Finally, Kieron turned on his heel, marched out of the room and closed the door behind him.
Bex flopped back onto the bed, surprised by the shallowness of her breath. She wasn’t even sure when she had stood up, possibly when Kieron had started attacking Duncan, or maybe her job. She didn’t know. All she knew was that she was trembling and struggling to pull air into her lungs. A wheezing sound whistled from her throat as Ruby placed her head on her lap, emitting a soft whining sound.
‘I’m okay, I’m okay,’ Bex said, though whether she was speaking to herself or Ruby, she wasn’t sure. Her breath was starting to slow slightly, but her heart was still racing. Pounding in her pulse points. How the hell could he have spoken to her like that? And how the hell could he think he had any claim to Fergus’s inheritance?
Yes, Fergus had been close to Kieron’s mother, his sister, but as far as Bex was aware, Kieron had barely spent any time at Highland Hall. He only used the estate for hunts, parties and other frivolities. Duncan, on the other hand, had this village flowing in his veins. He knew every person who lived here, helping them out in whatever ways they needed, from fixing their fences to fetching wayward flocks. These were people who, if DNA proved it, would become his tenants. And she had no doubt he’d treat them not only with respect, but with love. They were his family. And he was almost as much a part of Highland Hall as Fergus had been.
She didn’t know what the DNA test would ultimately reveal, but right now, she knew one thing for certain: there was only one gentleman between the two men involved, and it wasn’t the one who thought he deserved a title.
‘For God’s sake, Fergus,’ Bex muttered to herself as she looked upwards towards the heavens, grateful that both her breathing and pulse were returning to normal. ‘Could you have not just named the damn heir in the will? Would that really have been that hard to do?’
For a moment she waited there as if she might actually get a response.
The room was steeped in silence when a loud knock rattled the door. Her heart jumped, sending her pulse racing from the shock, though as she rose to her feet, it continued to rise for an entirely different reason.
Ruby. Of course, Kieron had told the owner that she had Ruby in here. That damn snake. Her head went back and forth between the dog and the bathroom. She could definitely ask Ruby to sit in there and be quiet, but if the owner asked to look through the whole place and found her there, she’d be in even worse trouble. It was better just to own up.
‘I need you to know it’s not Roddy’s fault. He didn’t know— Lorna?’
Bex froze mid-sentence as she found herself face to face with her friend. Lorna stood there, her arms crossed, looking less than impressed.
‘What are you doing here?’ Bex asked, still trying to catch up. ‘I thought you were sleeping?’
Lorna waltzed in and took a seat at the end of the bed. Unlike with Kieron, Ruby made no attempt to stop her. Instead, she wagged her tail happily at the sight of her old housemate.
‘I was,’ she started. ‘But then Kieron turned up at my door, hammering until I got up, insisting he spoke to you. He didn’t believe me when I said you’d moved out until I pointed out that there was no suitcase and Ruby’s things had gone too. So he wanted to know where you were staying. Thing was, you hadn’t left a note saying where you’d gone. Anyway, long story short, I rang here, found out from Roddy that this was where you got a room, Kieron marched straight down here and I was left in need of a bloody big drink.’
‘I thought you couldn’t handle being near the smell of alcohol.’ Bex skipped over the bit about Kieron banging on the cottage door, despite how guilty she felt about it. The last thing she’d wanted was to bring this mess to her friend’s doorstep too, but she wasn’t sure what she could say. Not without explaining about the will.
‘Well, I thought a hair of the dog might help,’ Lorna replied. ‘But I just got to the bar, and Kieron came marching down with a face like thunder. So I left my drink and came up here so you could tell me exactly what’s going on. And I want the truth. All of it.’
Bex groaned as she rubbed her temples. So far, her plan of moving out of Lorna’s so that she didn’t have to deal with any prying questions hadn’t worked at all. Lorna was unlikely to have been the only one who saw Kieron storming out of the pub, which meant tongues were probably already wagging. But unless she lied – and said it was just a messy love-triangle situation – Bex didn’t know what she could do.
She pressed her lips together, trying to think of an answer that was truthful, but didn’t reveal Duncan’s situation or anything about the will at all. In the end, what she landed on was, ‘It’s complicated.’
Lorna sat down on the same chair Kieron had only minutes before, crossed her legs, folded her arms and looked Bex straight in the eye.
‘Well then, uncomplicate it for me,’ she said.
6
She may not have been the one to have drunk way too much, but the way Bex’s head was pounding was making her believe that a hangover would be far more pleasant than dealing with what she was having to deal with now. She wanted nothing more than to kick Lorna out and tell her to go and talk to Duncan, but she knew she wouldn’t get away with it that easily. Besides, she still didn’t know if Duncan was up for speaking to people.
Her guilt level increased as she realised she still hadn’t sent him a message to check in, but she promised herself it would be the first thing she did when Lorna left. It was getting Lorna to leave that was going to be the tough bit.
‘Okay, well, why don’t we start with what I think is going on, and you can tell me if I’m right or not?’ Lorna suggested. ‘That way you’re not telling me anything, I’m guessing.’
Bex hummed slightly as she considered the idea.
‘Okay, that could work,’ she agreed.
Lorna beamed.
‘It’s to do with Kieron and Duncan. Am I right?’
‘Why do you say that?’ Bex’s response was immediate. Kieron had been the one hammering on her door. The one who had marched out of the pub. There was no reason Lorna should have jumped to the conclusion that Duncan was involved too. And yet she had.
‘Just answer the question,’ Lorna replied.
