Page 42 of A Scottish Love Story
‘It has felt like it to me,’ he said seriously.
‘I never dreamed of you coming all this way, but I am so, so pleased you have come, and you will get to see my father’s cows before they are dispersed to the four winds.’
‘I would like to buy four of them myself, if I can afford them.’
‘Buy them? Truly? I know you are interested in their breeding, but I never thought... Oh, Ciaran, it would be wonderful if you do buy even one of my father’s cows.’
‘Maybe you will come and see her every evening.’ He grinned. ‘And then I shall see you too.’
‘I shall not want to keep away, that’s for sure.’ Roxie nodded. ‘You’ll be sick of me,’ she added with a dreamy look.
‘You must know I shall never be that, Roxie. As a matter of fact, I have marked the eight dairy cows I think are the best on paper, as well as two in-calf heifers, but I need to see them in the flesh before I decide, and it depends how much money they make, but the lad I saw told me you were going for your breakfast. Can you spare a few minutes to show me where to look?’
‘Oh, Ciaran, of course I can spare you as much time as you want — well, not as much as I would like, I suppose. How did you get here so early? You must be ready for something to eat yourself.’
* * *
Roxie forgot about her hunger and the hours she had already worked as she showed Ciaran proudly through the groups of animals, pointing out the ones he had marked for particular inspection before he saw them in the sale ring.
‘Do you agree with my choice?’ Ciaran asked.
‘More or less. I’m prejudiced, but everybody has their favourites, haven’t they?’
‘Probably. Which one is your favourite?’
‘It would be difficult to pick one. I like three of the ones you have marked. I would choose any of them. If I could only choose one, I would have number eighty-four. She is a daughter of the Sunwick bull you admire so much.’
‘Yes, I’ve seen one or two sired by him, but some of them are getting old.’
‘One of the heifers you have marked is a granddaughter.’
‘I’ll give that one an extra star, then. I’ll buy them especially for you, if I can afford them. Now, I’d better let you get some breakfast. You will have things to do and people to see, but I know now where to look for the ones I’m interested in buying. Roxie...’ He turned to face her. ‘I was hoping you might travel back with me tonight? You’ll be tired, but I didn’t get much sleep myself as I travelled through the night to get here early. It will be a slower journey home if I have cows in the lorry, and I hope I shall. We could stop half way and have a couple of hours sleep for safety’s sake. What do you think?’
‘I didn’t know you had your own lorry. I have never seen it. But if there’s room and if I’ve finished everything I need to do here, I would very much like to come back with you. I’ve packed a big suitcase with a lot of my clothes to take back and I wasn’t looking forward to dragging it on the trains.’
So, it was arranged. Roxie took Ciaran in for some breakfast and coffee.
‘Beth and Maggie will look after you,’ she said. ‘I would like a quick shower and I’ll eat mine in my bedroom while I dress, if you don’t mind? Look after him for me, Beth. His name is Ciaran and he’s special. He is going to buy my favourite cow to take to Scotland and he’s giving me a lift back tonight.’
‘Oh, in that case we’ll certainly take good care of him.’ Beth and Maggie chorused together as they gave Ciaran a more careful inspection.
‘Oh, Roxie, I nearly forgot to tell you.’ Maggie called out to her. ‘That Mr Jacobs has been and brought back your antique furniture. He has put everything in the little room next to the office for now.’
‘Oh, that’s wonderful!’ She turned to Ciaran with the happiest of smiles. ‘These are the things I told you Gilda had sold. I had given up hope of ever seeing my treasures again!’
‘Jacobs wasn’t happy at having to return them. He says you have some lovely pieces. Mr Robson had told him he would be accepting stolen property. He says he runs a reputable business so he couldn’t keep them.’
Ciaran was standing close to her, and he turned and hugged her. ‘I’m really glad you’ve got them back, Roxie. I know it was their sentimental value that meant so much.’
‘It was. I couldn’t have replaced them. I feel like dancing now.’ Roxie grinned. ‘But I’d better get a quick shower or I shall smell of cows when I have to stand next to the auctioneers... The young one is quite an attractive guy.’ She winked at Beth and then promptly shot out the room.
* * *
As soon as Roxie had disappeared upstairs, Beth poured Ciaran a cup of coffee and sat him at the kitchen table with a freshly made bacon-and-egg roll. She grinned at him.
‘So how special, is special?’
‘I don’t know.’ He gave Beth a smile. ‘How attractive is the auctioneer?’
