Kiwi Bride Series: Highland Kiss (25 page)

“
Oh, poor Mr. Westies,”
she said.

“
Captain Snow really likes
you.”

Ruby turned to see Susan standing at the door, glamorous as
usual, in her evening dress of pale pink.

“
I’m sorry I interrupted
you,” Susan said.

Ruby shook her head. “No,
you’re not.”

Susan came into the room
and sat on the side of the bed. “He used to like me a lot,” she
said, looking at Captain Snow. “But since you came along, he won’t
even spare me a glance.”

“
Is he your
dog?”

Susan nodded. “I bought
him, you know. I saw him in one of those pet shops in London. He
looked simply too adorable not to adopt. So I bought
him.”

“
He is very cute,” Ruby
said, rubbing the dog’s head.

Susan said, “Ruby, I’m
sorry for what happened.”

Ruby glanced at Susan, and
thought the woman looked rather sad. Perhaps there was something
critical on her mind?

“
I didn’t mean for it to
go this far,” Susan continued. “It’s not Alec’s fault. It’s always
been just the two of us. Our parents died when he was seventeen in
an accident. He was still very young. Then he had to take care of
everything, running the family empire, and studying at the same
time. Not to mention, looking after me.”

“
What happened?” Ruby
asked because she was curious.

“
I was, what should I say?
Very depressed after our parents passed away. I got worse. I…
sometimes, I wanted to end my life. You know, that teenage phase. I
was also very anorexic. If it weren’t for Alec, I… I don’t think
I’d be here today, or so successful in the modelling industry. I
have done my best to send the message out to all those young girls
not to starve themselves like I did at that age. So the thing that
I really want to tell you is: Alec loves me. Maybe too much at
times. He worries about me. Without me, he’d be alone. Oh we have
cousins and all, but they’re just, you know, distant relatives.
They only contact us when they need money—”

“
I think I get what you
mean.”

“
Really?” Susan sighed. “I
suck at explaining things.”

“
Actually, I do,
too.”

“
Look, Ruby, I am very sorry for what happened. Please don’t
blame Alec. He only did it for me, and if you want to tell Brian,
that’s fine. I won’t blame you if you do. I know you love him. I’m
sorry I tried to steal him away from you.” Susan sobbed, tears
overflowing her lovely eyes. “I don’t know what came over me that
day. I don’t even know why I asked Alec to help me. I ended the
engagement. I don’t understand why I want him back now.”

Ruby felt sympathetic as
Susan started crying. She said, “Susan, I understand.”

Susan stood up abruptly.
“I’ll go now,” she said as she rushed out the room.

Ruby turned to Captain
Snow. “Well, Westies,” she said, “two apologies from the same
family in one day. What do you think that means?”

The dog just looked at her
blankly before rushing up and licking her hand. Ruby
laughed.

* * *

Despite getting a good
night’s sleep that night—alone in the large bed—Ruby had a very
disturbing dream. She dreamt that a very big, white serpent was
chasing her, and caught her with its slippery body. It bit her
wrist, causing her to bleed.

Now sitting up in bed, she shut her eyes and tried to
forget the dream. Captain Snow rushed over to her, licking her hand
in an attempt to get her attention. She patted the dog’s head.
“Good morning,” she said to him.

Captain Snow jumped down
from the bed and ran with his wee legs to the door before
scratching on it.

“
Breakfast time, is it?”
she asked. She got out of bed and went to open the door for him.
Captain Snow swiftly slipped out and rushed down the stairs. Ruby
shook her head and shut the door.

As she was walking back to
the bed, she glanced at Alec, still asleep on the uncomfortable
sofa and the tartan blanket on the floor. She went to pick it up
and arranged it properly over him. Turning to walk back, he grabbed
her wrist, and when she glanced over, she saw Alec smiling lazily
at her.

“
Good morning,” he said
sleepily.

“
Good morning, Alec,” she
replied. “May I have my hand back please?”

Instead of letting her go,
he pulled her closer to him. Alec shifted his body just so, which
allow Ruby’s body to fall to the side between the back of the sofa
and him.

“
That large, comfortable
bed that you slept in last night, madame, is not free. I believe
you owe me a kiss. Nay, two kisses because I’m sleeping on this
very uncomfortable sofa.”

Ruby wiggled her nose and
said, “Your own fault, Mr. Hasting. There are many guest rooms in
this castle and you, yourself, have chosen to sleep here. You can’t
blame me for that.” Then she struggled to sit up.

Alec wouldn’t let her,
however, and gave her a peck on the cheek. She pushed him off the
seat as she sat up in spite of him. Alec fell to the floor and
laughed, his voice sounding loud in the room.

Ruby stood up and walked
to the bathroom. Halfway, she glanced back. When she saw that Alec
was up and about to chase her, she giggled and ran into the
bathroom, locking the door.

Alec grinned, his hand
resting on the handle of the door as he said, “Madame, you still
owe me two kisses.”

Ruby’s insides were exploding with excitement.
Alec, you cheeky lout.

She was humming to herself
as she went about showering. When she finished and emerged wearing
only a bathrobe, she discovered he was gone. She shrugged her
shoulders and picked out her clothing. After getting dressed, she
went downstairs to have breakfast.

The dining room was empty,
and she wondered where everyone was. She was about to leave when
Lizzie came in.

“
Miss Ruby,” the maid
said. “Whaddya like fer breakfast?”

“
Just some toast, thank
you,” Ruby said as she slid into a chair. “Where’s
everyone?”

“
Miss Susan an’ Miss Jane
are still abed, I believe. Master Alec ate ‘is breakfast an’ ‘e’s
gone out ta the stables. Mr. Brian, I’m not sure. But ‘e joost
finished ‘is breakfast.”

“
Thank you, Lizzie,” Ruby
said as she poured herself a cup of orange juice.

After devouring a plate of
hot toast and rolls, Ruby went out into the sunshine for a little
walk. She was down near the river when she saw Brian.

“’
Allo,” she
said.

Brian turned and smiled.
“Good morning.”

“
Why are you here all
alone?”

“
To think,” Brain replied,
staring off at the still, glassy water.

“
About what?”

Brian turned his gaze from
the beautiful scenery to look at her. “You.”

Ruby blinked and her heart
missed a beat. She licked her lips and asked, “Why?”

Brian turned his body
fully toward her and touched her arms. “I thought we had something,
Ruby.”

“
Brian—” she
began.

“
Was I wrong?”

Ruby cast her eyes
downward and shook her head.

“
So what happened?” he
asked, his eyes searching hers.

Ruby wanted him to stop
interrogating her. She felt so exposed and helpless.

“
Ruby, what happened?” he
urged gently.

She looked up at him. “I fell in love.”

Brian frowned. “You fell
in love?” He looked confused.

“
With Alec,” she
said.

“
How? When?”

“
A wee while ago,” she
replied evasively.

“
When he visited New
Zealand three years ago?” he asked as though it were
impossible.

“
Well, Brian—”

“
Then why did you lead me
on? Why did you make me think that I meant something to
you?”

“
Oh, Brian, it’s not like
that. You do mean something to me.”

“
In what way,
Ruby?”

“
Brian, you love Susan,”
she said, licking her lips.

Brian looked frustrated
now. “How do you know I love Susan and not you? I used to love her,
very much, in fact. But she didn’t want me and broke off our
engagement. I got over her.”

“
I know you still love
Susan, and Susan still loves you. Can’t you see what she’s done for
you?” Ruby said, touching his arm.

“
In what way, Ruby? In
what way do I mean something to you?”

Ruby just wanted this line
of questioning to end. Why was he interrogating her? Asking
questions she didn’t know the answers to. She hesitated, wondering
what she should tell him.

“
A… a friend. Like… like a
brotherly friend.”

“
Is that all?”

She could hear the
disappointment in his voice, and her heart reached out to him.
“Brian, I’m sorry.”

“
No, don’t be, Ruby. It’s
the way it is. You can’t tell yourself to love somebody if you
don’t.”

“
Brian, I’m sorry,” Ruby
said as tears flowed from her eyes.

Brain cupped her face in
his hands. He stared deeply into her eyes and said, “Ruby, you’re a
special girl. I hope Alec sees that. If he ever hurts you, tell me.
I won’t let him die easily, even though he’s my best
friend.”

“
Brian, why are you so
kind? Why does it have to be like this? I wish I never came here in
the first place,” she said, hiding her face against his
chest.

“
Like you told me that day
in Dunedin: fate, Ruby, fate.”

Ruby moved her head back
and looked up at him. “Susan really loves you, Brian.”

“
I know, Ruby, I know,” he
said, patting her head as he stared off into the
distance.

Up at the manor at that moment, Susan stood at the window
of her bedroom, watching them. She felt sick to her stomach, and
like she just lost everything as she watched Brian hugging
Ruby.

Ruby must have been
telling Brian about everything, why she was kidnapped by Alec and
how Alec only pretended to be in love with her so that
Brian—

Oh God
, she couldn’t
think any further. It was too horrible to contemplate. She just
wanted to die.

Feeling a bit dizzy, she
thought she should go and sit down; although she preferred to stand
there and watch them. Despite how very painful it was, she had to
accept that Brian would never love her again. He would never marry
her because he was already in love with Ruby. There was nothing
more she could do. Unexpectedly, fresh tears welled up in her
eyes.

Lunch at the Mooreland Mansion was delicious. Conversation, as
before, was mostly conducted by Jane and Richard, who couldn’t seem
to keep their eyes off each other.

After lunch, both Alec and
Brian excused themselves to take a ride on Richard’s newly acquired
stallions. Richard, on the other hand, showed Ruby—with Jane
tagging along behind them—around the mansion. Susan was too tired
to engage in either activity, and relaxed in the drawing room,
reading magazines.

Ruby thoroughly enjoyed
her tour of the mansion, and once they returned for some tea, Jane
suggested they all go out for a stroll. Richard thought that was a
good idea. Both Ruby and Susan reluctantly agreed.

“
So nice out here,” Jane
said, linking her arm with Richard’s as she inhaled the clean,
country air.

“
It’s very peaceful and
beautiful,” Ruby commented to Susan. Susan smiled at her and nodded
in agreement.

Ruby noticed that Susan
did not look very well. She wondered what was bothering the woman.
“Are you feeling all right?” she asked curiously.

Susan glanced at her in
surprise. She shook her head as she said, “I’m fine. Just a bit
tired.”

Ruby nodded and asked no
more.

A while later, as they
approached the lake, Jane squealed with delight. “Oh, Richard, can
we row the boat? Please?”

Richard laughed. “Would you girls like to come?” he asked
Ruby and Susan. The women shook their heads. “Don’t say I didn’t
invite you.” He chuckled, leading Jane toward the lake.

Both Ruby and Susan
watched Richard and Jane get into the small boat before rowing all
the way to the middle of the lake, laughing gleefully.

Suddenly, the sounds of
horses’ hooves could be heard. Ruby turned to see Alec and Brian
riding beautiful, dark stallions, fast approaching them. Brian held
onto the reins of another horse beside him.

Once they halted, Ruby
looked up at Alec and saw him watching her.

“
I’ve got a mare for you,
Susan. Want some exercise?” Brian asked.

Susan looked adoringly at Brian and nodded happily. She
climbed onto the horse before she and Brian headed toward the
woods.