AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It rolled off and he caught it as he stared at her in alarm. ‘On my own? I do that all the time. We went into Lengroth last week.’
‘Once,’ Heather pointed out. ‘And I was thinking somewhere a little further afield.’
‘But why?’ Cal whined, sounding so like his nephew that Heather couldn’t help but smile.
‘Because that’s what we’re building up to here, right? You being able to look after them alone after I leave.’
A shadow fell across Cal’s face. Heather knew her own smile had slipped, too. She didn’t like to think about leaving Lengroth Castle, and not only because it meant that Daisy and Ryan would be heading off to boarding school.
Unless I can convince Cal otherwise.
‘But you’re still here right now,’ Cal argued. ‘And I’m still learning, right?’
Heather eyed the apple in his hand disapprovingly. ‘Yeah, right. Lots of learning going on here tonight. Besides, all the education in the world counts for nothing if you can’t put it into practice.’
‘I thought I was,’ Cal grumbled.
Heather took pity on him. ‘Yes, you have been.’
In fact, he’d been doing so well she wasn’t sure he’d even noticed that she stepped back from any sort of discipline or emotional management of the kids when he was in the room. He might not realise it, but he was doing everything he needed to already. He just needed to take the next step, and continue it when she wasn’t there as a safety net.
‘That’s why we’re taking it up a level.’
‘Where would I even take them?’ he asked.
Heather shrugged. ‘Anywhere. Take them bowling, or to the cinema. Crazy golf. Swimming. Soft play.’
Cal pulled a face. ‘I’ve got a meeting with my lawyer in Edinburgh the day after tomorrow—’
‘I was thinking more of something that would be fun for them,’ Heather interrupted.
Cal rolled his eyes. ‘I know that. I was thinking the three of you could come with me for the day. The kids could stay with you while I have my meeting, then I could take them around the city on my own afterwards. We could all meet up for dinner before driving back.’
Heather blinked. ‘That’s actually a really good idea.’
‘Then it’s a date,’ Cal said with a smirk—one that faded quickly when Heather winced. ‘Yeah. Not that. You know what I mean...’
‘I know,’ Heather said.
She also knew that it was moments like that which were going to drive her insane with the effort of not kissing Cal Bryce.
* * *
Cal was starting to think that this was a very bad idea.
Edinburgh was packed with tourists—all in town for the Fringe Festival, he supposed. His meeting with the lawyer had gone even more badly than he’d expected. Heather had skipped off for an afternoon in the city alone after feeding the kids ice cream and waffles, so he’d have nothing to bribe them with later unless he wanted them on some sort of almighty sugar high. And it was raining.
None of these things were making his mood any brighter.
‘So, what do you want to do?’ he asked Daisy and Ryan, as they sheltered in a shop doorway, with the sound of bagpipes blasting through the weather on the Royal Mile.
Daisy shrugged. Ryan widened his eyes and shook his head.
‘Really helpful, kids.’
‘Well, we don’t know what there is to do,’ Daisy pointed out. ‘Whenever we came here with Mum it was to go shopping.’
‘We don’t want to go shopping,’ Ryan clarified quickly.
‘Good.’ Cal rubbed a hand across his forehead as he tried to think about what he’d liked about the city as a child. Being away from Lengroth, mostly.
Then he had a stroke of genius.
‘Okay. Follow me, stay close and don’t wander off.’
He strode through the rain towards Castle Hill and the hulking shadow of Edinburgh Castle, stark against the cloudy sky.
‘You do realise that we live in a castle,’ Daisy pointed out as they got closer. ‘You really don’t need to take us to another one.’
‘But what if this one has functioning dungeons?’ Cal asked. Beside him, Ryan gasped, and Cal shook his head. ‘We’re not going to the castle. Come on.’
