Christmas at the Castle

They looked waifs and strays both.

‘If you’re who you say you are,’ he said slowly, ‘you must be one of the best paid chefs in Australia.’

‘I am,’ she said and then corrected herself. ‘I was.’

‘Can I verify this?’

She glanced at her watch. ‘Yes,’ she said decisively. ‘I’d like you to. It’s midday here. That makes it nine at night in Sydney. I have contact numbers for the head chefs for all of the last three but one of the restaurants where I’ve worked. On a Monday night at this time of year, most chefs will be in their kitchens. Phone them. I’ll wait.’

‘But I can’t phone the last?’ he asked, homing in on detail.

‘The last place I owned myself,’ she said bluntly. ‘With my partner. It didn’t work out.’ She hesitated and then decided on honesty. ‘He was my fiancé and business partner. He robbed me.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘Don’t be. Ring the others.’

He glanced at her and saw her face set in a mulish expression. She wanted him to ring, he thought, and with a sudden flash of insight he knew why. She was looking like a waif and she knew it. Putting herself on a professional footing would be important for her pride.

So he rang as she ate yet more fruit cake, and he received an unequivocal response from all three chefs. Three variations of a common theme.

‘If you have Holly McIntosh you have a godsend. I’d hire her back in a minute. We’ve heard her place here has gone belly-up. Tell her the minute she gets back to Australia there’s a job waiting.’

He disconnected from the last call. She was watching him gravely, and he could see she’d settled. She was on a more solid footing now.

‘You want to explain the trainers?’ he asked. She’d kicked off her sodden shoes and the socks beneath. She’d done it surreptitiously, kicking them under the chair and then tucking her feet up under her, but it hadn’t been surreptitious enough. Her feet would be freezing, he thought. She’d been standing in sodden canvas on ice. ‘Why the soaking footwear?’

‘I arrived here two days ago,’ she said. ‘But my baggage is still cavorting somewhere around the world. The airline says they’ll find it—eventually. None of Gran’s clothes fit so I’m stuck.’

‘You don’t think you should buy yourself some decent footwear while you wait?’

‘I don’t have any money,’ she said flatly. ‘That’s why I need the job.’

‘Not even enough for a pair of wellingtons?’

She took a deep breath, stared into the remains of her hot chocolate and then laid her mug down on the side table with a decided thunk. Those clear green eyes met his with an honesty he was starting to expect.

‘I’m a chef,’ she said. ‘A good one. I and my...my ex-partner decided to set up on our own. We bought a restaurant, a great little place overlooking Sydney Harbour. We did the finances and were sure we could do it. We put everything we owned into it, or rather I did because it turned out Geoff didn’t have the money he said he did. He was my fiancé. I trusted him, but I was a fool. I thought we had double the capital we had but he lied. Anyway, a month ago the creditors moved in and Geoff moved out. Fast. I don’t know where he is now, but my credit cards are maxed out, I’m in debt to my ears and I’m suffering from a bad case of shattered pride. Not to mention a broken heart, although it’s a bit hard to think I loved someone who turned out to be a toe-rag.’

‘So you came to Scotland?’ he asked incredulously. ‘How does that make sense?’

‘See, here’s the thing,’ she said slowly. ‘I’m only Scottish through my Scottish dad—the rest of me’s pure Australian—but I have Scottish pride and so does my very Scottish Gran. My parents died in a car crash when I was twelve. My mother’s mother took me in, but she died last year. Now Maggie’s the only relative I have left and when I rang her last month and sort of implied I was in trouble and due to have a dreary Christmas I didn’t need to tell her exactly how broke I was. She guessed. So, Maggie being Maggie, she went out and bought me a plane ticket to visit.’

‘She sounds great.’

‘She is great,’ she said warmly, and then managed a grin. ‘And she’s an awesome housekeeper.’

‘Yet another reference,’ Angus said and smiled back and thought, That smile...

Whoa...

‘Unfortunately,’ Holly went on, seemingly oblivious to the crackling electricity generated by that smile, ‘what I didn’t know is that Maggie’s only renting her cottage. I’ve always thought she owned it, but no. She’s not exactly known for saving, my Gran—as in the extraordinary gesture of my plane ticket. Anyway, it only took me five minutes after I’d landed to find out her landlord has put her house up for sale. She’s desperately scraping enough money together to pay for a deposit to rent somewhere else, and she’s as broke as I am. She thought if I flew over we could share Christmas expenses, but how do you share nothing? So that’s that. We had a problem but you’ve solved it. You see me here in sodden trainers, but they’ll dry out. You’ve promised us heating and we’ll have a very nice Christmas because of you. Now, if you could tell me when you want me to start...’

‘Do you have your airline ticket with you?’ he demanded and she looked confused.

‘What? Why?’

‘Is it still in your purse?’ he added, gesturing to her capacious handbag. ‘You haven’t thrown it out?’

‘No, but...’

‘Can I see it?’

‘You want to prove that, too?’ She was still confused.

‘Indulge me,’ he said, and she frowned and shifted the little dog, but not very far. She fumbled in her bag and found a crumpled booking sheet and airline ticket.

‘Keep those toes warm while I do some more phoning,’ he said, and she listened and hugged the dog some more while he phoned.

He was ringing the airline.

When she’d tried, she’d been put on hold for hours, but the Earl of Craigenstone was not put on hold. It seemed he was a member of some sort of platinum club and within seconds he was talking to...a person! Holly’s jaw just about dropped to her ankles. How did you ring an airline and get a person? Oh, to be an Earl.

What was more, the person on the end of the line seemed inclined—even eager—to assist. Angus sent a few incisive questions down the line, then handed the phone over to her.

‘All sorted,’ he said. ‘Listen.’

So Holly listened, stunned.

‘We’re so sorry, miss,’ the man on the other end of the line said. ‘This should have been explained to you. Seeing your baggage has been missing for over twenty-four hours, you can spend what you need right away and you’ll be reimbursed within four working days. It also seems your grandmother has paid an extra ten pounds insurance for baggage cover so there’s no loss at all—you’ll get full reimbursement if the baggage isn’t found, plus a small amount extra for inconvenience. I apologise that this wasn’t explained to you two days ago.’

‘I...thank you,’ she managed and Angus took the phone from her grasp, added a few contact details and disconnected.

‘So now you can buy wellingtons,’ he said.

‘I...’ She fought for something to say and couldn’t. She stared at her feet. ‘Um...’

‘Just how broke are you?’ he asked gently and she flushed, but there seemed no point denying things now.

‘Um...really, really broke,’ she whispered. ‘Geoff maxed out my credit cards. I owe money to everyone and Gran used her grocery money to buy my plane ticket. I...thank you but I still can’t buy wellingtons because no shop will take an airline’s promise that the money’s coming. But I can wait four days.’

‘You can’t. Here’s a loan to tide you over.’ He hauled out his wallet, counted out a wad of notes and held them out.

‘No.’ What was she thinking? For some reason, her Gran’s warning came slamming back and she stood up and backed to the door. ‘You’ve given me a job. I can’t take any more.’

‘This isn’t a gift,’ he said mildly. ‘When the airline pays you, you can pay me.’

‘You don’t know me. How can you trust me?’