Highland Fling (26 page)

Chapter Sixteen

‘Welcome home!’ Jane and Iain yelled in unison.

They were waiting in the hall for Lizzie when she opened the front door of Laurellei Farm on Thursday evening. Alastair, who didn’t want to be left out, barked and wagged his tail, darting from Jane to Lizzie and back again as if he were on an elastic cord.

‘Yes. I’m happy to see you too boy!’ Lizzie balanced on her crutches and stroked Alastair’s head. ‘Go to your bed now, so I don’t trip over you.’

Alastair raced to his basket but put his head on one side so he could still see Lizzie through the open kitchen door.

Lizzie hugged Jane and Iain in turn then Max helped her off with her coat.

‘Oh it’s so good to be home! I’ve missed you so much,’ Lizzie said fighting back the tears pricking at her eyes.

‘I’ve missed you too!’ Jane said not bothering to fight hers.

They hugged again and Iain and Max nodded to each other over their heads.

‘Go through into the sitting room,’ Iain said, ‘there’re cakes and biscuits and I’ll go and make some tea.’

‘Thanks,’ Max said.

Lizzie and Jane were already on their way through, Lizzie limping on one crutch with one arm around Jane. Alastair saw they were going into the sitting room and trotted in after them. Once Lizzie was seated, he curled up on the floor beside her feet.

‘Show me the ring,’ Lizzie said as soon as she was comfortable.

Jane held out her left hand and an intense green, oval cut emerald with a diamond either side sparkled up at Lizzie.

‘It’s gorgeous!’ Lizzie said surprised that Iain should choose such a ring.

Jane beamed. As if reading Lizzie’s mind she said, ‘Iain chose an emerald because he said it matched my eyes.’

Lizzie glanced up at her. ‘It does! Well. Who’d have thought Iain was such a romantic.’

‘Oh Lizzie. You don’t know the half of it! He is sooooo romantic and kind and gentle and loving ... and ... well, perfect!’

Lizzie hugged her again. ‘I really am so happy for you Jane. So, have you set the date now?’

Max was hovering in the doorway when Iain brought the tea tray loaded with a pot of tea, milk and sugar from the kitchen and Iain gave Max a quizzical look.

‘Women’s talk,’ Max said, nodding his head towards the sofa where Lizzie and Jane were huddled together giggling and holding hands.

‘Aye. Best leave them to it. D’you want tea, or something a wee bit stronger?’

Max smiled. ‘A wee bit stronger, please.’

‘I’ll give them their tea and we’ll go back in the kitchen.’ Iain took the tray through and laid it on the coffee table. He leant forward and kissed the top of Jane’s head. ‘We’ll be in the kitchen if you need us, sweetheart.’

Jane beamed up at him. ‘Okay love. Thanks.’ Then to Lizzie, ‘Well we’ve talked about it and obviously with the tourist season approaching and everything, we thought we’d wait until October.’

Iain smiled and left them to it.

‘October! That’s months away.’ Lizzie said.

Jane grinned. ‘I know but wait, I haven’t finished. We discussed it with Fraser – well, actually that’s not true. We told Fraser we were planning to wait until October and his reaction was the same as yours. He suggested we have a quick civil ceremony before the season starts and then a blessing and a formal reception in October. For a twenty-four year old that young man really has his head screwed on. Iain says Fraser just wants me to move in quickly so that he doesn’t have to put up with his dad’s cooking, but I know that’s not true. Iain’s a really good cook.’

Lizzie gasped. ‘So, is that what you’re doing, about the wedding I mean, not the moving in bit?’

Jane nodded. ‘It’s all arranged! I was going to tell you over the phone but I wanted to tell you in person. It’s March 31st! That way we thought we could go away for a few days honeymoon and still be back in time for the Easter weekend. We had to give a minimum of fifteen days notice so we were cutting it fine but you’d said you weren’t going to open again before Easter so we thought that would be perfect. Will you be able to walk without the crutches by then?’

‘Oh Jane. It’s so exciting!  And I’ll make damn sure I can walk without crutches. But you shouldn’t have worried about me or the tourist season. This is your wedding and nothing else matters.’

Jane shook her head. ‘D’you know something Lizzie. I always thought I wanted a big wedding, you know, church, bridesmaids, carriage, the whole enchilada but all I want, all I really want, is to be Iain’s wife and I don’t care if it’s in the back of a tractor!’

Lizzie hugged her and neither of them tried to hold back their tears; they were tears of pure joy.

Lizzie and Max fell into a routine. At eight in the morning Max took her a cup of coffee in bed then he fed the animals – he asked Jane to show him what to do, animal husbandry was not his strong point – then he carried Lizzie downstairs after she’d showered and dressed, and deposited her in the kitchen.

He made them both breakfast and after that, he went to Lizzie’s study at the back of the house behind the kitchen and did some work via his Laptop. Jane came and spent the morning with Lizzie, baking or just talking and then both Jane and Max did household chores.

‘I don’t know what’s come over Max,’ Jane said on Saturday morning. ‘I never thought I’d see the day when Max Bedford would be feeding animals and cleaning them out. And as for using the washing machine and vacuum, well, that’s just unbelievable!’

Lizzie grinned at her. ‘It has only been two days Jane. He’ll soon get fed up with it. No. I shouldn’t be mean, he’s been brilliant. Especially bearing in mind that he probably hasn’t even looked at a duster, let alone used one, for years. Actually, I think that’s the one thing I miss; earning enough money to pay someone else to do the housework.’

‘You pay me,’ Jane teased.

‘We share,’ Lizzie countered. ‘To be honest, he did suggest getting someone in but I reminded him that I’m not made of money and I won’t let him pay, so I suppose he didn’t really have much choice. I was surprised when he offered to feed and clean out the animals though. I half expected him to make some excuse and say you were so good at it and that he wouldn’t interfere.’

‘In typical Max fashion, you mean. Where he convinces you that he’s actually doing you a favour, instead of the other way around. I did tell him I was happy to do them actually, but he insisted. You don’t think he’s doing this to try to get you back do you?’

‘No! Well, I don’t think so. The divorce proceedings have been started and he hasn’t even brought up the subject – of us, I mean. No. I think he finally realised when I was in London that I’ll never really get over his affair and that we both need to move on with our lives.’

‘Hmm. Well let’s hope so. I’m going to make some coffee. Do you want some?’

‘Well that’s a pretty silly question. Of course I do – and biscuits.’

They sat at the kitchen table drinking coffee and munching biscuits until Jane said tentatively, ‘You ... haven’t mentioned Jack since you’ve been back. Have you heard anything else? Has Max said any more about it?’

Lizzie’s eyes misted over. ‘No. Nothing since he told me about the pregnancy and the postponement of the wedding. I thought about asking him but I don’t want to stir it all up again. He knows something happened between me and one of the guys and if I seem too interested in Jack he may put two and two together. It doesn’t matter anyway. It was a mistake.’

‘I don’t know Lizzie. When you told me what Max said about Kim being pregnant, it all sort of made sense somehow. Everyone thought Jack had feelings for you – even his friends. I really think if he hadn’t got that phone call, things may have gone differently and –’

‘But he did get the call and nothing’s going to change that – or the fact that she’s pregnant. I’ve gone over and over it all since Max told me and yes, I also began to think that maybe I’d misjudged Jack, and that it wasn’t just a one night stand for him either – until I saw him in the pub. Whether I like it or not, I have to accept that Jack isn’t the Knight in shining armour I keep making him out to be. He’s a cheating, lying bastard who knows exactly what to do and say to get a woman into bed with him – and exactly what to do and say to get her out of it when he’s finished!’

Jane shook her head. ‘I still can’t believe that. I really thought he was a decent guy after all. Are you sure she wasn’t just a work colleague or something – or just a really good friend.’

‘Yeah! A really, really good friend. Believe me, you don’t look at friends the way he looked at her and certainly not work colleagues – unless something’s going on. He loved her! Loves her, I suppose I should say. It was written all over his face.’

‘But you can love friends Lizzie. We love each other and we’re just friends. Iain loves you, and he’s just your friend. You love –’ 

‘Okay. I get it. There is a slim chance, I suppose that she was just a friend but I’m not sure I buy it. She was half his age – eighteen or nineteen at the most – unless she’s had a bloody good facelift – and I just don’t believe an eighteen year old girl and a thirty-five year old guy would be best buddies somehow.’

Jane tutted. ‘You’re getting cynical in your old age my girl. Of course they can! But the thing I still don’t understand, out of all of it, is why he didn’t just tell you about the baby when he got the call that morning.’

‘Ah. That bit I do get. I think he was probably suffering from shock. He looked dreadful; the colour drained from his face. At the time, I thought it was just the shock of hearing about the accident but now I suspect it was the shock of being told he was about to be a father. I mean, he had just decided to end his engagement and spent the night with another woman – it must have been one hell of a surprise, assuming he was telling the truth about ending the engagement, which, of course, I’m still not convinced he was.’

‘Oh God. What a mess the whole thing is.’ Jane took a sip of coffee. ‘I think it’s rather sad though – if he was telling the truth. Okay, he’s facing up to his responsibilities and not abandoning her but if he didn’t love her enough to marry her before, I don’t see how that’s going to change because she’s pregnant – and that’s not a good way to start married life is it? It’s rather old fashioned too. I mean, in this day and age, you don’t need to marry someone just because you’re having a child together.’

Lizzie’s brows creased. ‘No. That’s true. But maybe when he heard about the accident – and the baby – he decided he did still love her or maybe, he’ll fall back in love with her once the baby’s born.’

‘Hmm. You’ve been reading too many romance novels whilst you were at Max’s. I’m not sure that sort of thing happens in real life.’

Lizzie shrugged. ‘Perhaps not. Or maybe he’s just a lying, cheating shit who doesn’t give a damn about anyone but himself. Anyway, I hope they’ll both be very happy.’ She banged her coffee mug on the table. ‘My biggest regret is the part I played in it all. If only I hadn’t slept with him – but it’s water under the bridge now and I’ll never see him again so there’s really no point in thinking about it, is there? He’s probably forgotten it already.’

Jack, as it happened, was thinking about very little else. He and Phil had talked about it more times than either of them wanted to acknowledge and today was no different.

They were drinking coffee at Jack’s apartment, waiting for Ross to arrive and remove Kim’s belongings.  She didn’t have that much at Jack’s; she’d only moved in just after Christmas and she’d sub-let her small apartment furnished, so it was really only clothes, make-up and personal items, but it would still need the three of them to carry the bags, cases and boxes to Ross’s car.

‘The thing I still don’t get, no matter how many times I go over it, is how Lizzie could spend the night with me to get revenge on her husband and Kim and the next day be back in her husband’s arms all lovey-dovey. She just didn’t seem that cold hearted. And ... she was so convincing. I really thought she had feelings for me.’

 ‘Yeah, I agree. Plus, I still think it’s an odd thing to do. She told us they were separated – and okay, that may have been part of the plan to lead you on but ... how could she be so sure you’d fall for her? Yeah, I know,’ Phil said as Jack was about to interrupt, ‘she’s pretty stunning but even so, she’d have to be very manipulative to scheme like that – and I just don’t believe it. Anyway, what I was going to say was, if she and Max were getting back together, why would she risk sleeping with you? I can’t see any man accepting the “you did it so I did it too” line and certainly not someone like Max.’

‘Perhaps she hasn’t told him. Maybe it’s one of those secret revenge things; it’s enough to know you’ve got your own back without anyone else knowing about it.’

Phil snorted. ‘Come on Jack. You said it yourself, she isn’t that cold hearted.’

‘I said she didn’t seem that cold hearted. Maybe she is. Let’s face it, we were only with her for two days, hardly enough time to get to know someone is it?’

‘I guess not. I still can’t see it though.’

‘You didn’t see her in the pub. She was pretty sodding cold then I can tell you. I can still see the look on her face. And another thing, we were supposed to be in Scotland for the whole weekend so that means she must have decided to come down after we left. Why would she do that? Unless she was worried that her husband might find out she’d spent the night with me. Maybe she thought you’d say something, once she realised you knew him.’

Phil sipped his coffee and considered this. He shook his head. ‘Still don’t believe it. That would mean she’d told him herself and as I said, I can’t see Max just accepting that.’ Phil thought for a moment. ‘Although, Max did say something about it giving them a push to sort things out or something, remember? I told you about the conversation we had in his office.’

Jack sighed. ‘How could I forget?’

The doorbell rang and Jack sprang to his feet to answer it, knowing it would be Ross.

‘Come in Ross. D’you want some coffee?

Ross smiled sheepishly. ‘Yes please.’ He still felt awkward with Jack and Phil even though he’d seen them a few times since the day of his confession three weeks ago.