PART 25
The door opened slowly & to Lexie's great relief, Useless trotted in followed by Archie. Her first instinct was to demand to know where Archie had been, but in the circumstances that was stupid. So, instead she went with her instinct of earlier in the day, leapt up from the hall armchair that Archie so often flopped into after a long day of working on Ben Bogle's slopes, & ran to him. Somehow it was only then, when he felt Lexie's arms around him, that the grief hit Archie & he broke down. Lexie simply stood there, her face buried in his shoulder & clung to him as he had to her a few days earlier. The only thing she noticed was that he was freezing cold. When she felt she could she guided him into the living-room & sat him in front of the roaring fire before pouring them both a very strong toddies. She handed Archie his & sat down beside him, her own drink in her hand. Useless had settled himself by the end of the sofa. In all that time, not a word had been exchanged between the young couple. Only now did Archie find his voice as he raised his glass in salute: "To Jamie." "To Jamie." Lexie echoed. With that, quiet, if not peace, was, for now, restored to the Estate. Duncan arrived by the back door & found Molly sitting at the kitchen table in her dressing-gown, nursing a mug of tea & staring off into space. His heart was heavy. Nevertheless it went out to the older woman & tried not to startle her but she jumped anyway as he entered her eye-line. "Sorry Molly." Duncan said quietly. She smiled serenely in forgiveness: "Tea or Chocolate?" she asked getting up to put the kettle back on. "Tea please. Hector & Kilwillie are away to the Castle. I think I talked Hector into staying over." He shut the door to keep the heat in & sat down.
"Good. Are you alright Duncan?" she put a hand on his shoulder knowingly. "I will be." He said honestly. "You?" "I will be." Duncan tested his tea as Lady MacDonald offered him a biscuit.
"Oatmeal; Jamie's favourite." She said mostly to herself. "Yeah, they're great. Sounds like we'd have liked each other." The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them & Duncan had been about to apologise yet again, but then he saw Molly's face. It had a serene look once again: "Yes Duncan, I'm quite sure you two would have been great pals. He loved playing shinty to & you'd have had a willing partner in those computer games of yours, that's for sure." She chuckled gently at that thought. Duncan smiled to. Molly rarely got to talk about her eldest son but now she had the chance she found she wanted to, needed to in fact, & Duncan found that he was more than content to listen. Lexie finished her drink, put her glass down & snuggled down in the crook of Archie's arm. He kissed her gently on the forehead. He felt completely drained. It had been one heck of a day! He was glad she hadn't asked many questions. There was one question he hadn't needed answering; Hector was out of the house for the night. As he sat there watching the fire gently go down, Archie decided that tomorrow he would call the jewellers & check on the progress of the ring. It would help him start to looking towards the future again. He was almost dosing when Lexie spoke up: "Archie, I have a confession to make." "Yeah, how come?" he asked, curious now. "I rang & asked my mother to the reopening of the dining-room." She said. "That reminds me, I should ask Uncle Jolyn. My mother's brother." He explained seeing the puzzled look on Lexie's face. "Last time we heard anything from him he was in Kenya." "Oh right." Lexie was just mildly surprised. By now she was growing used to the McDonald family quirks. "Does that mean I'm forgiven?" "You will be, if you tell me you love me." Archie smiled gently. "Well I do love you, but I think I could do better than that." She smiled & stood up, "Stay here." Puzzled, but too comfortable to shift, Archie did as he was told. TO BE CONTINUED...
The door opened slowly & to Lexie's great relief, Useless trotted in followed by Archie. Her first instinct was to demand to know where Archie had been, but in the circumstances that was stupid. So, instead she went with her instinct of earlier in the day, leapt up from the hall armchair that Archie so often flopped into after a long day of working on Ben Bogle's slopes, & ran to him. Somehow it was only then, when he felt Lexie's arms around him, that the grief hit Archie & he broke down. Lexie simply stood there, her face buried in his shoulder & clung to him as he had to her a few days earlier. The only thing she noticed was that he was freezing cold. When she felt she could she guided him into the living-room & sat him in front of the roaring fire before pouring them both a very strong toddies. She handed Archie his & sat down beside him, her own drink in her hand. Useless had settled himself by the end of the sofa. In all that time, not a word had been exchanged between the young couple. Only now did Archie find his voice as he raised his glass in salute: "To Jamie." "To Jamie." Lexie echoed. With that, quiet, if not peace, was, for now, restored to the Estate. Duncan arrived by the back door & found Molly sitting at the kitchen table in her dressing-gown, nursing a mug of tea & staring off into space. His heart was heavy. Nevertheless it went out to the older woman & tried not to startle her but she jumped anyway as he entered her eye-line. "Sorry Molly." Duncan said quietly. She smiled serenely in forgiveness: "Tea or Chocolate?" she asked getting up to put the kettle back on. "Tea please. Hector & Kilwillie are away to the Castle. I think I talked Hector into staying over." He shut the door to keep the heat in & sat down.
"Good. Are you alright Duncan?" she put a hand on his shoulder knowingly. "I will be." He said honestly. "You?" "I will be." Duncan tested his tea as Lady MacDonald offered him a biscuit.
"Oatmeal; Jamie's favourite." She said mostly to herself. "Yeah, they're great. Sounds like we'd have liked each other." The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them & Duncan had been about to apologise yet again, but then he saw Molly's face. It had a serene look once again: "Yes Duncan, I'm quite sure you two would have been great pals. He loved playing shinty to & you'd have had a willing partner in those computer games of yours, that's for sure." She chuckled gently at that thought. Duncan smiled to. Molly rarely got to talk about her eldest son but now she had the chance she found she wanted to, needed to in fact, & Duncan found that he was more than content to listen. Lexie finished her drink, put her glass down & snuggled down in the crook of Archie's arm. He kissed her gently on the forehead. He felt completely drained. It had been one heck of a day! He was glad she hadn't asked many questions. There was one question he hadn't needed answering; Hector was out of the house for the night. As he sat there watching the fire gently go down, Archie decided that tomorrow he would call the jewellers & check on the progress of the ring. It would help him start to looking towards the future again. He was almost dosing when Lexie spoke up: "Archie, I have a confession to make." "Yeah, how come?" he asked, curious now. "I rang & asked my mother to the reopening of the dining-room." She said. "That reminds me, I should ask Uncle Jolyn. My mother's brother." He explained seeing the puzzled look on Lexie's face. "Last time we heard anything from him he was in Kenya." "Oh right." Lexie was just mildly surprised. By now she was growing used to the McDonald family quirks. "Does that mean I'm forgiven?" "You will be, if you tell me you love me." Archie smiled gently. "Well I do love you, but I think I could do better than that." She smiled & stood up, "Stay here." Puzzled, but too comfortable to shift, Archie did as he was told. TO BE CONTINUED...