“Glynnis is going to implode with joy,” I finally say, and Miles huffs out something close to a laugh.
“One down,” he mutters, and I have to admit, as far as first—or fourth—dates go, this one is certainly memorable.
Chapter 25
“No one is going to expect me to shoot things, right?” I ask for what is probably the third time.
El, sitting across from me in the back of the car, sighs and crosses her legs at the ankle. Ever since the car pulled away from Holyrood Palace, carrying us north up into the Highlands, Ellie has been giving me The Sigh, and also The Side-Eye, and just a hint of The Chin Tilt.
All of which is ridiculous given that I am pretending to date a boy for her, so you’d think she could be a little less irritated with me. Especially since I was right—those pictures of Miles carrying me off on his horse like we were in a Regency romance had gone over really, really well. I’d seen at least five different angles of that shot, and even I had to admit they were swoony. The fakest thing ever to fake, but still.
“No shooting, Daisy,” Alex assures me now, giving El’s knee a pat. “Season doesn’t start until August, and not even I can break that rule.”
“What would happen if you did?” I ask, leaning forward a little. “Could they arrest you? Is there some kind of royal immunity? If—”
“Daisy!” El snaps suddenly, turning her head to glare at me. “It’s a four-hour drive, and if you ask inane questions the entire way, I’m going to lose my mind.”
Lifting my hands, I settle back into my seat. “Sorry,” I mutter, and Alex frowns slightly, looking back and forth between me and my sister. He must have had these kinds of little blowups with Seb and Flora growing up, and I almost ask him that before I remember that I’m not supposed to ask questions. All El wanted was for me to show an interest in all of this, and now that I am, she wants me to be quiet.
Typical.
Also, to be honest, I’d thought that engaging in a little friendly chatter would help dispel some of the tension that had been brewing. I’d thought going along with “the palace’s” plan would make Ellie happy, but clearly it wasn’t enough, and I have to fight the urge to start an argument with her over it. It’s just . . . I gave up the Winchester Mystery House for her, I gave up Key Con, I gave up my personal dignity after the Horse Incident, and she’s still acting like it’s all my fault somehow.
But fighting in front of Alex would be bad, so I decide to take the high road.
My shoulder bag is sitting on the seat next to me, and I pull it closer, still enjoying how soft the leather is underneath my fingers. This had been one of Glynnis’s things, that I needed to stop carrying my ratty backpack and have something nicer, just in case there were photographers. I’d wanted to object on principle, but then she gave me this lovely bag, all supple and expensive, lined with a gorgeous green-and-purple tartan, a thistle emblem embroidered on the front, and oh man, I’d been a goner.
I take The Portrait of a Lady out of my bag, and Alex smiles, nodding at the paperback in my hands. “Henry James? I approve.”
It’s for summer reading, and I would much prefer to be reading something with dragons, but I give Alex a smile in return, wiggling the book in his general direction.
“You know we Winters fam, always seeking to better ourselves.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ellie is sitting up in her seat now, hair falling over her shoulders, which are so tense you could probably crack rocks on them.
“I was making a joke,” I fire back at El, and I can sense Alex steeling himself for sisterly drama. But he’s a born diplomat, which I guess is a useful skill for him, because he just clears his throat and says, “Has Eleanor told you anything about where we’re going, Daisy?”
“North,” I reply, waving a hand. “Hinterlands. Mountains. Kilts. Special cows.”
El is still looking out the window, but one corner of her mouth lifts, and Alex chuckles. “Those are the highlights, yes. But the actual house we’re going to is rather special to our family, mostly because it’s ours.”
I lower my book, raising my eyebrows at him. “Unlike Holyroodhouse, right?”
Alex nods. “Exactly. Things like Holyrood and Edinburgh Castle belong to the people of Scotland. We live in them, of course, but we’re only stewards. Baird House is private property. My great-grandfather Alexander bought it back in the thirties so that he’d have a retreat for his family—somewhere they could go and feel like regular people.”
“The Petit Trianon,” I blurt out, and now it’s Alex’s turn to raise his eyebrows.
Ellie glances over at me, and I shrug. “I went through a Marie Antoinette phase,” I explain. “Not the ‘let them eat cake’ part—which she didn’t even say, by the way—but just . . . you know, the history of it all. The Petit Trianon was this little house Marie used near Versailles, and she could pretend to be a regular person there. Milk goats, feed sheep, do whatever it was she thought peasants did.”
Alex chokes on a laugh, turning it into the fakest cough I have ever heard. “Well, yes, but I promise you, we don’t go up there to pretend to be peasants.”
“Do you wear kilts?” I counter, and Alex nods.
“Wouldn’t be allowed into the Highlands if we didn’t.”
“Then I guess that’s good enough,” I say with a shrug, and Alex smiles at me. It’s a real smile, the kind I don’t get from him or El that often, and it’s nice. Another reminder that without all this weird royalty stuff, Alex is a good guy who makes my sister happy and seems to like me.
The car keeps heading north, and while I try to read my book, I can’t stop staring out the window as the landscape changes. For the first part of the drive, it is all fairly normal. Highways, road signs, fast food places. But eventually the rolling hills get higher, craggier. There’s even some snow on the peaks of the higher mountains, and before long, I’ve practically got my nose pressed to the glass. Now this is the Scotland I’ve been waiting for. Before, when we’d visited, we’d only been in the cities, really. Edinburgh, Glasgow . . . I’d never seen the actual Highlands.
Before long, the car is slowing down, bumping over a long gravel driveway, and as we round the corner, a house comes into view.
The car rolls to a stop, and I take in the building in front of me. I know Alex said it’s private property, but I still wasn’t expecting something this . . . homey.
That doesn’t mean it’s a normal house, of course. It’s huge, red brick and gravel drive and all that, but it’s not as imposing as Sherbourne Castle or Holyrood, not even as intimidating as the big hotel we all stayed in back in Edinburgh. And it feels a lot more isolated than either of those places, too, all tucked up here in the Highlands.
For the first time since I got here, I feel like I can breathe a little, and I take a deep breath. Yes, this is exactly what I need. What we all need. A chance to get to know each other in less intimidating surroundings, and without distractions.
Then I step out of the car and see that other Land Rovers have pulled up, and Royal Wreckers are spilling out onto the gravel drive.
Okay, so a few distractions, then.
I haven’t seen the Royal Wreckers since the bookstore and the club, and now there’s much slapping of shoulders as Seb and his boys make their way to the house.