Page 103 of Duke It Out
I narrow my eyes at her suspiciously. “Is there something going on?”
She gives a knowing smile. “Wait and see.”
I fold the top of the paper bag full of cardamom buns I’m holding as a peace offering. We pull up in the overflow car park at the back of the castle and I get out of the car and look around.
“Okay, this is weird.”
“Come on.” Kate tugs my arm, and we crunch over the gravel towards the front of the castle. I catch a whiff of something candy-sweet in the air, like vanilla and sugar.
I’m not in heels or glitter or pretending to be someone else. I feel weirdly nervous, like the whole place is waiting for something to happen. There’s a strange buzz in the air.
And then we walk around the corner and everything becomes clear.
The castle grounds have been transformed. There are white marquees between the trees and bunting flapping in the wind. There are little wooden stalls selling homemade tablet and a candy floss machine that explains the scent in the air, and the sizzle of venison burgers from a trailer over by the entrance to the walled garden. And the place is full of faces I recognise – the people from the village I’ve grown to know as I’ve spent time here and working in the coffee shop.
Theceilidhband is tuning up on a stage made from straw bales, and kids with tiger face paint are chasing each other around a maypole. There’s even a carousel over on the lawn, the music blowing on the breeze. An old-fashioned fair, right here in the wilds of the Highlands.
I spot Janey with her arms folded and a smug expression over by a fenced off area where children are reaching in topet woolly brown Alpacas who peer over at me with curious looks on their faces as Janey shouts hello.
Jamie has a baby goat in his arms and a massive grin on his face. There’s a bouncy castle full of shrieking children by the yew trees.
And then I see him.
Rory’s standing by the bandstand in jeans and a white shirt, sleeves rolled, the dogs sitting patiently by his side. He’s talking to – I shade my eyes and frown because I can’t quite believe it – what looks like areporterwith a cameraman by his side. There’s a woman from the trust I recognise and Pippa, his PA, is hovering by his side. His jaw is rigid, his posture’s stiff, but he looks up for a moment and scans the crowd.
And then he spots me, and his whole body seems to shift, as if the tension has gone. He says something to the reporter, and he nods briefly before heading off in the direction of the venison burger stall. I walk across the grass towards him, and he meets me halfway.
“You came,” he says.
“I’m only here for the alpacas.”
A smile pulls at the edges of his mouth, and he lifts a hand to push his hair back from his face. I notice his forearm and the faded tattoo under the dark hair, and I feel my stomach contract with longing. He tips his head towards the bandstand. “I’ve been waiting to make a speech. Would you?—”
I nod. “Go ahead.”
We walk together, not touching but close enough that my arm brushes his twice and I half expect to look down and see actual sparks shooting between us. A crowd gathers as he steps up onto the platform and Pippa, the PA, hands him a microphone.
He doesn’t look at any notes. There’s a long moment of silence, and I watch as the adults all stop what they’re doing and pay attention to him, waiting with a sort of instinctive respect. In the background there’s the sound of children shrieking and laughing on the bouncy castle and the strangely tinny music of the carousel.
“My father was a complicated man,” he begins. I turn, realising that Jamie is on my right, his hands in his pockets, waiting.
“He believed in legacy, as I do. And in duty. But he also believed that power only belonged in one place, and that’s one of the points where we differ.”
A quiet murmur ripples through the crowd.
“I’ve spent most of my life trying to live up to his version of leadership.” Rory glances over at me for a moment. “And the past few months trying to unpick the truth of it.”
I put my hand to my mouth and stand there, frozen.
“I’ve made mistakes. I’ve been afraid. I’ve shut people out – the wrong people. But someone once told me that I couldn’t see the magic of this place because I was too busy trying to control it.”
I catch Jamie shift in the corner of my eye and flick him a sideways glance. His brows are raised and there’s a knowing smirk playing on his lips.
“So, from this day forward we’re going to be making reparations. We’ll be returning over four hundred acres of land to community ownership. We’re making shared spaces, creating affordable homes, and the Kinnaird Foundation will be working to ensure the people of Loch Morven are stewards of theirownfuture.”
There’s a pause. It’s long enough that a flicker ofuncertainty crosses Rory’s face, and then applause bursts out like summer rain, gentle at first, then rising in intensity
Rory coughs and silence falls again. “This is the beginning. I need you all to understand that. This isn’t the past, where promises were made then wrapped up in corporate bullshit and fancy rhetoric.”
