Page 24 of A Highland Family Affair

‘Well, you’re not alone with the daft pet names, this here is Sir Lancelot,’ he said, scratching the long-haired dog behind his ears.

‘Oh, yes, I’ve heard about him. He’s lovely.’

‘He’s a big softy, aren’t you, lad?’

‘Just like his owner,’ Olivia added with a wink.

Kerr opened his mouth to protest but instead gave a shrug. ‘Aye, she’s right. Come on, lad, time for a walk. Good to meet you, Charlotte.’

Charlotte cleared her throat and her cheeks flushed again. ‘Nice to meet you too.’

Olivia spent the rest of the day training Charlotte and was impressed with how well she seemed to be grasping everything. It was, once again, very reassuring and her trip to Skye with Brodie became a little more real with every task Charlotte took on.

At lunchtime, Olivia left Charlotte with Mirren and Dougie in the kitchen and she climbed into the old Land Rover. It was time to pay a visit to Ali Gordon. The route to the plant nursery was a pretty short drive along the tree-lined main road that led away from the castle. The sky overhead was a vivid, cloudless blue, but it was deceptively cold, and she was grateful that the heater in the car worked well. Her fingers and cheeks were pink by the time she pulled into the car park, which was already busy.

The nursery had been in situ for many years and had an excellent reputation. Many of the shrubs in the castle grounds had been purchased from there and anyone who was anyone within Inverness knew of the quality of the plants. But Olivia’s favourite memories were visiting with her mum, dad and Kerr to choose their family Christmas trees for the castle. The Christmas trees were only a small part of the business, but Ali made a festive treat of visiting during the season with hot chocolate being sold from the little wooden cabin and mulled wine for the adults who weren’t driving. He would play Christmas music over the speakers that were dotted around the place too, adding to the warm, fuzzy feeling. The MacBains always had a huge ten-foot spruce in the castle’s foyer and then a smaller one – although in hindsight this too always seemed huge – in the drawing room where they would open gifts on Christmas morning.

The set-up at the nursery hadn’t changed in all those years. A small car park sat just off the main road with the little wooden cabin in the corner. Beyond this, row upon row of polytunnels were filled with every plant you could think of, then beyond that were the alder, oak and beech saplings, and further still were healthy green fir and pine trees in a variety of sizes standing proudly waiting to be chosen. In the distance, the younger trees that would form next year’s crop waited in abeyance.

Olivia watched for a few moments as families with small children, who were wrapped up well against the cold, wandered up and down the rows of Christmas trees with tape measures and excited smiles. The festive spirit was already at play, that one thing was clear. And from the little wooden cabin ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ travelled through the air just as she remembered.

After exiting her vehicle, she found Ali, Santa hat atop his head, stuffing trees through the tree baler, packaging them ready to be transported. He was happily chatting to his customers and there was a smile on his ruddy, weather-worn face.

‘Hi, Ali, you’re looking well,’ Olivia said as she approached the man, who was probably in his late sixties. He wore a pine-green fleece with the name Drumblair Nursery embroidered onto the left breast in gold.

‘Ah, Lady MacBain, to what do I owe the pleasure?’ He removed the heavy gloves from his hands and offered one to Olivia, which she shook.

‘I hear you’ve been chatting to my brother about the business. I wanted to come and speak to you directly, though. Kerr runs away with ideas and forgets himself sometimes.’

He chewed on his lip and appeared sheepish. ‘Aye, we had a chat the other day. Just so you know, though, I was going to come and see you myself. I hadn’t intended for you to find out about my decision to retire from a third party. Even if he is your brother.’

Olivia smiled. ‘That’s okay, don’t worry about it. So, you’re definitely selling up then?’

He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. ‘Aye, I think it’s the right time. I’m getting too old for something so physical. And I’ve no one to pass it on to, unfortunately. I’m sorry to mess you around, Lady Olivia. It’s just that our eldest is moving to Shetland so we won’t see much of the grandbairns if I’m still working on this place with it being a seven-days-a-week job. The wife won’t cope with only seeing the wee’uns twice a year. So, I figured if I retire, we can visit more often. Maybe even relocate up there someday, who knows?’

Olivia nodded and hoped that her warm smile reassured him. ‘I totally understand. Family should come first, especially when you’ve got grandkids. The only problem is that I’m not entirely sure Kerr realises how much is involved in the business. He’s never really been a manual worker.’

‘So why don’t you suggest he comes and helps out? That way he can see the customer-facing side of the business, but he can see the upkeep of the land and the trees and plants too. We’re on with planting seedlings just now so he can really get stuck in. I can always use an extra pair of hands.’

Olivia nodded. ‘That’s a brilliant idea. And in the meantime, could you put together some figures for me? The incomings and outgoings, and also what you’re looking for to sell the business on?’

‘I can do that, no bother.’ He shrugged. ‘The land is yours already and that would have been the biggest outlay. You’d simply be buying the goodwill and the existing stock, including the new transplants. I’ll get the figures sorted and you tell Kerr to be here tomorrow by 8 a.m.’ He paused and glanced over his shoulder to where one of his workers was chatting to a customer. A tall, broad man with mousy hair. ‘There’s just one thing I’d like to ask, if that’s okay?’

‘Of course,’ Olivia said with a nod. ‘Go ahead.’

‘If you could keep Judd on, that’d be grand. He’s Delia’s sister’s lad. Well, I say lad but he’s twenty-seven.’ He chuckled and shook his head. ‘I still see him as a young lad. Anyway, he had a difficult time growing up. His dad was a hard man, very unforgiving, really strict. He was in the military, so they travelled around lots. As a result, Judd struggles to settle in one place for any length of time, but he’s really settled here since he started working for me two years ago. He seems to have a really green thumb too. I’d hate to think that he’d lose his job if we sold the business.’ As if he knew he was being discussed, Judd jogged over.

‘Hey, Unc. Is everything okay?’

‘Aye, lad, this is Lady Olivia MacBain from the castle.’

Judd smiled to reveal a row of crooked but white teeth. He was handsome in a rough-around-the-edges way, with a large scar on his chin. ‘Oh, aye, I’ve seen you in the paper a time or two. Nice to meet you in person, Lady… erm… MacBain?’ He held out his hand and gave a small bow, as if he wasn’t sure how to act.

Olivia shook his hand. ‘Nice to meet you too, Judd. Your uncle tells me you’re great with the plants.’

His eyes brightened further. ‘Aye, I love nurturing things and watching them grow.’

A few more customers drove into the car park. ‘It’s getting busy. I probably should leave you to it. I’ll wait to hear from you, Ali.’