‘Oh…’ She shrugged to deflect attention from the hectic colour that she knew had rushed into her cheeks at the mention of her boss. ‘There were a few awkward moments at first, but now we’re getting along just fine. He’s off to New York on business again on Monday, so we’ve been very busy the past few days trying to do as much as possible before he goes.’
It was odd, but when Keir had announced the day after the benefit concert that he was going away, Georgia’s stomach had turned strangely hollow. No one she’d ever worked for had had such a peculiar effect on her before.
‘Oh, well…You’ll enjoy being your own boss for a while, won’t you?’
‘Yes, I’m sure I will.’
Georgia wondered what Noah would think if he knew that the big masculine study where they worked together already seemed strangely desolate even with the idea of Keir not being there with her. The man was such a presence that the big house would not seem the same without him.
‘Anyway…’ Linking her arm in his, Georgia grinned. ‘Guess what’s for dessert at dinner tonight, in— your honour?’
‘Not apple crumble?’
‘I asked Moira if she could arrange it as a special treat.’
‘Be still my beating heart!’
Keir heard the laughter from the open study window and, drawn there away from the sheaf of legal documents— he’d been busy perusing at his desk—he glanced out over the ledge towards the ground below. His heart gave a jolt at the sight of Georgia in a white summer dress, her shining chestnut hair arranged in a loose, girlish ponytail. She looked very young and carefree. Beside her was her brother, and together they made an eye-catching pair, the striking blond Noah and his darker, bewitching— sister.
A slash of envy curled almost painfully in the pit of Keir’s stomach. They might have lost their parents, but he could see that the bond between them was an extremely close and affectionate one. Again he thought of Robbie, and how the distance between him and his brother had grown ever wider over the years. Back at Glenteign—the root of all his early misery and pain—Keir had never felt more emotionally isolated than he did right at that moment. The sight of Georgia and Noah’s delight in seeing each other merely reconfirmed that he’d made the right decision in electing to go to New York on business.
The matter that called him there was hardly urgent—he had good people working for him, who were quite capable of dealing with it—but Keir found he was glad of the excuse to go away again for a while. Being around Georgia Cameron was just un-settling— him far too much, and perhaps with some real distance between them he might get things back into perspective. She was only at Glenteign tempo-rarily,— until the dependable Valerie recovered from her injury and came back. It wasn’t wise to get too used to having her here, and in New York there was a girl Keir had met on his last trip. He’d vaguely promised to get in touch with her on his return…
After Noah and Kier had left, Georgia was greatly unsettled. To alleviate the restlessness that had come upon her, after work each day, and at the weekend, she walked for miles with Hamish, exploring and enjoying her breathtaking surroundings.
One day, after scrabbling over some challenging rocky crags, her back damp with perspiration and her clothes sticking to her beneath her waterproof— while— Hamish had made comparatively light work of the same arduous climb beside her—she came upon a shining silvery loch, exquisitely positioned amidst tall pines. It was like discovering paradise…The sight so undid her that Georgia immediately burst into tears when she saw it.
Sitting back on a rock, she put her arms around Hamish and held him there, her gaze enthralled. She was moved almost unbearably by the spectacular— scene in front of her. Did Keir ever come up here? she speculated. If he didn’t, then he should. Surely the sight of all this wild, unfettered beauty would have the power to chase away all his heartache? Her own heart turned over at the memory of his strong, serious face, and she sincerely— hoped that whatever he was doing in New York he might find some comfort there from the worries that beset him.
Perhaps there was a woman there who might provide that comfort? The thought was like the viper in the Garden of Eden.
‘No!’
Hamish pulled away from her in surprise. She hadn’t meant to voice her disapproval out loud, and Georgia was shocked by her own unrestrained outburst.
‘What am I saying?’ she muttered crossly, getting to her feet and wiping loose grass from her corduroy jeans. ‘He means nothing to me other than that I just work for the man! I have no right to be jealous if he’s seeing some fabulously beautiful woman in New York! Why should I care? Come on Hamish…time to get back! We don’t want to be late for dinner!’