The Prodigal Son Read online

  Patrons laughed.

  “The fact that I got them as free samples in the first place, is beside the point,” he added with an exaggerated wink.

  More laughter ensued.

  “But seriously, Robbie, I’d like on behalf of everyone here to congratulate you and Justine, and to wish you every future happiness as the Laird and Lady Laird of Achravie. I wish you you both, health and happiness.” Hamish raised his glass again.

  “Health and happiness,” patrons enthusiastically echoed.

  Rob was visibly taken aback and stood silent. Then he grew aware of all eyes in on him. “Eh, thank you. This is unexpected. I’m not sure what to say. As you all know we’re making a lot of changes at the estate, ones I hope will benefit the whole island and not just the estate. I’ve not thought of myself as the Laird of Achravie until tonight, but I’m aware of the responsibilities that title brings and will do my best to discharge them appropriately. I hope you’ll all work with me and help to make Achravie a better place. Thank you again for your welcome and good wishes. Let’s lift a glass to Achravie and the future!”

  “Achravie and the future,” everyone said.

  Rob turned to his companions. “Let’s eat.”

  Early the next afternoon, Rob and Justine set off for London, having had a memorable evening in the Red Lion. Justine was very taken with the future title of Lady Laird and had determined to take the responsibility seriously, as Elizabeth Reynolds had during her time on Achravie. She had made a mental note to talk to Rob’s mother when they were back in London.

  42

  “Remember we talked about moving in as husband and wife,” Justine said as she scanned the new entrance to the Harper MacLaine offices, replacing the double-width, up-and-over garage door of her parents’ former home.

  “Yeah, we still can. The work on the offices won’t be finished for a couple weeks yet, and it’s going to need a serious tidying up when all the tradesmen have finished. Why rush it?” Rob asked.

  “I’ve got this thing in my head about us getting married and then coming back here afterwards,” she chuckled. “And you carrying me over the threshold of our new home.”

  “What happens then?”

  “We could go through to the office and check e-mails, or we could go upstairs and check out a few other things,” Justine suggested coyly.

  “You’ve talked me into it. We should get the furniture delivered before we head up to Achravie, get our clothes and the rest of the stuff from the apartment, too. That way, we can come back here in January after the wedding celebrations, and that’s that.”

  Justine had talked Rob into keeping the river-view penthouse and renting it out, rather than selling. She’d never forget the first night they met and standing on the terrace, looking over the Thames, sipping champagne. That night had changed her life; and as such, she wanted to keep the apartment. This meant that they had to buy most of the furniture for the house from Justine’s parents; as they’d be furnishing the Vauxhall apartment with the existing furniture from Rob’s and a few bits and pieces from Justine’s apartments. The furniture in the house, Justine had argued, was just over a year old, she had chosen most of it and it was chosen to fit the house. She doubted if it would look right in her parents’ new townhouse and they saw the logic in Justine’s proposal.

  “How are we getting up to Achravie? We should get things booked, being as Scotland gets busy at New Year,” Justine advised.

  “All sorted, I meant to tell you. I had a meeting with Andy Savage last week and we talked about upcoming work, something to do with a new product he’s been working on. We got round to talking about transport and logistics, and the upshot of it is that I’ve agreed to hire his Agusta, complete with Pete Hall, for 50 days a year. Achravie Estate will have it for a nominal 35 and Harper MacLaine the other 15 and we can adjust that for invoicing purposes, if it works out differently.” He smiled. “I’ve arranged to have it over the New Year period to take us and our guests, parents and the like, up to Achravie before the wedding and back down afterwards. I’ve invited Andy and his wife to the wedding as well, by the way. We said we would.” He looked at her for confirmation.

  “That’s brilliant. You don’t hang about, do you?” Justine chuckled and playfully slapped his arm.

  “Well, we’re both going to want to get up and down to Achravie pretty regularly and if you saw my day rate to Harper MacLaine clients, you would see it’s more that the cost of Andy’s Agusta for a day. It’s more cost effective to spend a couple of hours in a chopper and have a billable day, than spend a whole day travelling. It gets us up there in our time, not dependant on when we can get flights, and it takes five or six passengers. Joe wanted to drive up as he and Suzy will either have the new baby with them, or Suzy will be in danger of giving birth at any time. Either way, they weren’t keen on flying, but I managed to persuade them that it was a fairly fast ride, in comfort in a manner that could get them to most hospitals on the way up, and dammed site quicker than Joe’s Audi.”

  “So Laird, are you going to buy the future Lady Laird of Achravie Sunday lunch?” Justine enquired and received a nod.

  43

  Justine hadn’t wanted a big formal wedding with a profusion of guests that she hardly knew; this had gone down well with, Rob who was like-minded. The church in Achravie was small, as most village churches in Scotland were, so it made for a reasonable excuse to keep numbers down. Lorna had been forced to come down to Reading for a Health & Safety course which she wouldn’t have been able get otherwise in the timescale needed because of the extended Scottish holiday period, so she and Lorna had met up in London to choose dresses for the wedding under Elizabeth’s watchful eye.

  Rob and Justine flew up to Achravie four days before the end of December to check the contractors’ progress, among other things. Satisfied that all was well, Justine and Lorna started to finalise last-minute wedding arrangements.

  Angus and his family arrived at Heathrow from New Zealand, early on the morning of the second day, and were met by their mother and Richard, who Angus hadn’t yet met. A short taxi ride saw them meet up with Pete Hall at the Savage building in Chiswick. The four adults and two boys, six and three, squeezed into the Agusta and flew north to Achravie, arriving just in time for lunch. Rob was straining to meet his brother for the first time in almost seventeen years. Like his mother, he’d never met Angus’s wife and his nephews, so it was a big day for the family.

  Fraser had prepared a temporary helicopter landing area close to the front lawns of Hillcrest and as the Agusta settled Rob, Justine and Lorna moved forward to meet Rob’s family. Angus, sitting up front with Pete, got out first and helped out the others.Finally, he turned and scanned the various eager faces. He smiled when he sighted Rob. “Hey, baby brother. If I look that good when I’ve been dead for years, I’ll be pretty happy.” Angus exclaimed as he appraised the brother he had thought to be dead, and hadn’t seen since he was eighteen.

  The brothers embraced, laughed, and slapped each other’s backs. “I couldn’t believe mother when she told me you weren’t dead … why would Bruce do that. Sure he was an evil bastard, but to tell us you were dead like that, that was insane.” He turned to Justine, standing behind Rob. “And you are definitely Justine. My mother has talked so much about you, I feel that I already know you. Come give your new brother-in-law in hug.” Angus extended his arms and embraced her.

  “Guys, meet the family” Angus added turning to the others “This is Val, my wife and these two tearaways are Robert and Jaimie” Val MacLaine stood almost as tall as Angus, slim, with short fair hair, and a ready smile. She stepped forward and hugged first Rob, then Justine.

  “This is amazing,” she stated happily. “The boys were so excited about the helicopter ride and meeting everyone.” She gazed down at the two, who were doing their best to hide behind her legs while appraising the strange new people. “Oddly, they’ve gone a bit shy.”

  Lizzie and Richard stepped forward to join in
the family reunion and a few moments later they strolled to the house to catch up and have lunch. Pete stayed behind to supervise the offloading of the luggage into two white Achravie Land Cruisers.

  After the MacLaine family and their close friends talked as they enjoyed a vast buffet lunch, Rob and Angus slowly wandered over to one of the big bay windows and sat on the plush cushion on the window seat.

  “So, who’d have believed it, my baby brother, the new Laird of Achravie?” Angus laughed, shaking his head. “What have you been doing with yourself these years?”

  Rob smiled, “Mostly military, Black Watch, then Special Forces in Iran, Afghanistan and other places I’m not allowed to talk about ‘cause it was all a bit secret squirrel. Left the military, set up Harper MacLaine with Joe Harper, met Justine and we’re here to get married. That just about covers it”

  “Aye right, as they say in certain parts of New Zealand,” Angus grinned.

  The brothers laughed and over the next two hours filled in gaps. Rob outlined the plans he and Justine had for Achravie Estate and promised to take the family out to see the progress the next day, before the other guests arrived.

  They spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening with their new extended families, getting to know them and exchanging stories and anecdotes. After dinner and a few drinks, the happy, weary group went to bed reasonably early.

  The next day Rob and Justine commandeered two of the estate Land Cruisers and took guests on a tour of Achravie, stopping off at the Red Lion for lunch before greeting the next group of guest brought in by Pete Hall mid-afternoon.

  The full complement of passengers was made up of: Joe and Suzi Harper, Matt and Ingrid Fellows, and Sir Andrew Savage and his wife Sharon. Upon arrival, more rounds of greetings and getting-to-know-you transpired.

  They enjoyed drinks before a lavish dinner prepared by the Red Lion chef and Lizzie Allen in the kitchen in Hillcrest House. After dinner, drinks and coffee were served in the library where more conversation and reminiscence could be heard, then slowly but surely the party retired early, in preparation for the wedding and the night of celebration to follow, as was Scottish tradition at the end of one year and the start of a new one.

  Rob and Justine stood on the steps of Hillcrest House, their arms wrapped around each other against the cold winter breeze. In line with tradition, they’d agreed not to stay under the same roof on the eve of the wedding. Lorna, sitting in her car, engine running, waited to take Justine back to stay with her.

  “So, Miss Fellows, this time tomorrow you’ll be Mrs MacLaine, Lady Laird of Achravie. You still okay with that?” Rod teased.

  “I think I can live with that,” she smiled. “It’d be nice if Achravie was to be our full-time home, wouldn’t it?”

  “Maybe one day.”

  “Maybe sooner that you think, Laird” Justine teased, kissed him, and turned heel to walk down to Lorna’s car. “Maybe sooner than you think. See you in church!”

  Lorna waved as they drove off and Rob stood bemused on the steps until the rear lights of the car could no longer be seen. “What were you on about, woman?”

  44

  The next morning Rob woke late and stuck his head between the bedroom curtains. “Bloody hell!”

  Snow covered the landscape, a rarity in southwest Scotland—but there it was, six inches by the looks of it. Fresh pristine snow as far as he could see. It had been years since he’d seen snow like that.

  After a quick shower, he dressed in jeans and a heavy wool sweater, and went downstairs. Most of the others were already sitting at breakfast and he said his good mornings before donning a pair of Wellington boots kept at the back door.

  He strolled into the snow-covered courtyard at the rear, and stood and inhaled the sharp morning air. The sky was now clear and the sun was shone brightly; it felt surprisingly warm on his face as he walked up steep hill behind the house.

  He gazed across Achravie, towards the Isle of Arran and the Scottish mainland beyond. Rob remembered his boyhood; the visibility and vibrancy had never existed in the hot and dusty warzones of Iran and Afghanistan. This was home—the home of his ancestors, from which he’d been removed by his father as a result of his brother’s lies and deceit.

  Now, nearly two decades later, Achravie was again his home … and tonight it would be his and Justine’s. While he couldn’t live there full-time, it would always be his home and he hoped Justine would grow to share his love of the island in the years to come.

  In the past, Rob had always worn the regimental tartan when wearing a kilt, but for the first time, he’d wear the Modern MacLaine tartan, as would all the men in the wedding party. Angus’s two boys would follow suit and were excited by the prospect of wearing a kilt for the first time.

  It was shaping up to be a day to remember as Rob slithered and slid down the hill, returning to the warm inviting house and the lure of a full Scottish breakfast.

  The wedding ceremony was arranged for 15.00, which gave the family and friends time to relax and enjoy one another’s company. The children, large and small, played in the snow and built a snowman in the rear courtyard.

  Rob and Joe talked a little business with Sir Andrew and learnt of a new product development he was working on, in collaboration with an overseas partner.

  After lunch, the party returned to their respective rooms and prepared themselves for the wedding.

  Rob peered out a large bay window and admired the vast view: the estate, the village, and the Firth of Clyde in the distance. The sky was unseasonably clear and blue, and the winter sun was low in the sky, but still shining brightly. The uninitiated could be forgiven for thinking that the outside, sheathed in snow, would be warmed by sunshine, but as Rob had discovered that morning, nothing could be further from the truth.

  Rob picked up his mobile and called Lorna. She answered on the third ring, sounding more than a little distracted. “Just wanted to check if my future wife was still up for this … or whether she’d gotten cold feet … without walking on the snow,” Rob jested.

  “Wild horses couldn’t stop her from becoming your wife today. An hour ago, I had to hold her back from going to the church and waiting for you,” Lorna laughed.

  “Don’t you know its bad luck to talk to the bride on the day of the wedding?”

  “In fact, isn’t it bad luck to see the bride before the wedding?” he asked, checking the wedding garments laying on the bed.” I just wanted to check before I put on this brand new kilt.”

  “And will anything be worn under this brand new kilt, sir?” Lorna teased, winking at Justine, who was standing alongside.

  “No.“No” came the reply, “Everything will be in perfect working order.”

  “Too much information.” Lorna laughed

  “You did ask.”

  Lorna chuckled. “Put your kilt on and don’t be late!”

  He chuckled, as well. “See you in church.”

  At ten minutes to three, with the wedding guests seated in the cosy little church, Rob and Joe, both looking resplendent in their Modern MacLaine kilts and Prince Charlie jackets, stepped out of an Achravie Estate Land Cruiser and made the short walk into the church.

  They stopped to greet some of the guests and the family members as they made their way to the front of the church to await the bride’s arrival of the bride. A half hour later, the wedding guests and best man were growing restless, and the groom was beginning to fret. “Where are they? They should have been here by now.” Rob tried to keep the apprehension from his voice.

  “Bride’s prerogative to be late,” Joe responded, trying to conceal his concern.

  Several minutes later, people were chatting anxiously, and a few stood at the entrance. Something wasn’t right. Rob phoned Lorna and, with his heart in his mouth waited for an answer.

  When he didn’t receive one, he started to make his way towards the exit. He was halfway down the aisle when someone shouted, “They’re here, they’re here!”

  Rob h
alted and returned to Joe with a nervous smile. “They had me worried for a minute!”

  “Excuse me, but you’ve been worried for the last forty minutes,” he joked, slapping his back.

  The organist started to play the bridal march and Justine, her father and Lorna, appeared at the far end of the aisle. She looked breathtakingly beautiful as she stood smiling at Rob. Her father was dressed in the same attire as the other men. Lorna, standing behind them, looked lovely in a dress of duck-egg-blue, which matched the colour in the MacLaine tartan sash worn over the dress that she and Justine had picked in London.

  Ever so slowly, so it seemed to Rob, his bride and her party made their way to join him at the altar.

  “That bridal Rolls Royce you laid on for us is stuck in the snow at the bottom of the hill at Lorna’s house,” Justine whispered to Rob as they stopped before him. “Lorna had to call the house and ask them to send a Land Cruiser to the rescue.”

  Rob smiled and shook his head. “I thought you’d changed your mind after all.”

  “You don’t get away that easily, Rob MacLaine.”

  The minister held up his hands. “Ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here together …”

  The ceremony was simple and informal with bride and groom happily agreeing to “love, honour and respect” until death did them part. The wedding party gathered outside for photographs with the bright winter sun reflecting off the snow. The photographer, aware that guests were becoming increasingly uncomfortable in the chilly late afternoon air, worked quickly; the rest of the photographs would be taken in the warmth of Hillcrest House.