Fiona and Gordon dropped off Fergus and Shona at Jeanette’s, said a quick hello to George and Jean, Jeanette’s mother, and continued on to Glenmorie with a sleeping Neil behind them in his car seat.
Gordon was conscious of the opportunity to talk privately with his wife and he began with the topic uppermost in his mind.
“I’ve been looking over the accounts lately, darling.”
“Yes?”
“We are just about breaking even but if you want to send Fergus to this art school we will have fees to pay in addition to all the expenses the other children incur. I think we need a sizable contingency fund to cushion us for the future, but I am not seeing a way to do that.
Any ideas?”
Fiona leaned back into the leather seats of the Subaru and considered this an opportunity she had been waiting for. She needed to be diplomatic. Gordon was a proud man. She did not want to undermine his confidence in any way.
“I have a thought or two along those lines. It brings its own problems, and yet, it would answer a few of your issues.”
“Go ahead, Fiona. You are a partner in this estate enterprise in every possible way and I rely on your good sense.”
Thus emboldened, Fiona expanded on her ideas.
“I’ve been thinking I could get a part-time job with the Wildlife Services again. I could easily integrate it with conservation work on the estate. There’s a lot of renewed interest in the pine marten lately, and we have a family of them, in addition to our wildcat project and the river otters. I could do a study or two for a wildlife magazine.”
“All that would help of course, lass, but what about the wee lad sleeping in the back there?”
“I would try to restrict my duties to the local area. There are sea studies on the coastline already underway and I have experience with those. Neil is a good baby and he is becoming more independent now that he’s running around. Donald tells me has a niece in Oban who has childcare training. Marie is pregnant and on leave for now. She might step in for a few hours and she could travel up to Glenmorie with her uncle.”
“Well now! How long have you been planning all this?”
She laughed. “Not that long, Gordon! But I am aware how expensive the Meco house has been and I do not want that project to fail.”
“I agree totally about that. Any other ideas from the fertile mind of the Lady of Glenmorie?”
“Since you ask, my dear husband, I wonder if you noted the results of last September’s Best of the West Festival at Inveraray Castle? The Duke and Duchess of Argyll had over six thousand visitors. Their estate produce and special events over the weekend earned two million pounds!”
Gordon’s foot went down hard on the accelerator and the car jumped forward. His wife knew the sign. It meant he had learned of these results and he was concerned.
“Gordon, sweetheart, I know well we can’t possibly compete with the huge Inveraray Castle estate or the throngs of visitors who arrive there from cruise ships, but perhaps we could do something on a lesser scale and at a different time, without upsetting the clan chief and Eleanor. I could contact the Duchess. She’s a really lovely person, according to all who know her. She might be able to give us some ideas.”
He chuckled in response, which Fiona considered a very good indicator of his interest.
“You are giving me a number of good ideas, Fiona Campbell. Not all related to our finances.
It’s not often we have Meco to ourselves. The castle is five minutes away now. If we can get Neil into his cot without waking him, we have a chance to discuss things in bed, in peace, after some relaxing adult activities. Fergus and Shona won’t be back for hours. We can feed Neil and ourselves then.
Agreed?”
“Absolutely!”
It was an even better conclusion than Fiona had hoped to get. Gordon was always in a very responsive mood after a spot of love-making. They would have time to flesh out the ideas she had presented and see if they were both practical and possible.
She looked over with affection at the tall, dark-haired, grey-eyed man who had captured her heart. He grew more handsome with every passing year. She met him long before she knew his inheritance and although the thought of her position as Lady of the Castle was not what she would have preferred, she would have followed him into a broken-down hovel by the shoreline, if that was where they were headed. It was all about the man, not the grandeur of the castle life.
Fiona had never had cause to regret her decision to cast in her lot with Gordon Campbell.
Dusk was descending amidst the calling of birds and the rustling of trees. The car sped toward their home and Fiona was content to know that Fergus would have his chance and she could return to work without too much disruption.
She had put several proposals in motion. Time would tell if she was on the right track.
Rena and Steve Collins woke early on Sunday morning. It was their habit to take advantage of the weekends to complete at least one long run. Solomon, their black and white collie dog, waited eagerly for his master and mistress to don their running outfits and set off.
They had explored all the local paths and climbs in the first months after they arrived in Oban and now they were expanding their territory toward Glencoe and the slopes of Ben Nevis.
Rena was not the lifelong devoted runner that her husband was. In Toronto, she had never had time or inclination to run for exercise, although running became a metaphor for escape after she fell into the clutches of the man who almost ruined her life. Her subsequent, dangerous and daring attempt to remove herself as far as possible from Gregory Verkers, took her to a hidden life in England.
It was there she met Steve, quite by accident one morning, when he was out for a run with Solomon. Running early in the day was something she discovered to be a stress reliever during this troubled part of her escape and, in that semi-rural part of Sussex where she was hiding out from the British authorities, she had easy access to paths through the Ashdown Forest.
It had been a long, slow progress toward a relationship with Steve Collins. Most of it was promoted by Solomon. From the first, the collie dog was the one who could track Rena’s steps and find her in the woods.
Rena had many secrets. After Verkers, she was reluctant to trust another man but Sol was a different matter. She eventually realized that if a smart and wily animal like Sol loved his master so unreservedly, it would be safe for her to open her heart to him and hope he could understand her complicated motives and actions.
The move north to Scotland was their way to escape from the area in England that was rife with some bad memories for Rena. The process of reconciling her situation with the authorities was long and complex. Marrying Steve simplified that process and allowed her finally to reconcile with her beloved father in Canada. It was only after obtaining his permission to marry Steve that she felt free to pursue their life together.
Scotland and Oban was another stage in her journey but this stage came with Steve’s full support and the advantage of beginning again surrounded by the wonderful community of friends introduced to them by James Patterson, Caroline Fenton, and the approval of Anna Drake.
Not all of these acquaintances knew the full story of Rena’s life before Steve appeared. It was a fresh start in every possible way and one that Rena knew would repair her heart again. She had returned to her love of teaching, and in a beautiful, peaceful place so far removed from everything she had known before, that every day was like a new adventure.
She understood how much Steve felt excited by being in the land that was an acknowledged climber’s paradise. He waxed enthusiastic about tackling “The Munros” a series of mountain ascents that sounded to Rena like a marathon of pain. She had no intention of attempting that challenge. She was content, for now, with trying to scale the rocky heights in and around Glencoe where every effort was rewarded with the most spectacular vistas over amazing landscapes, tumbling streams and dark, mysterious lochs.
She hoped to ascend Ben Nevis with Steve in the school holidays, but not before she had researched all the best ways to do this. Initial investigations confirmed that the rounded sides of the tallest mountain in Scotland were deceptive. The absence of rugged crags did not mean it was an easy climb. She reminded Steve of the importance of the weather at such a height and he was pleased she was even willing to consider it.
She returned from these less challenging weekend adventures refreshed and invigorated. Their rented stone Victorian house had been extensively renovated, and it provided everything they needed including a small back garden for Solomon. He was now used to the departure of his people every day but happy when Rena could pop home to see him sometimes when she had extra time over lunch.
His master worked in a variety of offices advising on building and engineering projects in the area. Steve had days when he worked from home and that satisfied Sol that this move, so far away from their usual well-travelled Sussex runs, was a better choice now that his master was so happy with Rena.
Sol took the entire marriage accomplishment as his own. After all, he deduced in his doggy brain, he was the one who was responsible for introducing them. If only they could get themselves ready faster on the weekends and get out of the house without stopping to do that kissing thing, he would be a very contented dog.