Page 46 of Chasing a Highland Dream

Feeling thoroughly chastised for ruining movie night, Bella placed her phone face up on the sofa beside her in case Aiden texted again. She didn’t receive another reply but was excited to see him again. She was expecting Friday to be spent checking everything over one last time before opening day but felt sure she could sneak off for an hour.

On Friday morning, Bella was up bright and early. She showered and dressed in record time, called Beau and set off to take him on a quick morning jaunt around the grounds of the castle. The sun was making an appearance now and she loved feeling the warmth of it on her skin. The place was silent apart from nature; birdsong, the sound of the loch lapping at the shingle on the shoreline, and the low melodic hum of insects going about their work. The amber rays of the sun cast a golden glow over the stonework of the chapel and Bella inhaled the fresh air deep into her lungs. She still couldn’t quite believe she was living at Drumblair, the place she had loved since she’d first come home for tea after school with Skye and Olivia.

The sweet fragrance of the wildflowers surrounding the chapel floated on what little breeze there was, and Bella watched for a moment as bees danced from petal to petal, deftly landing and then moving on to the next.

Across the loch, the clouds formed fluffy white crowns around the munros. To her left, she heard the water moving and watched as Brodie swam as far in as he could before standing knee deep in the water and making his way back onto the shore, closely followed by his two dogs, Wilf and Marley, who’d also been for a dip. Brodie was known for taking an early-morning swim, often when the weather wasn’t quite so forgiving. Bella didn’t know whether to admire him for it or think him utterly insane. He picked up his towel from an old chunk of driftwood near the water and dried his wetsuit off a little before making his way across to Bella. The two blond dogs had a good shake before trotting along behind with their tongues lolling out. As they approached Beau, they all had a good sniff of each other with tails wagging happily.

‘Good grief, Brodie MacLeod, have you finally lost your marbles? I know it’s a little warmer today, but the water must be freezing!’

He grinned as he rubbed the towel over his dark, shaggy hair. ‘Nah, it’s refreshing and it’s great for your circulation. A morning swim sets you up for the day. You can’t beat it.’

‘It’d set me up for a cardiac arrest and a bed at A&E, I’m afraid. Anyway, how’s Liv doing?’

He raised his eyebrows. ‘She’s been awake since five stressing about Kerr. Personally, I don’t think he’ll make an appearance.’ He frowned. ‘You haven’t heard from him, have you?’

Bella shook her head. ‘No, thank goodness. Although I’m probably the last person he’d want to contact. I think I bruised his ego with the help of my kung fu granny.’

Brodie laughed. ‘Aye, she’s a class act is Isla. I love her to bits.’ He leaned a little closer and glanced around conspiratorially before saying, ‘Between you and me, I hope you have to move in here permanently. It’s great to have her around, you too, obviously,’ he added. ‘Isla’s been helping in the walled garden, you know. And don’t worry, I’m keeping an eye on her to make sure she doesn’t do too much.’

‘Thanks for that. She thinks a lot of you too.’

‘Well, I should get back to Stressy McWorrywort. It wouldn’t surprise me if she was grey or bald by Sunday.’ He laughed.

‘Tell her I’ll be up soon and to take a chill pill! It’s going to be brilliant. She’s worked too hard for it to be anything else.’

‘Aye, I keep telling her that. Let’s hope you can convince her, eh?’

‘Any news on which celebrity she’s got to open the event?’

Brodie made a zipping motion across his lips and threw away an imaginary key. ‘I could tell you but I’d have to kill you.’ He made a silly face.

‘Spoilsport.’

At 9 a.m., Bella found Olivia in the undercroft that had been returned to its origins as a kitchen and store room for the purposes of the public visits. It had been made to look as authentic as possible to how it would have looked when the castle was built. There were even mannequins in period costume that freaked Bella out every time she saw them, especially the male one; his eyes seemed to follow her wherever she walked in the room.

‘Hey, Liv, how are you doing?’ Bella asked as she kept her eyes fixed on the male mannequin, just in case.

‘Hey, Bells. I think I’m finally relaxing. Not a lot left to do now but wait for tomorrow. Aren’t these mannequins brilliant? So realistic!’

Bella shuddered. ‘A bit too realistic. I actually had a nightmare last night the male one appeared in my bloody bedroom.’

Olivia burst out laughing. ‘Really? Aww, I think he’s cute.’

‘Yeah, in the way crazed serial killers are cute. I reckon he’ll terrify the kids. Maybe we can use that to our advantage, though. We can tell misbehaving children he’ll follow them home if they don’t mend their ways.’ She gave a sinister, theatrical laugh.

‘You cruel and heartless woman! Any news from Aiden?’

‘Yes! I’m calling for coffee with him at lunchtime.’

‘Oooh, I can’t wait to hear all the details.’

23

Bella called home to freshen up. She checked her appearance in her bedroom mirror. Her blonde waves were nice and smooth and had a 1920s look she had achieved miraculously without even trying. Thanks to sleeping better – with the exception of the mannequin nightmare – the dark circles around her green eyes had diminished. Deciding not to change, she smoothed down her short-sleeved cream dress that had a blush-coloured flower print; it was fitted at the waist, skimmed out over her hips and stopped just below her knees, and hinted at a touch of cleavage without showing too much for the daytime. It was a particular favourite she chose when she was feeling good about herself, and today was one such day.

Isla and Beau were making the most of the sunshine and were already out in the grounds for a stroll, armed with a packed lunch and a flask of tea. Bella had made sure her granny took her phone just in case.

‘Aye, don’t worry yoursel’, I’ll message you on the WhatsUp if necessary,’ Isla had told her before they left. ‘But Beau’ll look after me, won’t you, lad?’ The dog had given his usual yip of agreement looking like he understood every word and trotted to the door as if trying to hurry up his owner.