Read From Scotland with Love for Free Online Page A

frowned and shook his head, not convinced she was making sense.
    ‘There are other places to live apart from London,’ he said.
    ‘You say that, but I wouldn’t want to risk it. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere I couldn’t pick up a black cab at any time.’ She shuddered at the thought. Then wondered if actually, she might learn to cope without them.
    While Rory stacked logs, Daisy made some soup using her private, super-quick recipe that relied on Rory’s well-stocked freezer and a tin of tomatoes. She added some dried chilli, hoping its presence in the spice rack meant Rory liked it.
    After lunch Daisy made a cake while Rory sawed and chopped and stacked. She quite liked this sort of job herself but thought he would feel obliged to think up a job for her that involved cooking, rowing and log-chopping. She didn’t think he should waste his brain-power. While she creamed and folded, her own brain was focused on how she could suggest to him that he not only offer Athene another book, but instead, four books. That way he would get enough money to buy his beloved loch and the woodland beyond. She’d had another text from Venetia, wanting to know how she was getting on. She’d added a Happy New Year for Tomorrow to the text otherwise Daisy would never have noticed the date.
    By four o’clock it was dark. Daisy made tea and cut a slice of cake. She took a mug and the cake up to Rory and then took her own into the sitting room. She stoked the wood burner (no girl whose parents had a place in the country was fazed by a wood burner), put more logs on the fire and snuggled up on the sofa with a book. Then, still feeling chilly, she lit the fire and pulled the throw that was on back of the sofa over herself. It had presumably been left behind by Eleanor. She might have had a lot of things wrong with her, Daisy thought, but she had good taste and shared Daisy’s passion for cashmere. It was hard to remember it was New Year’s Eve – Hogmanay up here. Back home she’d be climbing into something uncomfortable but sexy and ringing round her friends for lifts to and from the venue. She didn’t seem to mind missing out on all the fun at all. How weird was that?
    She was awoken from her comfortable doze in front of the fire by a high, strangled cry. Her first thought was of a fox but then she remembered Grizzie. She struggled upright and went into Grizzie’s bedroom. She was there, looking frightened, possibly wondering what on earth was happening to her.
    Daisy ran up the stairs, calling as she went. ‘Rory? I think Grizzie’s in labour!’
    He appeared at his office door, looking dishevelled and worried. ‘Are you sure? How do you know? She’s not due for a few more days!’
    ‘Come and see for yourself.’
    She went back quickly, certain he would mow her down in his eagerness to get to his beloved dog.
    Griselda was very pleased to see her master.
    Her master, on the other hand, was not pleased to see Griselda obviously suffering – from confusion if not from real pain. ‘I’ll ring Hamish,’ he said.
    Daisy made sure Griselda had water and food available and that there were plenty of newspapers around. Then she trawled the house for things she might need.
    There was a generous stock of hand towels in the airing cupboard. Eleanor obviously had a small White Company addiction for which Daisy was now grateful. She took several of them, sure Griselda would appreciate her puppies being born into such fluffy luxury. She found a couple of single sheets and added them to her pile. Then she went to the kitchen and found scissors. She put them in a pan and boiled them for a few minutes and then tipped them out onto a towel. She didn’t know if all this hygiene was necessary but she was sure Rory would appreciate it.
    She put her birthing kit into a box lined with a bath towel and took it all into what she thought of as Griselda’s birthing suite. Then she plumped up Griselda’s duvet and went to get her book. She