Page 26

‘Fine, just take care of yourself, that’s all. We know you have work to do. But you don’t want to overdo it.’

‘Daisy’s right,’ Claire joined in. ‘Maybe you can ask Duncan if he knows a good place to help you unwind.’

‘Or even better, maybe he can help you unwind,’ Daisy added.

Once again, the giggling started and as much as she didn’t want to, Bex couldn’t help but laugh.

‘You two are ridiculous,’ she said. ‘But I love you very much. Speak soon.’

‘Always,’ Daisy replied. ‘Love you too. And maybe give this Duncan a chance. He sounds like a good one.’

‘Yeah, I think he probably is,’ Bex said, although the words caused a strange sinking in her stomach. She couldn’t help but feel that that was half the problem.

26

On Friday morning, Fergus popped into the study. Ruby had spent the previous few nights sleeping up in Bex’s room, on the armchair, and she wondered if he was going to mention it, but instead, he simply scanned the area.

‘Looks like you’ve sorted out a fair bit in here. Maybe you won’t be here as long as we thought.’

‘This is just tidying, Fergus,’ Bex replied. She didn’t mean to sound so short, but once again the birds had had her up at an insane hour, and the fact that Fergus seemed completely oblivious to the task he had set her was more than a little irritating. ‘I haven’t even started on the accounting.’

‘Aye, of course,’ he mumbled. ‘Oh, I found some keys for you. Not sure which opens which, and like I said – if there’s stuff that dinnae concern you, just leave it. Nae need to fash yourself about anything that’s not money.’

Bex had a long way to go before she understood all the Scottish words that Fergus interjected into their conversations, but she could always gather the meaning.

‘Don’t worry, I’m leaving anything that’s personal aside,’ she said, although she wasn’t sure why he felt the need to reinforce the point. She was, after all, an accountant. She’d already piled a corner high with artwork, birthday cards and memorabilia that had nothing to do with accounts. Despite his craving for solitude, it was clear Fergus had been well-loved.

‘There are some other things in there,’ she said, pointing at the pile. ‘Maybe you want to take them into the drawing room and go through them?’ The old man crinkled his nose as he looked towards the items with something close to a sense of fear.

‘They’re fine here for now,’ he said. ‘And I best be getting on. Things to do.’

Bex smiled at the response. She too had things to be getting on with and as useful as it was to have the keys, she had been partway through sorting out a stack of receipts and really wanted to get back to them, but rather than going, Fergus was continuing to linger in the doorway.

‘Noticed the lad Duncan seems to have taken a shine to you,’ he said. His tone was stoically even, as if he had needed to work to make it sound less pointed. Bex wasn’t quite sure why it made her feel so uncomfortable.

‘He seems nice,’ she said, not sure what else she could add that didn’t sound incriminating.

‘Aye, he is. Heart of gold, that one. Just like… just like his mother. You best not be playing some games, though. Boy’s had enough of that.’

Bex bit down on the inside of her cheek. How the hell was this what her job entailed? She was a senior accountant. One of the most respected members at her firm, and now she was going through papers, fishing out chocolate bar wrappers and being given very unsolicited advice about who she could spend her time with. Not that she and Duncan were even spending that much time together.

‘I know about Duncan’s situation,’ she said. ‘And I also know that I am here to do a job, and getting that job done as effectively and efficiently as possible so I can return home to my life in London is my only goal here. Now, as you said, you have things to do. As do I, so you should probably go and do yours and leave me to get on with mine. Don’t you think?’

27

The conversation with Fergus left Bex in a foul mood for a multitude of reasons and not just because the only coffee she had had that day had been a very weak instant that she’d picked up at the village shop which did nothing to curb her caffeine needs.

The first reason she was angry was because he’d had the audacity to tell her not to play games with Duncan when he knew absolutely nothing about her. Nothing at all. And if he had known anything about the situation, he would have known that Duncan was the one who had played games with her – or at least tried to use her to make his ex jealous. He was the one actively pursuing her, and she was being the professional. Which led to the second reason she was so angry.

She was a professional. A highly skilled, highly educated woman, and yet he was treating her like what? A cleaner? That was what it felt like. Her brain was desperate for numbers. She was missing her friends, and it was clear that this job was far bigger than he had let on to Nigel, and she was just supposed to act okay with it all.

She was so angry, all morning the blood was whirring behind her ears, and she took to slamming the ledgers down on the piles one after another, with any delicate touch gone. Every drawer she opened with a sharp tug and every cupboard she slammed closed. So much so that more than one rattled on its hinges. That made her cool her touch just a fraction, because the last thing she needed to add to all this was the pain of shattered glass to clear up too. Still, she was busy kicking the side of a filing cabinet because the bottom drawer wouldn’t open when a voice made her jump.

‘You okay?’

That lilting tone from the doorway caused her stomach to both simultaneously flip and sink. Of course Duncan would choose today to reappear at lunch, just as Fergus had given her the unsubtle warning to keep away.

‘Not really,’ she said truthfully. ‘I’m pissed off.’