countertop. ‘Aye, your suggestions on the book were really useful. It’s turned out grand.’ He held out a copy towards her. ‘This is a signed copy just for you.’

Bella grinned and took the book. ‘Fantastic! Thank you so much.’

The inscription read:

To Bella, thanks for reading my garbled notes and encouraging me to keep going, Love Brodie

‘You just need to submit it and get it published nationwide now,’ she told him.

It was Brodie’s turn to blush. ‘Aye, well, we’ll see about that.’

As well as Sadie, Duncan and Ailsa, the gift shop retail team, there were a lot of new faces amongst the people in attendance and Olivia took hold of Bella’s hand and introduced her to them all. Bella smiled and shook hands with them in turn. ‘Welcome aboard. It’s a lovely place to work and I hope you’ll be as happy here as I am.’

Olivia walked over to the door and opened it for Mirren, who had arrived with a platter of food, closely followed by Dougie, who held another. ‘Come on, folks, get stuck in. I’ve made sandwiches; there’s Scottish crowdie and oatcakes, shortbread, and all sorts of other stuff.’

Innes stepped forward. ‘Much of this deliciousness is going to be sold in the shop and it’s good for us to know what it all tastes like,’ he said as he grabbed an oatcake and loaded it with the soft cheese.

Bella took a couple of finger sandwiches made from the artisan bread she’d been looking forward to and munched on them while Olivia went to mingle with some of the new volunteers, leaving Bella with the new retail team. The chatter was light-hearted and friendly and she could see why each of them had been employed.

A few moments later, Olivia came back over, a crease of worry crumpling her brow. ‘Erm… Bella, I don’t want to alarm you, but the police are here in the courtyard outside your apartment. Brodie has just had a notification from the security camera app on his phone. And I have no clue where my phone is.’

Bella’s stomach plummeted and her blood ran cold. ‘Oh, shit, Granny Isla.’ She placed down her glass and dashed from the shop, fearing the absolute worst.

12

Bella ran as fast as she could along the freshly laid path, closely followed by Olivia, Brodie, Mirren and Innes. What was only a few hundred yards felt like a thousand as she picked up her pace. Panic clutched at her heart, causing it to thud against her ribs. What on earth had happened? Was her granny okay? The fact an ambulance wasn’t mentioned was a little comfort, but that didn’t mean one wasn’t needed, did it? She couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to her granny. Her eyes began to sting.

Bella arrived in the courtyard by the apartments, out of breath, her head spinning and stomach churning, and sure enough, there were two police cars parked up, blocking the entry way, blue lights flashing. Bella rushed over to the front door of their temporary accommodation and saw a man dressed in black bundled up on the floor outside the door to apartment one, which was at a right angle to apartment two. His wrists were handcuffed behind his back and a female police officer with dark curly hair tied at the nape of her neck was pinning him down as three more looked on, one of whom was scribbling in a notepad. When the female police officer looked up, Bella recognised her as Mel, the keyboard player in Coppercaillie. Beau growled his displeasure from beside his owner where Isla stood in her doorway, arms folded across her chest and an expression of what could only be described as the utmost pride on her face.