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‘Well, if we’re done with all the havering, can you get back to the castle and carry on with work, please?’ he said. ‘Those accounts winnae sort themselves.’

Bex turned back to Duncan, whose grin was so wide it made her heart throb.

‘You heard the old man,’ he said. ‘Let’s go home.’

EPILOGUE

‘I’m gonna be like a fifth wheel now on dates,’ Lorna whinged as they met at the pub the following week.

‘What are you on about?’ Eilidh said. ‘Niall and I are still single, right?’

Lorna rolled her eyes and threw a glance at Bex, who couldn’t help but chuckle.

Obviously, Bex had had to forgive Lorna for all the pranks she had pulled to keep her there, though Duncan had assured her that he would have driven down to London to get her back if that’s what it had taken, and she had believed him.

‘So, how long until you need to go back to London?’ Lorna said. ‘I heard you’ve still got a ton to go.’

‘I reckon about another two months,’ she said. ‘But we’ll work something out,’ she added, glancing across at Duncan. Her hand was in his, as it had been most of the time since he had come back from seeing Archie. Every spare minute they spent together, and even those that weren’t spare, when Bex had ended up working slightly later some evenings, or Duncan had needed to do something on the grounds on the weekend, the other had been there at their side, doing what they could to help.

‘Well, we better get back,’ Bex said, standing up. ‘We need to go spend some time with Kenna. She’s been cross about all the nights Duncan spent up at the castle.’

‘But Ruby gets upset if Bex is at the lodge too much,’ Duncan countered, slipping his arm around her waist. ‘Don’t drink too much,’ he said with a glance to his sister. ‘We’ll see you later in the week.’

‘You better,’ Lorna said, blowing them both a kiss farewell.

They kept a slow pace back towards the lodge, occasionally stopping to watch a rabbit nibbling on the grass, or a hawk hovering above them, or sometimes just to kiss. Bex didn’t always find it easy, knowing that at some point this time together would come to an end and Bex would have to go back to London. But she tried not to dwell on it. This, here with Duncan, was the happiest she could remember being in any relationship ever, and she wasn’t going to let an unknown future ruin that for them.

As they reached the lodge, Duncan opened the door, only to take one step inside and stop.

‘Seriously, girl?’ he said, letting out a groan. ‘We were away for one night. That was it.’

It only took Bex a moment to see what he was talking about. She hadn’t been joking about Kenna getting cross when they didn’t stay at the lodge, and when Kenna was cross, you knew it.

This time, she had knocked several picture frames off the shelves, along with half a dozen books and one hefty-looking photo album. All lay scattered on the floor.

‘You sort that side of the room, I’ll do this one,’ Bex said to Duncan. Moving over to the photo album, she lifted it up, ready to pop it back on the shelf, only to stop and stare at the open page.

‘Wow,’ she said. ‘Is this you?’ It was a picture of a small boy on a tricycle. From the cheeky grin on his face, she was fairly certain it was Duncan she was looking at.

‘Yeah, little me.’

‘You were super cute.’

‘And still super cute,’ he said, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. ‘Aye, these are some of the only photos I’ve got from when I was a kid. The only ones I’ve got with me and Mum. There’s one of her just here, I think. Aye, look, there she is.’

He turned to the next page. Little Duncan was still wearing his cycling helmet, though he was no longer on the bike, but rather than studying him, Bex’s eyes were drawn to the woman.

There was something about her. The curve of her eyebrows, the softness of her chin – she looked unbelievably familiar, but she couldn’t place why. Was it just because of the similarities to Duncan? Maybe, but then why did she feel like she’d seen another photo of her somewhere?

‘Do you have photos of your mum up?’ she said, glancing around the room to work out if that was why she recognised her so much. But Duncan shook his head.

‘No. I did, but then someone broke a frame with her in and it tore the photo.’ He shot a glance at Kenna, who was busy licking her paws without a care in the world. ‘I keep meaning to hang some up on the walls. Why?’

Why? That question rolled around her head. She could hardly say because she thought she recognised her. Not when she had no idea why that would be. She was just tired, that was all.

‘No reason.’ She closed the photo album and placed it back on the shelf before turning around and looping her arms around Duncan’s neck. ‘Now, remind me, wasn’t there something we were planning on doing tonight?’

A coy smile flickered on his lips.