The Heir of the Castle (Harlequin Romance) (11 page)

He couldn’t help the grin spreading across his face.

She blinked, her long dark eyelashes brushing against his lowered head. It was torture. ‘And have you found the answer yet, Callan?’

Even the way she said his name sent shivers down his spine. His hands reached up and cradled her hips. ‘It’s as much a mystery to me as it is to you. Maybe we’re just two people with a lot at stake.’

She squeezed her eyes shut. ‘Not the answer I was looking for.’

It wasn’t the answer he’d wanted to say either. But he couldn’t articulate what he really wanted to say. He couldn’t sort it out in his head. And until he did that, how could he say anything?

He couldn’t tell her that she was driving him crazy. He couldn’t tell her that he hadn’t been able to sleep since he’d kissed her. He
definitely
couldn’t tell her what she’d been doing in the five minutes’ worth of dreams he’d had last night.

And no matter how much his body was reacting around Laurie, no matter how much he felt drawn to her. No matter how much he was attracted to her both physically and emotionally, he still had the tiniest doubts in his head. Doubts placed there by his love of Annick Castle. And until that was resolved he couldn’t feel free to make any kind of other decision.

‘It’s the best I can do right now.’

She stepped backwards and gave him a gentle smile. ‘I know, Callan, I’m finding this just as hard as you are. You aren’t the only person with something at stake.’

She gave him a wink, but it wasn’t the playful kind of wink he’d experienced from Laurie before. This was different. It was more resigned. Almost sad.

She looked out of the doors, her eyes drifting over towards the crashing waves. ‘There’s something about this place, Callan. I can’t tell you what it is. I can’t put my finger on it. But Annick Castle, it just draws you in and holds you here.’

He understood. He understood completely. He always had, right from the first time he’d stayed here. Was it the dream of living in a castle, or was it just the austerity of the building, the magic of the surroundings?

And this was it. This was the tiny thing that kept creeping up on him. It was the long tendrils of jealousy that flickered around him when someone else said those words. When Annick Castle had that effect on
them
.

Her words tailed off. ‘But is it the castle...’ then her dark eyes fixed on his again and a jolt shot through him ‘...or is it you?’

She disappeared out of the door before he could reply.

His skin prickled. It didn’t matter what his selfish thoughts were. Laurie Jenkins had just laid it on the line.

Big time.

* * *

She’d only lain down on the bed for a few minutes. But it seemed as if the comfortable mattress and high thread-count sheets had lulled her off into a deep sleep. As her eyes flickered open the sun was lowering in the sky outside her window. It wouldn’t be sunset for a few hours yet but she’d slept much later than she’d expected.

A wave of panic swept over her as she glanced at her watch. She jumped from the bed and ran to the door. The ball was tonight and she had nothing to wear. She hadn’t even given it a thought; she’d been too busy baking in the kitchen and spending time with Callan. The costume room was on the floor underneath and her feet thudded heavily down the stairs. She’d always managed to find something suitable before; she would just have to grab the first thing that fitted.

Robin was flapping around the room. Flapping. It was the most accurate expression for him. ‘There you are! Where have you been? You’re the only person who hasn’t chosen a costume.’

‘Sorry, Robin, I fell asleep. I’ll just take whatever you think is appropriate.’

He pointed to the wall. ‘I’d already picked out a few possibilities for you.’

There were four dresses hanging from part of the coving on the wall. Should he really be doing that? Wouldn’t that damage the paintwork? She shuddered to think.

The costume room was packed full of colourful clothes, all hanging in rails by gender and size. Some women would absolutely adore this, but Laurie had never been the kind to spend hours mooning over clothes. She appreciated beautiful things, but didn’t want to spend the time having to find them. The last two dresses she’d had from this room Robin had recommended to her.

She walked over to the four dresses. All beautiful. All full-length. She wasn’t quite as elegant as others might think. There was a high possibility of her catching her feet in these dresses and tumbling down the curved staircase. That would make for an interesting ball.

She reached out and touched one. There was a variety of colours. Gem colours. Ruby red, emerald green, sapphire blue and silver. All sparkling. All gorgeous.

She wrapped her arms around herself and turned to face Robin.

‘What’s wrong?’ he demanded. ‘Don’t you like them?’

She screwed up her face; she really didn’t want to hurt his feelings. She hesitated before speaking. ‘I think they’re all beautiful. But I’m worried about wearing something full-length. It just isn’t me. There’s a strong likelihood I’ll fall over and ruin them.’

He scowled and touched the red one. ‘It’s a ball, Laurie. You’re supposed to wear something full-length—you know, a
ball
gown. I thought you might go for this one. It’s almost identical to the dress the girl is wearing in the picture at the top of the stairs.’

He was getting tetchy. She looked again. It was. It was perfect. A little more old-fashioned than the others but almost a perfect replica. Why couldn’t she imagine herself wearing it? It was so thoughtful that Robin had tried to take in the surroundings. But she just couldn’t picture herself walking down the stairs in that dress. If there were ghosts in this castle they’d probably push her down in disgust at her attempts to look regal.

She shook her head. ‘I’m sorry, Robin. I just don’t think they’re right for me.’

He let out a loud sigh and threw up his hands. ‘Okay then, Laurie. What is it? What is the dress you see in your dreams?’

She laughed. ‘It depends entirely what I’m dreaming about.’

‘Pfft.’ He waved his hand in disgust and touched his finger to the side of her forehead. ‘What is it, Laurie? What’s the one that you keep in here?’ Then his finger came down and pressed on her chest bone. ‘Or more importantly, what’s the one you keep in here?’

She flinched. ‘It’s the dress Liesl wore in
The Sound of Music
.’ The words came straight out without a second thought.

‘No!’ He was excited, and obviously a little surprised. He didn’t even have to ask what dress she was referring to as he clearly already knew. He flung his arms around her. ‘Oh, Laurie, you are going to love me!’

He disappeared in a flurry, snaking amongst the rails of clothing.

She caught her breath; he couldn’t have what she was looking for—could he? She stood on her tiptoes. Robin had disappeared from sight. She’d no idea where he’d disappeared to, then she heard an exclamation of pure pleasure. ‘I’ve got it!’

He snaked his way back through to her, a pale pink dress held in a plastic cover in his hands. Her heart started to beat a little faster and she was sure her eyes must have been as wide as saucers. ‘No. You can’t have.’

‘I can.’ He swept the dress past her in pleasure, holding it up under the light. ‘A genuine, replica Liesl dress.’ She’d never seen him look so pleased with himself.

Laurie could hardly contain her excitement. She reached out her hands to touch the dress, then snatched them back again.

Robin lifted his eyebrows; it was almost as if he understood. He slipped the dress out of its protective cover and held the hanger in one hand and let the dress rest on his forearm.

It was the palest pink chiffon, as light as a whisper. Elbow-length chiffon sleeves, a tiny bow in the middle of the gathered bodice, and a knee-length swishy skirt. It was exactly the same as the dress in the film.

There were no sequins. No floor-length glamour. No jewels. But beauty was in the eye of the beholder and it was the most perfect dress she’d ever seen.

The colour was so pale. On so many other women the colour would completely wash them out. But Laurie had slightly sallow skin, and with her dark eyes and long brunette curls there was no doubt it would suit her to perfection.

‘Will it fit me?’ She was almost too scared to ask. She had curves. She certainly wasn’t the tiny frame of the actress who’d played Liesl in the film.

Robin nodded with pride. ‘I promise, it will be a perfect fit.’

She held out her hands. She had to touch it and she couldn’t wait to try it on.

Her feet flew up the stairs even quicker than she’d come down. She slammed the door behind her and stripped off her clothes in an instant, sliding her arms through the delicate material.

It fell over her head as light as a feather. Her eyes were closed and she spun around to where the full-length mirror was, praying inside her head that it would look okay.

She opened her eyes. It looked more than okay. It was more perfect than she could have imagined. It was almost as if it had been made especially for her.

She glanced at her watch. She’d only half an hour to get ready. She pulled the dress over her head again and switched on the shower. It only took her a few minutes to put her long hair in sticky rollers. There was a knock at the door.

She panicked and grabbed a towel to hold in front of herself in her undressed state. She opened the door just a crack. It was Robin, holding two pairs of shoes in his hands.

He rolled his eyes at her. ‘You dashed off so quickly I didn’t have time to give you some shoes. Take your pick.’ He held up the first pair. ‘Nude shoes—’ then held up the other ‘—or gold sparkly sandals. Not strictly Liesl,’ he whispered, ‘but aren’t they gorgeous?’

He set them on the floor just outside her door. ‘I’ll leave them here.’ He sashayed back down the corridor as she clutched at her towel and grabbed the shoes.

She could hear the strains of music downstairs. The string quartet had obviously arrived and was setting up. Robin had also left her a card with her instructions for her character this evening. She hadn’t even glanced at it and it made her feel guilty. He’d obviously just pushed the boat out to give her what she wanted. The least she could do was try and fulfil her duties for this evening.

But the shower was calling and time was ticking onwards. She didn’t want to be late.

She got ready in double-quick time, pulling out her rollers at the last possible second and letting her curls tumble around her shoulders. At the last minute she fastened her gold locket around her neck, giving it a little kiss. ‘You’ve no idea what’s going on, Dad,’ she whispered. ‘I just hope you’d approve.’

She slipped one foot into one of the nude shoes and pulled the straps of one of the gold sandals over the other. A quick glimpse in the full-length mirror told her everything she wanted to know.

The nude shoes were abandoned and the straps on the sandals quickly fastened into place. A little brush of eye shadow and mascara and some rose-coloured lipstick and she was ready.

She read over the instructions on the card once more. She really didn’t have much to do this evening. A simple conversation with one of the other guests, which would obviously lead them to think her a suspect. Robin was planting red herrings all over the place.

She didn’t really care. It wasn’t important. Not to her.

She wanted to enjoy herself. She wanted to enjoy spending the evening in Annick Castle when it would look at its finest. Where she could imagine bygone eras and what the nights had been like for the people who used to be residents here.

Where she could spend some more time with Callan McGregor.

Where she could try and figure out what was going on in her head whenever she was around him.

Tiny pieces were fitting into place. Callan had opened up a little, but after Marion’s telling comments she finally felt as if she could start to appreciate the loyalty he felt towards Angus McLean.

It was exactly the same as the loyalty she felt towards her father. She had one final glance out of the window towards the sea and then walked across the room, pulling the door closed behind her.

She walked along the corridor. How would she feel about going back to her flat in London? Being surrounded by the compressed air of the city again instead of the fresh coastal winds of the Scottish Highlands?

Her feet carried her along the corridor. One foot in front of the other.

One foot in front of the other.
Much as her life had been for the last eight years. But was that enough? Didn’t she want more out of life?

Her eyes had been opened in the last few days to a whole host of possibilities—both personal and professional.

How would it feel to get up every morning feeling excited about going to work? How would it feel to be doing something else entirely?

She reached the top of the curved stairways and looked down to the magnificent hallway. Which set of stairs, one or the other? And how did you choose?

She glanced at the red-dressed woman in the portrait at the top of the stairs. Her haughty expression hadn’t changed. But there was more. Something else when you looked a little closer. Something in her eyes. Something pleading. Was it desperation?

There was a shift in her peripheral vision.

Callan. He was waiting at the bottom of the stairs for her. It didn’t matter which set of stairs she walked down. The outcome would be the same.

It was almost as if someone had turned on a glistening chandelier in her head.

The last few days had been the oddest of her life.

Relief. That was what she’d felt as soon as she’d set foot in Annick Castle.

No tension headaches. No aching joints or sleepless nights. Her stomach coiled at the realisation that was coming over her.

She couldn’t go back. She couldn’t go back to Bertram and Bain. No matter what happened here.

Just the recognition in her brain felt like a huge weight off her shoulders. The logistics of how she might do that were too complicated for her to figure out herself. She had ongoing cases—responsibilities to clients. It was only fair that she work a period of notice.