Page 62 of A Highland Family Affair

She feigned shock. ‘Cheeky! I’ll see you later on today. Love you.’

‘Love you too, Beetle – I mean gorgeous.’

She stuck out her tongue at him and left the room giggling.

23

With only days to go until the wedding, it was a relief to have Brodie home even though he was on strict rest. Just the feel of him beside her in bed was comforting and she was secretly enjoying looking after him too.

As Olivia helped him into bed, he said, ‘We need to get you a sexy nurse’s outfit.’ There was a cheeky, joking glint in his eye.

‘Sexy nurse? Really?’

He shrugged and chuckled. ‘Why not?’

She rolled her eyes. ‘I’m going to forget you said that but only because you used your charm on the bishop about us not getting married at the cathedral.’

He pulled her arm so that she fell almost on top of him. ‘It wasn’t the wedding you wanted so it had to be done. I want you to have your perfect dream wedding,’ he whispered into her ear.

Shivers travelled the length of her spine, and she closed her eyes as he kissed her neck. ‘Ahem, down boy, we agreed we’d wait until the wedding night. You know your leg needs to heal, Mr MacLeod.’

He stuck out his bottom lip. ‘Spoilsport. But I’m really looking forward to the wedding night.’ There was that glint again.

There was a knock on the bedroom door and Olivia went to answer it. Kerr stood there, as white as a sheet. ‘Kerr? What’s wrong?’

‘It’s Will. He’s gone missing. Charlotte has phoned to ask if he’s here but he’s not. She’s tried all of his friends, but no one has seen him and now PC Sherburn is downstairs.’ His words came out in a rush of panic.

Confusion clouded Olivia’s mind. ‘Why would he have gone missing? He’s probably with a friend she doesn’t have a number for.’

Kerr shook his head and closed his eyes. ‘She told him, Liv. About me being his dad. He went ballistic and stormed upstairs. She thought he’d gone into his room to sulk but… when she went to check on him his window was open, and he was nowhere to be found. She’s really panicking. I’m going to go and help her look. I just wanted to let you know and to ask if I can borrow the Land Rover.’

‘Aye, of course you can, mate. I’m sorry I can’t come and help,’ Brodie called from the bed.

‘I can come with you,’ Olivia said.

Kerr’s face brightened. ‘Would you? That’d be really good, sis.’ He chewed his fingernail. ‘I’m… I’m terrified he’s hurt somewhere and it’s all because of me.’

She reached out and gripped his arm. ‘None of this is your fault, Kerr. None of it, okay? I’ll grab my jacket.’

They reached the foyer where PC Sherburn was waiting. ‘So, you haven’t seen him either, Lady Olivia?’ she asked in that familiar Yorkshire accent.

Olivia shook her head. ‘Sorry, I haven’t, but we’re going to join the search.’

‘Great. Just take it steady, okay? We don’t want you on crutches for your wedding too.’ PC Sherburn left them to it and went back to her patrol car.

Olivia and Kerr drove around Drumblair village staring at every teenager they passed and squinting into every alleyway. They even checked the graveyard just in case he was in there. It was eerily quiet, as graveyards often are, but there was no sign of him. After they had checked the bottom tracks of Ben Blair but there was no still no sign of Will, Kerr was pale and shaking.

‘I’m sure he’s fine, Kerr. He probably needed space to think after such a bombshell. It’s big news to receive out of the blue. Just remember your own reaction when you found out about him.’

It was over an hour into their search and Kerr suddenly turned to Olivia. ‘Do you think he might have gone to the nursery?’

‘Oh, gosh, I didn’t think of that. Maybe he has. It’s a place that connects him to you. Let’s head there now.’

As they pulled into the car park of the nursery, Olivia noticed that a vehicle was parked in the car park with a light on inside.

‘Look!’ She pointed across the car park. ‘Judd’s van is there, he might have seen Will.’

Kerr sighed. ‘Let’s hope so.’ He got out and jogged towards the old white van and Olivia followed close behind.