One More for Christmas(50)

Another woman appeared in the doorway.

Brodie made the introductions. “This is my sister, Kirstie.”

“Welcome to Kinleven.” Her greeting was polite, but cool.

Despite the words, Samantha didn’t feel welcomed. She felt tension, and a certain reserve that she didn’t understand.

Sibling disagreements about having strangers join them for the festive season? Or something more?

She needed to figure it out, because she didn’t want to send clients to a place where the team wasn’t working well together. Family business this might be, but her clients would be paying for the very best service and that included a relaxed, smiling staff.

“Why don’t I show you your rooms,” Brodie said, “and then we can have a light supper. I thought a proper tour of the place could wait until tomorrow. It’s better seen in daylight.”

Samantha realized how tired she was. “Sounds good to me.”

They followed him up the wide staircase and along a carpeted corridor.

“Gayle, I’ve put you in here.” He opened a door. “You should have everything you need, but let me know if I can do anything to make your stay more comfortable.”

“This is charming.” Gayle walked to the window. “I love the way you’ve put the little solar lights along the drive. It means I can still just about see the mountains and the loch. It will be delightful after the crush and noise of the city.”

Samantha was starting to think she didn’t know her mother at all.

Brodie flicked on one of the lamps by the bed. “Samantha?”

“It’s a beautiful room, Brodie.”

And it was. The room had wood paneling and high ceilings. A fire blazed in the hearth, bookshelves lined one of the walls and a comfy chair encouraged the occupants to snuggle down and relax.

Someone had taken the time to arrange branches of holly and eucalyptus in a tall vase.

Leaving Gayle to settle in, he led them through a door that led to one of the turrets.

“There are two bedrooms on this floor.” Brodie pushed open a door. “I thought Tab could sleep in here, with Ella and Michael next door? Samantha, you’re upstairs.”

He’d taken the time to learn their names, Samantha thought, watching as Tab sprinted toward the canopy bed. He was making them feel like friends, not guests.

“It looks like a princess bed.” Tab climbed onto it and bounced a couple of times. “I love it.”

“I loved it, too.” Kirstie walked across to the window. “This used to be my room. It has the most spectacular sunsets. Be careful of the bathroom door. It sticks sometimes.”

“I fixed that.” Brodie stood in the doorway, watching his sister. “Why don’t you go and see if Mum needs help in the kitchen while I take Samantha to her room?”

Kirstie’s gaze held his for a moment and then her mouth tightened and she walked past him.

“We’re serving a light supper in the Loch Room. Do you have any allergies?”

Samantha had a feeling that the other woman would be tempted to add any allergens to whatever they were eating. “No allergies. We eat everything.”

“Except broccoli,” Tab announced.

“You eat broccoli,” Ella said.

“Mostly I hide it.” She shared a conspiratorial look with Brodie, whose wink made Samantha think he’d probably hidden broccoli himself at some point.

She followed him up a winding staircase to the room at the top.

The focus of the room was the ornately carved four-poster bed, draped in a thick velvet throw and piled with pillows and soft cushions in shades of the forest. Heavy curtains covered the windows and flames flickered in the fireplace, sending a wash of ruby light across the room.

In front of the fire was a comfortable chair, a table and a thick rug.

“There’s an alcove for hanging clothes—” Brodie pulled back a curtain and then pointed to a door. “The bathroom is small, but it has everything you need.”

Samantha poked her head into the alcove. “What was this used for originally?”

“No one knows. There’s a rumor that the laird used it as a hiding place for his lovers.”

She laughed and drew the curtain across it. “He clearly wasn’t an expert on hide-and-seek. It would be the first place I’d look.”

The room was perfect. Her concerns lay elsewhere and couldn’t be ignored.

“How does your sister feel about all of this?”

“My sister?”

“I sensed tension.” Attention to every small detail was one of the reasons she was good at her job, but still she felt a little uncomfortable pressing him for details. It wasn’t as if she didn’t have plenty of tension in her own family, but before she could recommend this place to people, she had a duty to understand the situation.

He paused and then closed the door so they couldn’t be overheard.

For a moment the only sound was the crackle of the fire and the lick of the wind as it rattled the windows.

“Kirstie is struggling to adjust to our new reality.”

“You mean taking in paying guests?”

“That and other things.” He walked to the fire. “It’s complicated. Families are complicated.” He ran his hand over his jaw. “Or maybe yours isn’t, but—”