‘What are you going to do?’ Mrs Peterson called after him.
‘Talk to the kids about redecorating their rooms,’ Cal answered over his shoulder.
It was time to bring some new life into the castle, he’d decided.
* * *
The reporters were still there the next day, too, happily munching the bacon butties Mrs Peterson had made them. Cal ignored them, looking at wallpaper and paint swatches with the kids in the playroom instead.
At least until Ryan looked out of the window and yelled, ‘Look!’
Cal crossed to the window seat and looked. And then he smiled as, down below, Heather walked through the gates of Lengroth Castle, a rubber duck under her arm.
* * *
Heather had made it all the way to Scotland before anyone had recognised her from the magazine photos, and even then they hadn’t been too hard to put off. But here at Lengroth, with a crowd of reporters thronging around the main gate, there was no pretending to be anyone other than exactly who she was.
The pregnant one-night stand of the late Earl.
Or maybe the fiancée of the new Earl’s uncle—if the offer still stood.
Climbing out of the taxi, Heather took a deep breath, adjusted the rubber duck she’d carried all the way from London King’s Cross, and grabbed her bag.
‘Good luck, Heather.’ Harris the taxi driver threw her a grin. ‘I reckon you’ll all be fine now you’re back.’
‘I hope so. And thanks.’
Maybe this wouldn’t be all bad.
‘Heather! Heather!’
The reporters were calling her name before she even reached the gates. Heather ignored them—especially the ones calling out questions that asked her to ‘compare and contrast’ the two brothers.
Finally, as she opened the gate, she spun to face them. ‘Thank you all for your interest,’ she said, as they fell silent apart from the click of the odd camera shutter. ‘But this is a family matter. And I’d like to get home to my family, please.’
If they’d still have her.
The questions and shouting started up again immediately, but Heather barely heard it. Because when she turned towards the castle again she saw Cal, standing at the top of the seventeen stone steps that led to the front door, waiting for her.
‘I’m so sorry,’ she said as she reached the first step.
‘I thought you were never coming back.’ Cal jumped down a few steps to meet her sooner, sweeping her into his arms as soon as she reached the middle step. ‘I’ve never been so happy to be wrong.’
‘Me, neither,’ Heather admitted. ‘I couldn’t stay away. And my dad made me see that I shouldn’t. I love you—and Daisy and Ryan. I belong here, and so does our baby.’
‘Too right.’ Cal kissed her, hard and deep, dipping her over his arm as a cheer went up from the reporters at the gate. ‘Wait—our baby?’
‘Our family, really, I thought. If you still want to marry me?’
‘In a heartbeat,’ Cal answered, and kissed her again.
This time, the cheer that went up was much closer, and Heather opened her eyes to find Daisy and Ryan watching from the doorway.
‘You’re really getting married?’ Ryan asked.
‘You’re staying this time?’ Daisy added.
Heather and Cal exchanged a glance.
‘Yes, to both,’ Heather said, smiling widely. ‘Want to be bridesmaid?’
Daisy rolled her eyes. ‘No. But I’ll help you choose the food.’
‘Even better.’
‘Guess what, Heather!’ Ryan grabbed her arm as he spoke. ‘We’re not going away to school! We’re staying here.’
‘I’m so glad,’ Heather said. ‘I’d have missed you too much if you’d gone.’
‘We all missed you,’ Cal said. ‘So maybe it’s best that we just stay together from now on—agreed?’
‘A family?’ Daisy asked tentatively. ‘You two, us, Mrs Peterson and the baby?’
Behind them, Mrs Peterson looked surprised to be included—but Heather was almost certain she saw a tear in the housekeeper’s eye.
‘All of us,’ Heather said firmly. ‘Together.’
‘Always,’ Cal confirmed.