The Christmas Secret by Karen Swan

Author:Karen Swan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pan Books

Chapter Seventeen

The blades had only just begun to slice the air when she crouched low and ran across the field. Sholto’s arrival the day before had meant much of the snow cover had been blown away, leaving a radius of exposed yellowy grass like a sort of crop circle.

She grabbed the handle and opened the door with force.

‘Holy mother of God!’ Lochlan shouted, slapping a hand across his chest. ‘You almost gave me a heart attack!’ He frowned. ‘You can’t just run up to a fucking helicopter when the blades are going! What if I had begun to move?’

‘Relax. It’s hardly my first time in one of these things. I know when to step back.’

‘What . . . what the hell are you doing?’ he demanded as she stepped up and in, depositing her small overnight bag at her feet. She waved blithely to Mr Peggie as he drove off again, only the top half of the grey Landy visible over the stone wall. It had been a tight turnaround getting back here in time for this.

‘I’m coming with you, of course. Torquil told me you were using this for the weekend. I had assumed we’d drive.’

‘I’m not going to London,’ he scoffed.

‘Well, of course not, I know that,’ she shrugged. And then when he continued to look at her with open-mouthed disbelief, ‘The MacNab, remember?’

‘What? You’re not coming!’

‘Of course I am, we had a deal. If you would cooperate, I would do the MacNab with you.’

‘But I haven’t cooperated!’

‘Yes, you have. I mean, I realize we haven’t covered as much as I’d hoped – not with the fire to contend with – but our session earlier was hugely . . .’ She took her time considering the correct word. ‘Illuminating. We’re getting somewhere, Lochlan, we really are.’

‘No, we’re not!’

She tipped her head to the side. ‘Don’t you think I should be the judge of that?’

‘No!’

‘I suppose you would say that,’ she said lightly, making no move to leave. She sighed, shrugging her shoulders excitedly. ‘Well, I am really looking forward to this, although – I’ll be honest – I am a little nervous too. What’s the forecast like for the weekend, do you know?’

Lochlan stared at her in disbelief. ‘You can’t honestly think that I meant for you to come to this?’

She blinked. ‘Why not? You asked only last weekend.’ She smiled. ‘There were witnesses and everything.’

‘But with the fire . . . We haven’t discussed it since.’

‘I wasn’t aware we needed to.’

‘Fuck’s sake . . .’ he muttered, looking defeated. Worn down. It was clear if he wanted to get her out of here, he was going to have to climb down and physically wrench her out. (Not that she would put that past him.) He turned back to the controls with a furious expression, before whipping back to her in the next moment, looking delighted. ‘Wait! What are you going to wear? You can’t wear that,’ he said, indicating her skinny jeans and belted Burberry jacket, the leather tassels still swinging on her Penelope Chilvers Spanish riding boots.

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