“NOW TO SEE about breakfast.” Heath drew Ally close and wrapped her in a snug embrace.
She breathed him in and closed her eyes, loving the feel of his strong arms around her. “It’s bound to be cold.”
“That’s all right.” He mumbled the words against a tangle of hair at her temple. “At least there was a very good reason for it. Where are you going to begin your search for Sir Malcolm?”
She shrugged. “I’ll be able to think more clearly after a hot shower.”
He flashed her that killer smile and held out his hand, and she slid out of bed. “Great idea. I’ll join you.”
“If you do, we’ll just end up back in bed.”
“That’s not the worst thing in the world, is it?”
She was laughing. “Not at all. But at this rate we’ll never get anything done.”
He turned on the taps and steam began rolling around the bathroom. “Of course,” he deadpanned, “if we’re sidetracked along the way, I won’t take all the blame.”
“An hour-long shower. I think that’s one for the record books.”
“Um-hmm.” Heath hauled her close for a quick kiss. “Is that a complaint, Miss Kerr, or a compliment?”
They were both laughing when they stepped apart.
Heath lifted Ally’s hand to his lips. “Go find Sir Malcolm and finish your business while I see about heating our breakfast.”
A short time later he looked up as Ally hurried into the kitchen looking grim. “What’s wrong?”
“I still haven’t found Sir Malcolm. There’s no trace of him.”
“What did your office say?”
“It’s too early to reach anybody at the office, and I’m reluctant to phone David on his cell. With a new baby, he probably isn’t getting much sleep anyway.”
“So you’ve bought a few more hours.” He gathered her close. “As soon as we’re finished, I’m sure we can find something to occupy our time.”
Ally couldn’t help laughing. “There’s that gleam I’ve come to recognize.”
“Why not? Every hour is a gift, and I’m . . .” His head came up as he caught sight of a young woman in the garden, a bouquet of flowers in her hand.
“Company.” Heath pointed. “Maybe she’ll be able to tell you where to find Sir Malcolm.”
He caught Ally’s hand and led her out the door. As they approached, the young woman greeted them with a smile.
“Hello.” Heath stuck out his hand. “I’m Heath Stewart, and this is Allison Kerr.”
“I’m Beth Campbell.” The young woman returned their handshakes. “There was talk of a stranger shopping in the village. Where are you staying?”
Ally gave her a smile. “We’ve been staying here at Hamilton Hall.”
“Really?” The young woman studied her with a puzzled frown. “How in the world did you arrange that?”
“My company made the arrangements. They’re interested in buying it.”
“I see.” Beth’s smile faded. “There were some in the village who were afraid this might happen.”
“Afraid? Why?”
“Sir Malcolm has been the lifeblood of our village. He realized that the few visitors who came here simply weren’t enough to keep our shopkeepers in business. For years he has quietly gone about helping those who couldn’t pay their bills, even though it meant a terrible drain on his own finances. If it weren’t for him, there would be no way for any of us to remain here. Our poor village would have been deserted for the lure of the bigger cities.”
Ally eyed her suspiciously. “Did Sir Malcolm send you here to tell me this so my company would fatten its offer?”
Now it was Beth’s turn to stare. “What in the world are you talking about? Surely you know there’s no way Sir Malcolm could do anything of the kind, Miss Kerr.”
“And why is that?”
“If your company sent you here, they must have told you why Hamilton Hall is being offered for sale.” She paused to swallow, and tears filled her eyes. “When Sir Malcolm died, he left no heirs.”
“Died?” Ally went rigid with shock and struggled to shake off the chill that ran down her spine. “What are you talking about?”
“Sir Malcolm died two weeks ago, Miss Kerr. Isn’t that why you’re here?”
“But that can’t be so. Sir Malcolm met with me right after I arrived.”
Beth’s tone was incredulous. “Are you saying you’ve been here more than two weeks now?”
“I arrived yesterday.”
Beth gave Ally the sort of smile she might give an addled child. “I don’t know who you thought you were meeting, but it couldn’t have been Sir Malcolm. It must have been one of his solicitors.”
“I know the man I met. He introduced himself when he entered his office.” Ally turned to Heath. “You saw him as well.”
Heath nodded. “I did.”
Ally arched a brow. “Is he the man you knew as a child?”
“He certainly is.” Heath held up a hand. “And don’t forget Duncan.”
“Duncan?” Beth’s eyes widened. “Duncan was Sir Malcolm’s trusted manager for more than thirty years. I suppose that would be easy enough to learn if you questioned anyone in the village. After the funeral of his old friend, his poor heart simply stopped.”
At their sudden silence, Beth studied the two of them, then turned away. “I see you need convincing. If you’ll follow me, I’ll take you to Sir Malcolm’s grave. I was just on my way there with flowers.”
Ally was vaguely aware of Heath’s hand holding hers as they made their way across the garden and stopped before a small fenced enclosure that held several Hamilton family headstones.
Beth opened the gate and led the way, pausing to kneel and place her bouquet of flowers before stepping back. “Sir Malcolm’s grave is the fresh one. He shares a grave marker with his parents, since he never married.”
Heath laid a hand on the young woman’s arm. “Why did Sir Malcolm never marry?”
At his obvious agitation Beth stepped back with a look of alarm. At once he removed his hand and held it stiffly at his side.
“There were whispers of a broken heart when he was young. Something about a young woman who wanted more than the quiet life a genteel innkeeper could offer. I’m not certain of the details, but he never got over it when she married a titled Highlander. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m needed back in the village.”
As the young woman hurried away, Ally and Heath stared at the mound of earth and read with disbelief the freshly inscribed name and date on the marble slab.
Ally turned terrified eyes to Heath. “How can this be? What could anyone hope to gain by playing such a cruel trick?”
Heath took both of her hands in his. They were cold as ice. She was trembling, and he could see the battle she was waging with herself.
Though his own heart was none too steady, he kept his voice soft and measured. “I’m the wrong person to ask, Allison. I’ve already admitted to believing in monsters and spirits and magic when I was a lad. It wouldn’t be much of a stretch for me to believe that Sir Malcolm had something so important to share with us that he refused to let death stop him.”
She was shaking her head in denial. “Don’t do this, Heath. Don’t try to trick me with some nonsense about Sir Malcolm coming back from the grave. Why? What would be the point?”
“I guess that’s up to us to figure out.”
But she was already backing away. “It had to be one of his lawyers, hoping to force our firm to offer more. Well, it isn’t going to work. I’m going inside right now to call David and have our legal department take charge of this mess.”
Pulling her hands free, she made her way firmly through the garden without once looking back.
Heath remained where he was, locked in his own private thoughts as he studied the grave marker through narrowed eyes.
Later he walked along the silent halls and stepped into Sir Malcolm’s office. Ally was standing beside the big desk, a document in her hand.
When she caught sight of Heath she turned on him with a look of fury. “You said it was up to us to understand. Now, finally, it’s beginning to make sense to me.”
“Good.” He was puzzled by her apparent anger. “I hope you’ll enlighten me.”
“This was all a game, wasn’t it, Heath?”
“A game? I’m afraid I don’t—”
She held up a hand to stop him. “I thought I knew every dirty trick in the book, but this is a new one. Why didn’t you just tell me you wanted Hamilton Hall for yourself, instead of pretending to be interested in me?”
“Allison, you’re not making any sense.”
She shook her head. “No more lies. I can’t take any more. You could have waited until my company made its final bid, and then you could have bid higher. That’s what reputable companies do to get what they want. But you saw how vulnerable I was, and you just couldn’t resist taking advantage of the situation, could you, Heath? All that nonsense about your mother leaving you, and about a sad, lonely little boy with no one to love him. You knew exactly which buttons to push, didn’t you?” She closed her eyes against the pain.
“Do you think so little of me that you believe I could reveal all the secrets of my heart just to . . . buy a run-down inn?” His smile was gone, his tone incredulous. “You can’t really believe this was all some sort of act.”
“Can’t I?” She thrust the document into his hands. “Then maybe you can explain why your name is on this offer to purchase Hamilton Hall.”
Heath could do nothing more than stare in stunned surprise as he read the words of the purchase offer.
Ally confronted him, hands on her hips. “Is that your signature?”
He nodded.
“Was it forged?”
He studied the last line. “It appears to be mine, but I swear to you, I never signed this paper. I never saw it before in my life.”
“So you’re denying that you want Hamilton Hall?”
“Until this moment, I had no desire to own it. But now I’m not so certain.”
Her tone rang with sarcasm. “And what brought about this sudden monumental change of heart?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe it was hearing that Sir Malcolm was keeping an entire village afloat at the expense of his own inheritance. It’s so like him. I think about the man who neglected his own work to ease a lonely lad’s pain. He took me fishing. He walked with me around the ancient ruins and encouraged me to listen to the voices that spoke to me of their history. I sensed that we shared something deeper than our mutual unhappiness. We were soul mates who found solace in one another.”
“And you think you can somehow repay his kindness by buying his inn? Why?”
“It was something Beth told us at the gravesite. She said that Sir Malcolm never married, because the woman he loved married someone else. I went to his private rooms and found this.” He held out a framed photograph of a very young Sir Malcolm and a beautiful dark-haired woman who bore an uncanny resemblance to Heath.
As the realization dawned, Ally could only stare. “You think he was in love with your mother?”
“It makes perfect sense. She had no conscience about leaving a man she loved because he was a humble innkeeper, or leaving a man she didn’t love, even though it meant leaving behind her own son. Like a storm she blew in and out of lives, leaving a path of destruction in her wake, without so much as a twinge of regret.”
“And now you’re willing to do the same. Will you have even a hint of regret at betraying me?”
“I never betrayed you, Allison. On that I give you my solemn word. If your company still desires to buy Hamilton Hall, I’ll destroy this document, and no one need ever see it.”
“Sorry, I don’t believe you. I was a fool to ever believe you, Heath Stewart. Blame it on a moment of weakness by this foolish, tender heart.”
Before he could offer a protest, Ally turned and fled.
Long after the sound of her footsteps receded, Heath remained in Sir Malcolm’s office, studying the photo of the man who had been kinder than his own father, standing arm in arm with the woman who had later broken his young heart and left him unwilling to trust for a lifetime.
How ironic that now, when he’d found a woman he could trust, she was convinced that he had been the one to betray her.
Ally was still trembling as she set her overnight bag near the front door and stood waiting for the arrival of the car and driver. After phoning New York and learning from David Harkness that their company had withdrawn its offer to purchase Hamilton Hall, she’d booked the next available flight home.
Sensing someone behind her, she turned, expecting to see Heath, and braced herself for another ugly scene. Instead, she sucked in a breath at the sight of Sir Malcolm.
Seeing the way she shrank from him, he held out a hand to stop her from bolting. “Forgive me, my dear. It was never my intention to frighten you.”
“Who are you? And why are you doing this?”
“I am who I’ve always been. Malcolm Hamilton.”
“Beth, the girl from the village, showed me your grave.”
He gave a slight nod of his head. “My body rests there, alongside my ancestors. But my spirit cannot rest yet.”
“Why?”
“I saw that lonely lad who’d been so coldly betrayed, and I felt responsible for what had happened to him.”
“You? Weren’t you also betrayed?”
“I was. But, I reasoned, if my pain was so great, how much worse must his have been? He was just a wee lad, deserted by the one who ought to love him more than anything in this world. What was worse, his father deserted him in pursuit of his own pleasures.”
For the first time Ally could see the great kindness in those gray eyes, and she was reminded of the things he’d done for the villagers. “If you wanted Heath to have Hamilton Hall, why did you bring me into this?”
“Because I saw your pain, as well, and was moved by it.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You were betrayed, just as Heath had been. As I had been. I could see the goodness in your heart. All you wanted was a man who would love you more than himself. All Heath has ever wanted was a woman who would love him just for himself.” He gave her a gentle smile. “Don’t you see? This is about much more than determining who will care for my ancestral home. It’s about two lonely hearts. The two of you are perfectly suited.” He looked up. “Ah, here’s the car now.” He took her hand between both of his. His touch was light as air, and so cold she felt it clear to her soul. “He has just come from taking Heath to his home. If you but ask, the driver will take you there, as well. His home is called Cluny Court, just around the loch and deep in the Highlands.”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry, Sir Malcolm, but this is all too . . . overwhelming. I need to get back to New York.” Back to reality, she thought, though she didn’t say it aloud.
“Think about what you’re doing, my dear. You could be throwing away your best chance for happiness.”
Ally backed away, breaking contact. “Good-bye, Sir Malcolm.”
She nearly ran in her haste to escape. Opening the car door, she tossed her bag on the floor, then sank back against the faded leather and closed her eyes, feeling such a wave of sadness that she could barely hold back the tears.
Pressing a hand to her temple, she called out to the driver, “Take me to the airport, please.”