We're Home – Part 9

"We need to talk about this…" Archie murmured, watching his wife's hasty departure
" And why would that be?" Paul asked
" Katrina hasn't told you off her history with this family, has she" Archie answered shaking his head in disbelief
" Bits and pieces" Paul commented, "Look, Archie- what is this all about?"
" Come on" Archie announced, taking his brother by the wrist and leading him away down to the loch

Katrina sat in her cottage, visibly shaking at the encounter she had just had
'Archie was back? Why was Archie back? How long was he going to be back for? What was Lexie going to be like? Oh God….'
The thoughts tumbled and ebbed through her mind vying for the minuet amount of attention she had for any of them.
She had been told that Archie and Lexie had left Glenbogle that they hadn't been back for at least three years. Paul was in charge now. Paul was the Laird.
" Agggghhh" Katrina shook her head, sending golden curls careening around her face
She knew that Archie would be talking to Paul now, and she had every expectation that her relationship with both of them would now well and truly be over. What was it about this place that always meant she got herself into gigantic messes that were hard to get out of?

Paul sat and listened to what Archie was telling him.
" You and Katrina dated before you and Lexie got together?" He asked, trying to get his mind around the concept that his brother had also dated his girlfriend
" That's right" Archie confirmed
" Why is that such a big deal? Why is Lexie so touchy about it?" Paul prompted, not seeing the connections
" Katrina came back just before Lex and I got married and tried to convince me that it was her that I wanted not Lexie. Let's just say that it didn't go down too well…"
"Ahh" Paul remarked, " Still, she didn't break you up"
Archie gazed at his brother in indignation " You're not at all troubled by this?" he asked amazed
" I know Katrina and I love her. This has nothing to do with me and her, is that the last time you saw her?" Paul asked
" No" Archie admitted
Paul raised his eyebrows and waited for the reply
" She was here when Lex had Melanie. She'd come down for Martha's birthday with Lizzie, she's her Godmother"
" Oh okay. Did she try and break you and Lex up again?" Paul commented
" No. We all got on okay actually, she helped Lexie with the labour" Archie admitted again
" Then is it really such a bad thing that she's my girlfriend?" Paul rationalised
Archie just shook his head and sighed, this was going to be a very interesting visit

Paul shut the door to his room and collapsed on the bed
' How had he not known all this about Katrina?'
He closed his eyes and thought back to when they had first met, purely by accident. It was in the year he had had off before he had taken over the reins of Glenbogle, he had gone back to Yorkshire to sort out his past, and distinguish it from his present. Then he had gone down to London to have some time out there.
While there he had run into the feisty golden haired girl and fallen head over heels for her. They had met up a few times for dinner and a few movies but nothing serious, as he had had to go back to Glenbogle.
Archie and Lexie didn't leave until Mel was two and they had secured a restaurant to buy and run, and by that time Paul had forgotten all about Katrina.
Until one day when she had suddenly turned up in the glen. Paul had known that she had grown up in the highlands, but had never delved deeper into the exact location. It wasn't until the day when she had rung the doorbell that he realised she had been referring to Glenbogle.
He couldn't believe the odds of it all. He couldn't blame her for not having told him that she was a native to the town, as he had never actually mentioned that he was living there. On meeting a girl that he really liked in London the fact that he was about to devote himself to being Laird of a highland estate was not the first thing he told her about himself- in fact he hadn't mentioned it at all. Shying away from the fact every time they had come near it.
Molly had recognised her instantly, as had Golly and Duncan, but they had all decided to keep their mouths firmly shut about her history with Archie. After all Archie and Lexie didn't live at Glenbogle anymore, it wouldn't really worry them…would it?
Paul actually smiled as he remembered Katrina's initial reaction

" Paul"
" Katrina"
" What are you doing here?"
" I'm the Laird"
" Oh no" her face had become stricken at the news " You're a MacDonald."

'It should have clicked then' Paul realised, 'but it hadn't' he knew very little about Archie's romantic endeavors before he had come back. He had just assumed that for the last few years he had been dating Lexie, and hence they had decided to marry just before Paul had come to Glenbogle.
It seemed however, that he never stopped learning about the past history of Glenbogle and it's inhabitants, it seemed to affect every fiber of his life.