“Reginald,” Drew acknowledged, after reluctantly pulling his attention away from Julia. “Good morning. I was hoping to catch you before you began work for the day.” He smiled back at Julia. “But this lovely lady has invited me to breakfast, so you’ll have to wait for the tidbit of information I brought.”
He held up his palm. “Before you get to nervous, I’ll warn you. It’s nothing of significance. Nothing that changes the outcome, as we know it. But like I said yesterday, I’m still digging.”
“Okay, everyone,” Phoebe called. “Breakfast is buffet style, this morning. Help yourselves. Coffee and juice are already on the table.”
Drew followed Julia to the array of enticing dishes while Lauren came around to meet Reginald.
“Where’s Phillip?” Deidre’s tight tone stopped Drew as he picked up a serving fork.
He looked at her, and then back at the sausage he was putting on his plate. “He went back.”
“Back?” Deidre pressed. “You mean,home? Back to New York?” She sounded dumbfounded.
Drew sighed, set the fork down and picked up a muffin. “Yes. He had…some pressing matters to attend to. I’m sorry.”
“No,” she insisted. “He’d have told me. You’re lying.”
“Deidre!” Phoebe scolded. “Drew is a guest in our house. And a good friend. You will not speak to him that way. Apologize.”
Deidre’s face twisted in a mix of anger and shame. They all heard her choked cry as she ran from the room.
“Oh, dear,” Phoebe sighed.
“Don’t worry, Aunt Phoebe,” Julia soothed. “I think she’s more embarrassed than anything. She’ll be fine in a little bit. It’s best we give her some time to collect herself. She’ll come around. You’ll see. Let’s all enjoy this lovely breakfast, shall we?”
“ ’Tis the most I’ve heard yer sister speak, at once,” Reginald whispered to Lauren, as she joined him to get their plates. “ ’Tis refreshin’ tae see.”
“Julia handles Deidre’s dramas much better than the rest of us. I don’t have the patience, and our mother doesn’t have the interest. But Julia usually manages to bring her around. Most of the time, anyway.”
* * *
’Twasthe most pleasant breakfast Reginald kenned having in…well, centuries. He entered the barn, intending to repair some damaged boards in a couple of stalls, now that the horses were gone.
Still charmed by the food, the company, and the conversation at breakfast, he almost hummed.Almost.How wonderful if a man could wake every day, knowing such an experience awaited, with family and friends. ’Twas everything a man could ask for.
Family?
Where had that come from? But he already kenned the answer. Lauren, Phoebe, even Julia, felt like family.EspeciallyLauren, who filled his heart,andhis thoughts. And being with them, here, in the glen? ’Twas home. And home is where family gathered, was it no’? At least, for now.
At the scrape of the heavy barn door, he looked up to see Drew enter.
“I thought I saw you come in here,” Drew commented. “Got a minute?”
“Of course,” Reginald gestured to a makeshift bench along the outer wall. “Although, if ye’ve pressing matters ye need tae attend tae… I’m at yer disposal, anytime.” He grinned at Drew. “Julia is, indeed, a bonny lass.”
Drew tried to appear unwitting but lost the battle and grinned. “She is. I find myself thinking more about her every day.” He took a seat on the bench and waited until Reginald joined him. “I feel bad about ruining breakfast. But I didn’t know what else to say.” He picked up a piece of straw and broke it into little pieces.
“I dinnae ken there was anything else ye could say. The lass deserved the truth. Unless…there is more ye dinnae tell her?”
“Yes and no.”
“I dinna ken,” Reginald prompted.
“Well, it’s true that he went home. Back to New York. But those pressing matters he was in a hurry to attend to… The only thing pressing about them, was his desire for some…I believe ‘stimulating entertainment’, were his exact words.”
“He dinnae like Scotland? I kenned he and Deidre were…”
Drew shook his head. “No. The hard truth is, Phillip is a player who bores far too easily. He’s always looking for something new. You know… The grass is greener, and all that. I guess that comes from being handed everything. Nothing means much, if you don’t work for it. Or even ask for it. He only tagged along on this trip because he said he was bored. And he went back early, for the same reason. I shouldn’t have agreed to let him come. We’re friends, I guess, but notgoodfriends. I met him in college and he just sort ofstuck.”
