Read From Scotland with Love for Free Online Page B

settled on the sofa. She knew it could take a long time for anything to happen.
    Rory came back into the room. ‘Hamish is on his way,’ he said. ‘I’ll boil some water.’
    ‘I’ll make tea for him when he gets here,’ said Daisy, making it clear that boiling water probably wasn’t necessary.
    But Rory had already left the room.
    Daisy followed him into the kitchen. ‘It could take ages, no need to do anything now. Unless you want tea yourself?’
    He looked at her, his expression wild. ‘I want whisky but I won’t, not until we know it’s all over.’
    ‘Very sensible. Although it is New Year’s Eve.’ She looked at him. ‘Why don’t you go and sit with Grizzie? She’d like you to be there with her.’
    ‘How do you know so much about it? Oh, don’t tell me – your parents sent you on a course.’
    Daisy giggled. ‘Of course they didn’t. If they’d thought I could be a vet they’d have made me go to Uni. But my mum has Cavaliers and they’ve had a couple of litters.’
    ‘Cavaliers? Aren’t they really small? It won’t be the same at all.’
    Daisy shrugged, not sure if it would be the same or not. ‘Never mind. Hamish will be here. How long will it take him?’
    ‘Normally about forty minutes but in this, I’m not sure.’ He looked out of the window and Daisy followed his gaze. It had started to snow again.
    ‘I’m sure he has plenty of time to get here,’ said Daisy. ‘Tell you what, we’ll have tea and something to eat while we’re waiting. It’ll help to pass the time.’
    ‘Not for me. Well, tea maybe, but I couldn’t face food.’
    Daisy shook her head. ‘Ooh, we’ve got a right one ’ere.’
    He glared at her. ‘Are you teasing me?’
    ‘Just a little bit,’ said Daisy, not quite as brave as she sounded.
    She left him alone with Griselda for a short time. She put more logs on the fire and got in another load from the woodshed, selecting the most seasoned. She realised she wasn’t hating this whole situation nearly as much as she would have thought. She was actually good at country skills and now she was surrounded by it, found she quite liked scenery, even when it was mostly white. She wondered briefly if it was Rory’s presence that made it all so appealing but pushed the thought firmly away. A PR girl having a thing with a top author would be such a cliché.
    ‘How’s she doing?’ she said a few minutes later.
    Rory was sitting on the sofa, looking distraught, his hair obviously mangled by anxious fingers. ‘I don’t know. Look, would you stay with her? I’m going to give Hamish another ring. I just hope he hasn’t gone out to a party.’
    ‘Bit early isn’t it?’
    He glanced at his watch, shook his head as if confused, and left the room.
    Daisy settled on the sofa with her book and the cashmere throw.
    Rory came back a few minutes later. ‘He doesn’t think he can get here.’ He looked as if he could hardly believe this terrible news. ‘What are we going to do?’
    ‘Well,’ said Daisy. ‘You could ask Grizzie if she could put off having her pups until the snow’s gone –’
    ‘Don’t be so bloody ridiculous.’
    ‘Or we can just see how it goes. Do our best to help her.’ She frowned slightly. ‘The hard part will be keeping us amused while we wait. We could probably hear her from the sitting room and watch a film but I –’
    ‘We’re not leaving her alone!’
    ‘No.’ She paused. ‘Have you got any cards, Rory?’
    He looked bemused. ‘What, business cards?’
    ‘No! Playing cards. You know, with numbers and pictures on!’
    His expression cleared. ‘Oh yes. Good idea. I’ll find them.’
    Daisy found a small table they could play on. Her training as a PR girl – always looking ahead to see if anything was required to make things go more smoothly – hadn’t been entirely wasted.
    Rory brought a large jar full of small change as well as the cards.
    ‘We don’t need money for Snap do we?’ asked Daisy.
    ‘We’re not