‘No.’ Laurie felt her eyes grow wide. ‘Really?’ This was fascinating to her. A whole part of her family history she knew nothing about. ‘So, you’re telling me my relatives were involved in smuggling?’
Callan smiled as they entered the cave. ‘It seems that way. This was all long before Angus’s time, but it is amazing, isn’t it? And it’s part of the heritage of Annick Castle.’
He sounded a little wistful as he said those words. They stood for a moment in the cave. It wasn’t quite as dark as she’d thought, the carved windows letting in lots of light. It was damp and slimy, with the water lapping around her wellies. There was a ledge high above her at the second window.
Laurie pointed. ‘I take it the contraband had to be moved up there at high tide?’
Callan shrugged. ‘I would assume so.’ He walked over and touched one of the walls. ‘Just imagine if these walls could talk. What do you think they would tell us?’
She walked over and laid her hand on the damp, cold wall next to his. ‘How many of those smugglers died on the rocks out there? This doesn’t look like the easiest bit of coast to navigate—not that I know anything about sailing.’
Callan nodded. ‘That’s a good point. This is a pretty treacherous part of the coast. Even today, sailing around here isn’t really encouraged. I can remember a few wrecks over the years.’ He gave a little smile. ‘When I was a young boy I spent most of my time down here fighting imaginary pirates.’
She could almost imagine him dressed up with a pretend sword, swooping in and out of the atmospheric cave. ‘Was it safe to play down here?’
He laughed. ‘I take it these days it would need a whole health and safety check before anyone set foot on those steps. But when I was young Angus could always tell me the tide tables. As long as it wasn’t high tide, I was allowed to come and play.’ He gave her a measured look. ‘Do you think you would have come and joined me?’
The question took her by surprise. A million thoughts and possibilities had floated around her head. What if Angus McLean had made contact with her dad years ago? What if she’d had a chance to spend summers here—to spend summers playing in The Sound of Music gazebo, pretending to be Liesl? What if she’d had a chance to grow up around Callan McGregor?
She pushed the thought from her mind and met his smile. ‘I was a girl’s girl. Pirates and damp caves would have horrified me. I guess, as every little girl would, I would have dreamed of being a fairy princess in the castle. To be honest, I would probably have spent most of my time sweeping up and down that fabulous staircase. Hours of fun presenting myself at the ball.’ She gave an imaginary curtsey. He went to speak but she raised her finger. ‘But as a teenager, I would have put a no-fly zone around the gazebo and spent every evening re-enacting the dancing scene, singing “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” with the gentleman of my choice.’
Callan raised his eyebrows. ‘And who might that have been?’
He moved a little closer. Or did she just imagine it?
Nope. His fingers had definitely edged nearer hers on the wall. ‘That all depends.’
‘Depends on what?’
His voice had grown quieter, huskier. It was sending shivers down her spine and her body was reacting in the most natural manner—moving even closer to hear his words.
‘Depends on who the hero of the moment was.’ It was the perfect time to tease him. And she had to tease him. Because otherwise she might end up wishing for something else entirely. ‘When I was sixteen I went through a real retro phase—I loved Marty McFly from Back to the Future. I wanted him to magically appear in his DeLorean and take me off. By seventeen I’d moved on completely and thought I would marry a member of Take That.’
Callan cringed. ‘Save me from boy bands!’
She shook her head. ‘It was downhill all the way from there. I still had a tiny bit of retro films going on. Indiana Jones was definitely my overall favourite.’
He raised his eyes. ‘So, no pirates?’ His eyes were darker in here. He was standing with his back to the incoming light, making his pupils even bigger.
It was easy to imagine what film he was talking about now. She smiled. ‘No, funnily enough, pirates never did it for me.’
He blinked. Thick, dark lashes over bright green eyes nearly obliterated by the huge pupils. ‘Pity.’
He said the word so quietly it was almost a whisper. But it was the hidden implication. The expression on his face. Laurie was frozen. She couldn’t move. No, she didn’t want to move.
She knew exactly what he was thinking. Because her mind was in the same place.
She was in the same position as earlier. Inches away from Callan McGregor. Except this time she wasn’t standing on a set of exposed steps; this time she was standing in a darkened cave.
Any second now he might move closer. She couldn’t help it. Her lips felt instantly dry and she ran her tongue along them.
He lifted his hand and her breath caught in her throat. Was he going to kiss her? But no. He reached up and touched a long brown curl, pushing it back over her shoulder. ‘You’re a strange one, Laurie Jenkins.’
She tilted her head to the side. ‘What do you mean?’
He sighed. ‘I mean, I haven’t found you stealing the family silver. You don’t seem that interested in the Murder Mystery Weekend, but you do seem really interested in the castle.’
‘That’s because I am.’ It was the simplest answer because it was true. It was cold in here. If she just inched forward a little...
‘But why? Because of how much it will be worth if you inherit it?’
His words sounded harsh. And they offended her. She pulled back.
‘Is that what you think?’
Callan hadn’t moved his eyes from hers. ‘That’s just it, Laurie—I’m not sure what I think.’
She moved a little backwards. His gaze was starting to unnerve her. But she was determined to speak her mind.
‘I want the opportunity to meet other members of my so-called family. I’m still not sure how I feel about all this. Most of the time it makes me angry. You talk about Angus McLean with great affection, Callan, but for me—he’s just some unknown guy that ignored his children. I can’t get my head round that at all.’ She lifted her hands up. ‘And this, a castle, spectacular grounds, caves and a history just waiting to be learned. It’s more than I could ever have imagined. I’m trying to decide how much I want to be part of all this—if at all.’
His expression changed quickly. He looked almost scornful. ‘You mean you don’t want to inherit the castle?’
&nbs
p; She shook her head. He really didn’t understand her at all. And she wasn’t even sure she could put it into words. She could barely understand it herself. ‘I mean, I don’t know what I would do with it, Callan. Look at me.’ She put her hand on her chest. ‘I’m a London girl from a small family. I’m a lawyer. What do I know about castles? I’ve never seen anything like this before. How on earth would I fit in? You’ve had the benefit of being here since you were young. You grew up here. You know everything there is to know—’
‘Or not.’ His words were quick. She’d forgotten Angus hadn’t told him about his children either. This must be even harder for him than it was for her.
He’d cut off her frustration mid-sentence. And she just couldn’t find the words to continue. She needed some time. She needed some time to get her head around all this.
She took a deep breath in the vain hope it would fill her lungs and straighten out her head.
Work. Getting away from work had been the first step for her.
The letter and invite to Annick Castle had been the starting point in the process, but now she was away and out of her usual environment she was scared of how she was feeling. She was scared by how much she was embracing things, relishing the change and enjoying little things she would never usually experience.
She was scared of the horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach when she realised she would have to board a train in a few days to head back down to London.
Back to the long hours, aching muscles and tension headaches. Back to a life that revolved completely around work. She’d long since abandoned her gym membership after she’d only found the time to go twice. Was that what she really wanted?
The waves started to lap in around her feet. Callan looked down. ‘Time to go. The tide comes in quite slowly at this time of day. We’ve got around twenty minutes to get up the steps.’
He strode out of the cave into the bright sunlight while Laurie stood for a few seconds longer.