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“Never gonna happen. It’s a solo life for me and one I’m grateful for,” Graham promised.
“I heard the Kelpies in the background,” I said, giving voice to my concern. “If Sophie’s gone and I’m gone…”
“Don’t think like that. We’ll know when we know. You don’t think Sophie went to the island, do you?”
A cold wash of fear swept through me at Graham’s words and sweat broke out on my brow.
“I hadn’t, but now that you mention it…” I couldn’t even go there. The thought of losing the second person I loved to the loch—the very loch I refused to swim in to this day—made me want to throw up.
“It doesn’t seem like her. She’s not impulsive, that I can tell. It would be really stupid. And, if she’s packed like Hilda said, then she’s likely just leaving you. You’ve clearly done something to make her mad.”
“Thanks, I get it,” I growled. Sensing there was nothing else to be said, Graham slapped on the radio, and we didn’t speak for the rest of the ride home. Graham tore his car into the parking lot at MacAlpine Castle an hour and a half after leaving the golf course, having made record time on the windy roads, and I was out the door before he’d fully come to a stop. Hilda met me at the front steps, a worried look on her face.
“Archie’s out looking for Sir Buster. He’s nowhere to be found. The Kelpies have been screaming, Lachlan. During the day. They never do that.”
“What happened? I need to know what happened…” I turned to look out over Loch Mirren, where the color of the water had deepened to a slate gray, and then back at Hilda. I didn’t know which way to turn or what to do.
“It’s not good, Lachlan. Come look.” Hilda hurried to the lounge, with Graham and me at her heels. There she skidded to a halt by the table, wringing a dish towel between her hands. A fire crackled in the fireplace, the flames doing little to dispel the cold that seeped through me, and I looked at the pile of papers on the table.
“What is this?”
“Holy…” Graham whistled, picking up a check. “I didn’t know you were rich. I’d have made you pay for that round of golf.”
“What are you talking about?” I grabbed the check from Graham, staring blankly at the numbers and Sophie’s loopy signature. My brain, quite simply, could not compute what I was seeing.
“There’s a note.” Hilda handed me a piece of paper.
Lachlan,
I’m worthy of more than this. Even you must know that. Especially you.
However, I’m willing to take the blame. I should have acknowledged
the red flags when I saw them. Mea culpa and all that. Here’s a check for the full
amount. I release you from the clause, and you’re no longer indebted
to take one for the team in order to save the village. Your honor, though
skewed, is admirable. Your people deserve you. But you do not deserve
my love. Sophie.
My heart cracked open, and dots danced in front of my eyes. I had to steady myself on the side of the table, my hands digging into the wood so hard that my knuckles cracked.
“I don’t understand,” I gasped.
“I do.”
I whirled at Archie’s voice. “What did you do?”
“Ididn’t do anything. But I read the contract that Sophie found on your desk. You must have never opened your mail.” Archie crossed the room and poured himself a dram. I noticed his hand was shaking, and I wondered if it was from fear or anger.
“Explain,” I ordered, feeling close to flipping the table if someone didn’t tell me what the hell was going on.
“There was a clause in the sale of the castle that if Sophie stayed for at least six months, here at the castle of her own free will, then the caretakers would be awarded five million pounds to use to care for the needs of the castle and the town,” Hilda said.
My heart skipped a beat.
