The village had been ploughed and gritted so once I made it there, riding was easier. The snow was pushed back to the edges of the road; there were even a few signs of life with a couple of cars parked on the High Street, and a family walking into the pub.
‘Heather!’
I turned around surprised to see Emily standing by the gate to the vicarage, waving at me. I rode over to her.
‘Rory called us to watch out for you,’ she said as I approached. She was wearing a fake fur coat, polo neck jumper, jeans and boots, her arms wrapped around across her chest. ‘We could look after the horse?’
‘That would be great,’ I replied, sliding out of the saddle, lifting the reins over and leading Prince up to her. I guessed Rory had been more concerned about me riding alone than he’d let on and had called Emily and Brodie to make sure I was okay. ‘Did he tell you what’s been going on?’ I asked as she opened up the gate to let us inside their front garden, which was carpeted in white.
‘I can’t believe what your ex has been doing, I’m so sorry. Are you sure you’re okay to go and see him alone, I could come or Brodie would?’
‘I’ll be fine,’ I reassured her as I tied up Prince around her fence. ‘I promise,’ I added seeing her bite her lip anxiously.
‘Well if you’re sure… knock as soon as you come back, you’ll need a hot drink and something to eat before you ride back. Shall I get him some water? I have carrots and apples too.’ Smiling, I told her what to give Prince, thanked her for her help and headed out of the gate, walking towards Glendale Arms, feeling forever grateful that I had friends like Emily.
The pub was a haven from the cold weather, the warmth and merry noise welcome signs as I walked through the door.
‘Hi, Heather,’ the landlord said cheerfully from behind the bar when he spotted me. ‘No Rory with you today?’
‘No, I’ve come to see one of your guests actually,’ I replied. ‘Stewart. Is he upstairs?’
‘No, actually, he’s in the back room having breakfast. You can go through,’ Malcolm added with a wave.
‘Thanks,’ I replied, slipping through behind the bar. The pub was small but had some bed and breakfast rooms although they were usually empty this time of year, most visitors only coming in summer for walking the Highlands. So Stewart was, as I expected, alone in the small dining room, sat at a table with a plate of eggs and bacon, sipping a coffee.
He looked up, startled to see me, but broke into a smile. He wore a cashmere jumper, dark jeans, his shoes polished and his face clean shaven. It was annoying how well put together he looked when I could tell my hair was frizzy from the weather, my nose felt red raw, and my boots were caked with mud. ‘I would have thought you were snowed in at the farm, the landlord said most of Glendale is stuck inside,’ he added conversationally, gesturing for me to sit down, as if the last time I had seen him he hadn’t come to the farm to yell at Rory and me, not to mention doing everything Luke had told us he had done to us. He really was shameless.
I sat down, folding my arms on the table. ‘Well, you would know what the snow is like at the farm, wouldn’t you? Considering your lackey has been there so often.’
Stewart frowned. ‘What lackey?’
I leaned forward. ‘Luke.’
His face turned pale but he tried to front it out. ‘I have no idea who you’re talking about.’
‘Oh, really? Well let me refresh your memory then. Luke is the kid from the village who you’ve been paying to sabotage my farm, and I’m here to tell you I won’t let you do this anymore. This stops right now.’
Chapter Thirty-Five
‘Look, whatever this boy has told you…’
‘Enough lies!’ I snapped, my patience completely evaporated. ‘We just caught him red-handed trying to steal our quad bike. He told us everything. If you’re going to do petty things like you’ve been doing, you could at least have the decency to own up to them.’
Stewart dropped his gaze from mine. ‘I promise you it wasn’t me. I knew about it and I didn’t stop it okay, but this… all of it, it was all my father.’
I stared at him. ‘What’s your father got to do with this?’
‘Everything! He’s my business partner.’
‘He is?’ I thought about the elusive business partner of his, the other man in the suit that people had seen around Glendale. I shook my head. It was all starting to make sense. I thought about how I had felt like I’d failed when I first saw Stewart again, all his talk of success, and now it appeared he hadn’t done it by himself after all.
He looked rather sheepish. ‘Yes, and when he found out you’d made the listing proposal, he frankly hit the roof. I am sorry for coming to the farm and talking to you like I did but I’d had him on the phone for almost an hour ranting and raving at me, calling in our lawyer, and I took it out on you. You know he’s never been easy to deal with, he expects so much, and he is furious that the site I proposed for our hotel is causing us so many problems. That’s why he got Luke involved. To encourage you to listen to me, to come on board and not get in our way. He was furious when he saw you on Countryside Watch. Told me I’d let our plan get away from me. That you were becoming too successful to want to work with me, and I knew he was right.’ He hung his head. ‘And when he found out our proposal was on hold, it was the last straw. He said he was going to sabotage your farm. So he told Luke to steal the bike, and he had a whole list of things he wanted him to do. He thought he could threaten you into changing your mind and supporting our development.’
I had certainly not warmed to Stewart’s father when we had met back at university but I hadn’t thought he could be this nasty. ‘Why would you run a business with this man?’ I asked incredulously.
He looked down at the table. ‘Because I couldn’t get a loan from the bank without him on board, he has a lot of sway, sway that I just don’t have. I should have tried to stop him, I know that. But I was selfish… I wanted you to come and work with me so I turned a blind eye to it. I really am sorry, Heather.’
I leaned back, watching him. He seemed sincere with his apology. ‘I’ll have to go to the police if he does anything again, and tell them who’s responsible, you know that, right? You’re trying to buy a piece of land, but you’re threatening my home in the process. I can’t just let that happen, Stewart.’
He met my gaze. ‘I know, I’ll talk to him, I promise. He’s so focused on money, he has these blinkers on, and thinks he can do whatever he likes to get what he wants. He was the one who came up with the idea for the holiday cottages, I told him it was too close to your land but he didn’t listen. I was too… proud to tell you that when you came here that day and saw the plans. God, he always gets his own way! Look at what he did to you and me.’
‘What do you mean?’ I asked.
‘I wanted to come here, to be with you, when you asked me to but he told me he’d disown me if I did. He told me to stay in Edinburgh, to do my apprenticeship, to forget you. Otherwise he would cut me off. And I was weak and did what he asked. I suppose that’s why when I saw Hilltop for sale, I persuaded him that it was the perfect site for us. I wanted to have a second chance with you. I’ve always missed you, and regretted walking away from you. But I know now that I destroyed any chance of that happening.’ He looked down at the table, and I thought back to the last conversation we had had. It suddenly made a whole lot more sense.
* * *
‘I told you, I can’t leave my dad,’ I said, tearfully on the phone. I sat in my bedroom in Glendale, the rain pouring down outside, as I explained again why I felt I had to stay at home. We’d spoken the day before, and it had ended in an argument, but I hoped he would change his mind about coming to be with me.
‘I can’t give up this opportunity here,’ Stewart said, his voice low. ‘What would I even do in Glendale? I love you so much but this was what we had planned.’
‘Plans change!’ I cried. ‘You could find something here, you have a first-class degree.’
�
��You don’t understand the pressure I’m under. I have to succeed, Heather. I can’t walk away from this apprenticeship.’ He sounded weary.
Tears rolled down my cheeks. ‘But you’re happy to walk away from me?’
Stewart sighed. ‘Not happy. Of course I’m not happy! Maybe in a few weeks you’ll feel like coming to Edinburgh. Your dad needs you right now but he won’t forever.’
‘Everything has changed,’ I whispered, my heart breaking all over again.
‘I wish it hadn’t.’ There was a voice in the background. ‘Look, I have to go.’
‘What? But we haven’t sorted this out, Stewart. You can’t just end it like this.’
There was a short silence before he spoke again. ‘I have to,’ he said firmly. ‘I can’t come to Glendale. I need to follow my plans through. I’m sorry, Heather but I think this is for the best.’
‘But you said we were soul mates.’
‘Honestly, I’m not sure I believe in soul mates now.’ He hung up, and I cried for what seemed like hours.
* * *
I always thought it had been easy for him to say goodbye whereas I had grieved all over again losing him from my life so soon after my mother. Now I realised that his father had been in the background telling him that he had to let me go.
I found myself feeling more sympathy for Stewart than I had since he’d arrived in Glendale. What must it be like to have such a domineering presence in your life? I was thankful once again for the support of my own parents, and was determined to be like them with Harry, and not like Stewart’s father. ‘It sounds to me like you need to cut ties with him but that’s something you need to decide for yourself. Just please stop him from trying to hurt us, okay?’
‘Whatever else, my dad puts reputation above everything, so now you’ve found out what he’s been doing, he will back off. He won’t want you telling anyone, he will lose investors if they know the kind of tactics he’s willing to use in business. Trust me. I know I haven’t given you any cause to but I’ll make sure he doesn’t try to hurt your farm again. I promise.’
I nodded. ‘Do you think he can walk away from Hilltop though?’
‘I hope I can persuade him to. I’ve lost all interest in this venture. Now that I know you won’t be part of it…’ He trailed off. ‘And I don’t think the council will approve it now anyway, not when it might be listed. My dad knows that buildings under conservation are too much of a headache for a project like this. I suppose I’d better start looking for a new site for us.’ He didn’t look happy about the prospect.
‘Maybe you need to re-think working with him,’ I suggested. It was funny how you could have this picture of someone but then discover that underneath, they were very different. I always thought that Stewart was far more confident than I was, that he was my superior to be honest, but now I understood that he had his own issues. We all had things that people didn’t know about going on, and just because someone showed you something on the surface, it didn’t mean that was what was happening below it too. For a moment, my heart did go out to him. He looked so lost, and lonely. Even though I struggled sometimes, I wasn’t alone. Far from it. And I needed to make sure that I remembered that.
‘Maybe.’ He sighed. ‘I really am sorry for everything, Heather.’
I stood up, feeling weary. I knew he meant his apology but it would take a long time to forgive him for what he’d tried to do to us. ‘Goodbye, Stewart,’ I said, walking out of the room and heading back to Emily’s, my heart heavy.
* * *
After a cup of tea and slice of cake with Emily, I felt a little bit better and began my ride back to the farm. The snow had ceased but Glendale was still quiet, carpeted in white, and from my seat up high on Prince I took a photo of the village for Instagram, telling my followers I’d ridden alone for the first time. Even though it hadn’t been for an enjoyable reason, I had to mark the moment for myself. And now I had confronted Stewart, I could enjoy the ride back home.
When I reached the gate at the bottom of our field, Rory, Angus, my dad and Harry all appeared to greet me, and opened it up to let me through. I was touched to see them all there, and I gave them a cheerful wave as I approached.
‘Thank God you’re back in one piece,’ Rory said, taking Prince’s reins to hold him steady as I climbed out of the saddle.
‘I told you she’d be fine,’ Angus grunted at him, giving me a nod. I smiled at him, appreciating his support.
‘Hi, darling,’ I said as Harry ran to hug me when I hit the ground. I was proud of myself I thought as we walked into the yard, not only for riding into the village alone, but for talking to Stewart. I’d often shied away from difficult conversations in the past. Now I felt like I could face them head on. ‘That was actually kind of fun,’ I said, patting Prince grateful that he had looked after me. ‘Well, not seeing Stewart but the ride.’
‘What happened?’ Rory asked, touching the small of my back as we walked towards the stables. I held Harry’s hand tightly, making sure that he wouldn’t slip on the snow.
‘Well, Stewart told me that his father is his business partner, and that he’s the one who has behind everything that’s been going on around here. He was furious about us putting a pause on their plans, so he paid Luke to try to sabotage us, hoping he would make us back off. To be honest, his dad sounds pretty terrible,’ I replied. ‘Stewart told me now we know the truth, his father will be worried about us exposing his tactics so will leave us alone. I think Stewart realises that they should walk away. Let’s hope he can persuade his father to realise the same thing.’
‘Sounds like his father has been calling all the shots then. Stewart needs to man up by the sounds of it,’ Rory replied, handing Prince’s reins to Angus when we reached the stables. ‘Caroline called while you were out. Her council contact told her that Stewart and his dad offered William £250,000 to buy Hilltop.’
‘If only we had that kind of money,’ I mused. ‘You know what I was thinking when I was riding Prince? About what Julie the presenter of Countryside Watch said – that so many people would love to live in a place like this. That people have connected with my Instagram photos because they too have struggles in their life. I thought about how far I’ve come living here, I mean I never thought I could be a farmer, yet here I am. Maybe Julie is right. Maybe there are others who would like to try this life out, you know? Escape the city, and come here,’ I said, gesturing around us. ‘Get back to nature. To leave their problems for a few days. Recharge. Get some good Scottish air in their lungs,’ I added with a smile.
‘It’s idyllic out here,’ my dad agreed. ‘I honestly think my back is better from all the walking I’ve been doing since I came to stay too.’
‘Exactly. I think people would pay to come on a farm retreat, I’m sure of it,’ I said, watching Angus take the saddle off Prince. ‘Especially stressed-out mothers in need of some self-care,’ I added with a wry smile, knowing from the messages on social media I now received every day that there were a lot of women living with the same anxiety and worries as me.
‘If you owned Hilltop, people could hire the farmhouse out,’ Angus said a minute later, as I had turned to go into our house. I paused to look at him as he led Prince into his stable. ‘It would be ideal for a retreat. And if you brought sheep back there, then it would be a working farm too. A real money-maker I think, with you in charge of it, Heather.’
I gaped at him. I couldn’t deny that the idea did excite me. It might not be the design business I had thought of but I could still use my design skills, and I really believed it could help people too. I breathed in the fresh air around me, and knew that people would love to get away from their lives to a place like this.
‘If only we had the money to buy it, huh?’ Rory said. ‘Come on, I need a strong cuppa,’ he added.
‘And cake!’ Harry said, clapping his hands. He was my son, after all.
‘What is it with you lot and cake?’ my dad asked with a laugh, following Rory into the far
mhouse. I trailed after them, thinking about what Angus had said, and wishing that I could make it happen somehow.
Chapter Thirty-Six
The snow had cleared away enough for me to be able to get our jeep out of the driveway the following day so our planned trip to Broomwood Castle could go ahead. I drove to Glendale Hall with Harry to pick up Beth and Izzy, and Emily met us there with Iona. It was a grey day, still bitterly cold, snow still lining surfaces, but we were used to this weather and were all bundled up in layers, and carried thermoses of hot coffee and tea in our bags. We piled into my car and set off, music and heating on, for the drive through the countryside.
I remembered the first time I had gone to the castle with my parents, I had been really young and it had been a hot summer’s day, and I remembered running through the grass, my mum helping me to make a daisy chain, the castle rising up in the background behind us. And then came the less pleasant memory of being there on a rainy day with my father to scatter my mother’s ashes in the rose garden, her favourite spot, feeling like the sun would never come out again.
As we approached, I could see the grey tower rising up above the sloping hills. It was a place straight out of a fairy-tale, you could imagine a princess up there looking out for her prince charming, knights on their white horses patrolling the gardens below. ‘Right out of a book, Iz,’ I said, glancing back at her watching out of the car window as I pulled into the car park. Broomwood dated back to the seventeenth century and stood in a national park with stunning views all around. ‘This was my mum’s favourite place in Scotland.’
Hopeful Hearts at Glendale Hall Page 23
