Page 6 of Savage Blooms
“There aren’t many of us left alive who remember that long ago,” Eileen said cryptically. “I’m barely twenty-seven. So’s Finley.”
Before Adam could press further, a deafening thunderclap boomed above the house, making everyone jump. Finley strode over to the window to glare outside, no doubt gauging how much rainfall they were in for and how that might affect his job, but Eileen just slapped her hand over her heart and laughed.
“It’s coming down awfully hard,” Finley said, shooting a pointed look to Eileen. There was a half beat of quiet, as though they were silently conferring.
“How hard?” Eileen asked.
“See for yourself.”
Eileen went to the window and began to make a tsking sound. Adam, who felt this boded ill, joined Eileen at the floor-to-ceiling window, along with Nicola.
It wasn’t raining outside; it was absolutely pouring. Adam had waited for cabs in Berlin rain, and he had hiked through Icelandic blizzards, so he felt quite confident there wasn’t much weather could throw at him that he couldn’t handle. But this was a gray, cold rain, lashing against the house in sheets.
“Is that your car outside?” Eileen asked.
“Yeah,” Nicola said. “It’s a rental.”
“It’s not exactly built for mud,” Eileen said. “That road you took to get here gets washed out during heavy rains. I’m not sure it’s safe for you to drive.”
“How long is the rain supposed to last?” Adam asked.
“Until tomorrow afternoon,” Finley replied, with the wisdom of someone who knew his way around a farmer’s almanac.
“Tomorrow?” Nicola repeated, voice tight. “It can’t be that bad, right?”
“I’ve flipped one car and bogged another down in mud on that road when it comes down like this,” Finley said, glancing over at Nicola. If Adam wasn’t mistaken, he wasstanding a little closer to Nicola than was strictly necessary. “Doesn’t matter how steady you are behind the wheel, the spring rains have a mind of their own.”
“You picked a hell of a time to come to the Highlands,” Eileen said. “We’ll have two beds turned down for you, of course. Happy to have you until the rain stops. That will give us more time to get to know each other and chat ancestry anyway, won’t it?”
“Oh, no,” Adam began, loath to impose, “we can’t—”
“You’d let us stay here, in this beautiful house with you?” Nicola said, andoh no, her eyes were soft with wonder. Adam could never deny her anything when she looked like that, enraptured by the mere beauty of being alive. “You just met us.”
“I’m willing to wager that two American tourists aren’t going to throttle me in my sleep, but if you get murder on your mind, remember I keep a rifle in my room.”
Finley let out an exasperated sound, and Adam expected Eileen to chastise her employee for that, or at least to give him a look of disapproval. Instead, she barely noticed.
“It’s no trouble at all, really,” she went on. “This house was built for hosting guests, but it’s just me here now, most days. A bit of company might not be so terrible.”
She gave Adam a warm smile, perhaps a bit more warm than was strictly necessary, her gaze flicking over his body for one hot instant before she looked back out the window.
She was hard to deny, Adam would give her that.
“Thank you,” he said, surrendering to this strange turn of fate. He had been dreaming of Craigmar since he was a boy, and now that he was here, he wasn’t keen on leaving. At least not until he had explored every nook, walked through every room, drank down every drop of history in this place. If Eileen was willing to allow that, it was all the permission he needed. It wasn’t as if they had anywhere else to be. There was the flight to catch back home eventually, yes, but Adam had left most of their itinerary open for side wanderings and unexpected day trips and hopefully, a deep and meaningful engagement with this place his grandfather had left to Adam like an inheritace.
Adam shot a glance to Nicola, who bounced on the balls of her feet in pleasure. She looked totally enraptured by Eileen and the private world of decaying opulence she commanded.
“Finley will show you to your rooms,” Eileen said, already drifting away as though this lavish display of generosity was nothing to her, like it was all in a day’s work. “Probably a good idea to get some of your things from the car as well. Take your time settling in. I’m not going anywhere.”
“We really appreciate it,” Nicola said. “If there’s any way we can pay you back, or help out—”
Eileen made a sound as though Nicola was being preposterous. “Absolutely not. This is hospitality, and it’s my pleasure. Finley?”
“On it,” Finley said, and then, as though he had forgotten himself. “Sir.”
Finley gestured towards the door, bidding Adam lead the way. Adam exited the library, followed closely by Nicola pressed up against his back, but he couldn’t help take one last look behind him at the grand room. He barely caught sight of the groundskeeper grasping the lord’s wrist, rough fingers leaving indentations on the milky flesh.
So quickly, and so faintly that Adam might have been imagining it, he heard Finley say in a low, urgent voice,
