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‘Yeah, it was a pretty crappy time,’ Duncan said as he opened the door to the drawing room, with Ruby being the first to slip inside. ‘Fergus let us stay in the lodge anyway, but then when Dad married Carrie – Lorna’s mum – we moved into the village. I could never really settle there, though. It felt too busy. So when I turned sixteen, Fergus suggested I move back into the lodge and start working for him. And I’ve been here ever since.’

There was a lot for Bex to take in and unpack. The fact that he found the village busy was pretty amusing, although this didn’t feel like the time to make a joke about it. But before she could say anything, Duncan had pulled a package from his pocket.

‘So, time for lunch?’ he said, taking a seat.

She lingered, still not sure if she should say something more about what he’d just told her. After all, moving in by yourself at sixteen must be pretty dramatic, even if your family were all living nearby. But, she decided, if Duncan wanted to tell her more, he would.

‘What have you brought me?’ Bex said instead as she took a seat on the same sofa, although with a fair gap between them. A gap that was immediately filled by Ruby, who then proceeded to stick her nose in Duncan’s pocket.

‘Hey, these aren’t your treats,’ he said, pushing her nose away. ‘They’re Kenna’s. You know that.’

‘Kenna?’ Bex asked. ‘You have your own dog?’

‘No, I have a cat. Kenna is my number one girl.’ From the smile that beamed on his face, he clearly wasn’t joking.

‘A cat? I didn’t figure you as a cat man.’

His smile quirked. ‘Well, I’m sure there’s lots about me that you haven’t figured out yet, but do you want to talk, or eat?’

She actually wanted to do both. Lots of dates she’d been on the guys had just sat there all night, spouting things about themselves as if the sole purpose of arranging dinner had been so they had a captive audience to listen to them recite their own accolades, most of which were substantially exaggerated – and sometimes completely fabricated. Not that this was a date. Not at all. Duncan was undateable. This was more like work colleagues having lunch together. Although what that lunch was, she wasn’t quite sure.

‘It’s a bridie,’ Duncan said as he noticed Bex staring at the package he was unwrapping. ‘They’re pretty famous around these parts.’

‘A bridie?’ she asked, eyeing it curiously.

‘Yes, and they’re delicious. But just in case, I brought sandwiches too. Ham or cheese – you can have whichever one you want.’

‘Thank you,’ Bex replied with a smile. ‘But I guess I should try the bridie first, shouldn’t I?’

He handed her the item, which appeared to be some kind of pasty, and took a tentative bite.

‘It’s really good,’ she said, immediately taking another bite.

‘Glad you like it.’

‘I do. It’s delicious.’ For a full minute she was silently chewing away. She hadn’t realised how hungry she was until now, but with its dense meat filling, this was exactly what she needed. She was almost a third of the way through when she spoke again.

‘I can’t believe Fergus never cooks here,’ she said. ‘That massive kitchen’s just going to waste.’

‘The kitchen gets used. Not a lot, but it’s pretty busy in shoot season when his nephew Kieron comes up,’ Duncan replied. Though she could have been wrong, Bex was sure she saw a muscle twitch along his jaw as he said the nephew’s name.

‘Not a fan of this Kieron, then?’ Bex asked, raising an eyebrow.

Duncan chuckled, shaking his head.

‘Different lifestyles, that’s all. His mum – Fergus’s sister – is a gem of a woman, but Kieron… Well, let’s just say he likes the idea of being a laird far more than any of the responsibilities that come with it. He sees it as a social standing thing, rather than a duty to the folk that live here.’

‘And it’s not a social standing thing?’

‘I dare you to ask Fergus that when he’s having to sort out all the roadworks around the village again.’ Duncan’s smile glinted. He was so charming, it made sense why Lorna had warned her off.

‘So, what’s your relationship with Fergus?’ Bex said, keen to learn more about the situation. ‘You obviously know him well if you’ve got free rein over his house.’

‘I guess I’m as close to Fergus as he lets people get,’ Duncan said.

‘Was it his wife’s death that shut him off from everyone?’ Bex asked gently. ‘I’m guessing that’s when he really pulled away.’

Duncan shook his head slowly. ‘I don’t know. From what my dad said, he was like this even before I knew him. It was a marriage of convenience, so to speak. He was looking to produce an heir, but that didn’t happen.’