Page 29 of Duke It Out
I clear my throat and fiddle with the reins. “Thank you,” I mutter, feeling awkward.
His mouth twitches almost imperceptibly. “I deal in facts, Edie.”
He shifts his weight in the saddle and his horse moves on, Moss tagging along behind him as the path narrows for a moment and then he stops again and turns, frowning.
“So if you want to write novels, why aren’t you doing it?”
I bite my lower lip and say nothing for a long moment. “It’s complicated,” I say, eventually.
“Is it?”
His words echo in my head as we ride. I tell myself it was just an innocent question, but it feels like more than that. It’s a spotlight shining into dark corners I’d rather not look at. Being a writer is all about picking yourself up, dusting yourself off after rejection and trying again. Maybe I’m just not brave enough.
We ride down to a collection of fancy log cabins where Jamie’s eco centre will be, with a community hub to train young people in rural skills. He points out the peatlands they’re regenerating and explains it’s all part of a project to keep young people in the area.
“Right now, people have no choice but to move away. We want that to change.”
A woman with a bright yellow backpack gives us a wave from the footpath, stumping up the hill with a determined expression on her face. I’m glad to be sitting on the surefooted Moss, who seems to take the uneven ground in herstride. She tosses her head and the metal of her bit jingles as her luxuriant mane lifts in the breeze.
I see the tiny trees being planted by a group of forestry workers who wave cheerfully from the side of the hill, and we ride along the side of the peat-brown river where he tells me salmon come each year to spawn. It’s beautiful, and I can understand why Rory is so single minded in his drive to save this part of the world and preserve it for future generations. It’s not just land – it’s a living, breathing entity with the future of families and their livelihoods at stake. I can see why he guards it like a fortress. I would too.
12
EDIE
Eight-thirty in the morning,and I’m sitting at the desk of the late Duke of Kinnaird. Two can play that game – if he’s going to summon me for riding lessons at the crack of dawn, then I’m damn well going to prove I’m up to the job by getting here first and tackling the paperwork.
I’ve got a coffee from the kitchen, a pain au chocolat, a handful of grapes, and a fierce sense of purpose. I’m ready to go. Ready, and aching in places I didn’t even know I could ache.
I feel like my legs are going to fall off. It was a great idea in theory, riding around the estate with Rory as he showed me what he was working to save. Not such a great idea when we got back to the stable yard and I dismounted, only for my legs to almost give way underneath me so I had to grab hold of Moss’s mane to save face and stand for a moment gathering myself.
“It’s a killer when you haven’t ridden in ages,” Kate said, taking Moss’s reins. “How are your…” She tips her head southward. “Nether regions?”
I burst out laughing. “Okay, I think?” I make a face. “I’ll tell you tomorrow.”
“I’ll expect a report on the estate group chat.”
“Funnily enough I’m not signed up for that.” I can’t imagine Rory keeping everyone up to date with the gossip on a Loch Morven group chat.
“Well, you can come over and see me and let me know.” Kate grins, her freckled nose crinkling. “Not that I’m invested in the state of your fanny, to be perfectly honest, but it’s nice to have a new face around here to talk to. Have you got a car?”
I shake my head. Kate fiddles beneath the flaps of the saddle and slides it off Moss’s back, turning to cast an accusatory eye on Rory.
“Have you taken this girl hostage? How’s she supposed to get from A to B if she doesn’t have a car?”
He strides towards us, a saddle over his arm. “I have not, and we’ll sort you out with something. I assume you have a license?”
I nod.
“Leave it with me.” He narrows his eyes and looks at Kate. “I don’t need you leading her off the straight and narrow, MacEwan. She’s got a job to do.”
“All work and no play, Kinnaird.” Kate dumps the second saddle in his arms.
He grunts and heads off towards the tack room with the saddles. I drag my eyes away from the sight of his broad shoulders and the bulk of his arms. Kate gives me a fleeting sideways look. Okay, so she doesn’t miss a trick.
“Nice to have some new blood on the estate. Come and see me any time. I can fill you in on all the inside info you won’t hear anywhere else.” She laces her fingers together and stretches her arms over her head.
“I get the feeling that’s the very last thing Rory would want.”
