Twins Exchanged

By Catherine Carson

Effie Lamont rejoices that her eldest son and daughter have made good marriages and had for some time thought her identical twin sons needed to become less reliant on each other.
To this end she agrees with her eldest son, Lachlan (Laird of Lamont Estate) that they should take part in a government exchange programme to work abroad for twelve months. So Rory is packed off to a Hill Sheep Farm in New Zealand and Glen to an Australian Cattle Station.
The story follows the lives of the twins as they cope without the close support of each other or their family during the twelve months they are apart.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Apr 8, 2014
• ISBN: 9781291826210

Book preview

Twins Exchanged

Twins Exchanged

By Catherine Carson

Content Copyright © Catherine Carson

ISBN 978-1-291-82621-0 eBook

Profile of the author

Born in Scotland I now live with my husband in the North West of England.  We have three children who, between them have given us six wonderful grandchildren.

I studied commercial subjects at school and college and spent most of my working life in the offices of various companies, starting as a junior in a local garage typing invoices for car repairs.   I left Scotland and crossed the border to England to marry the man I met whilst on a holiday with my extended family and eventually became a secretary with a beer bottling company leaving six years later when the first of our three children came on the scene. 

Returning to the workforce when our children were young adults I finally untied the apron strings to join the offices of a large wholesale book supplier and embraced the advancement in technology since I had first learned to type on a manual typewriter and take notes in shorthand.

During the years I became something of a letter writer as friends and family lived in many parts of the country and indeed the world.  Often friends and family would tell me…..‘You could write a book’ to which I always replied…..‘But would anyone read it’. 

When my granddaughter asked if I would write a book especially for her I confided in my good friend Lisa Schmidt and she told me to go for it.  That book became the first of many stories which had been lurking in my imagination for a good number of years.

Once started I found the stories simply kept coming and often an overheard conversation or a glimpse from the passenger seat of the car would trigger a likely scenario which my imagination would then elaborate and weave into a story.

My hope is that my writing brings a little pleasure into the life of my readers and allows them to leave the mundane world behind for a few hours as they meet the characters I adore creating.

www.facebook.com/catherinecarsonbooks.uk

www.catherinerenacarson.jimdo.com

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Dedication

This book is dedicated to a very talkative taxi driver whose ambition is to write a book and I hope he follows my advice and has a go.

All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names.  They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author and all the incidents are pure invention.

Other Books by this Author

The Mouse in the Library

Family Ties

Overall Construction          

Wounded Wolf

Coffee and Cakes

Memories Rekindled

Wholesale Love

Hope’s Conflict

Estates of the Heart

Sibling Rivalry

Fighting for Custody

White Knight Black Knight

Through the Garden Gate…

Love Lost and Found

Alphabet Bachelors

A Dreamer’s Tale

A Precious Jewel

Footbridge of Solace

Girl Meets Boy

Demolition of the Heart

When Life Gives You Lemons

Return to the Past

Pretence & Reality

Opening a Can of Worms

Fields of Contention

A Heart Encased In Steel

Russian Revenge

~~~~~~

Tapestry of Love-Bk 1

Twins Exchanged-Bk 2

Highland Feud Bk-3

~~~~~~

Soil, Seed & Betrayal-Bk 1

Desert Prince, Exiled Princess-Bk 2

Body Language-Bk 3

~~~~~~

An Open Book-Bk 1

Afraid to Love-Bk 2

~~~~~~

A Second Chance-Bk 1

Taming the Playboy-Bk 2

~~~~~~

Estranged Husband & Father-Bk 1

Identical Mistake-Bk 2

~~~~~~

Sigh of the Claymore-Bk 1

Beyond Claymore-Bk 2

~~~~~~

Sneaking Into His Heart-Bk 1

Scent of the Heather-Bk 2

Chapter 1

Effie Lamont was pleased her eldest two children had found the love of their lives and were happily married but her two younger children had always been a worry, perhaps worry was too strong a word, they had always been the harum-scarum devil-may-care lads who did everything in tandem and at times Effie thought they didn’t have a sensible thought in their heads.

The fact Rory and Glen were identical twins and had been inseparable from birth was one of her concerns.  As children they had gone from escapade to escapade which their doting father had been blinkered to; but their father was gone and their elder brother was running the estate now and he needed them to settle down and give him and the estate manager Angus McNair the help and support they needed.

Her eldest son had become aloof after being sent off to boarding school and this had determined her husband Gregor he would not become estranged from his younger sons or their daughter and all three of them attended the local schools before going on to college and university.

On the death of her husband their eldest son Lachlan had taken over as Laird and was responsible for running the estate but was still aloof and taciturn at times. Effie had been instrumental in bringing Isa Farrington to the estate and she had helped Lachlan find the affable good natured spirit he had kept hidden for so long and now they were happily married and proud parents of Euan who was almost two years old.

There had only ever been one love in her daughter Caitlin’s life and after a few trials and tribulations she and Angus McNair had married and now lived in the Lodge House which had been extended to accommodate visiting groups of paying guests who came to fish in the river which ran through the estate, or ride the stabled horses along the many bridal paths.  Angus was the son of Harriet McNair the long serving cook/housekeeper of Lamont Castle and a good friend to Effie.

Harriet had been widowed young when her husband had been killed in a hunting accident whilst serving as estate manager and Effie and Gregor had employed Harriet and helped support Angus through school and agricultural college and on his return he took up the same position his father had held.

Rory and Glen were supposed to be ploughing the fields ready for planting the potato crop which hopefully would give a good yield come early summer.  Effie had been suspicious when she saw the pair of them with their heads together after breakfast and had instructed Lachlan to keep a keen eye on them.

Isa was an expert needlewoman and was constantly finding restoration jobs within the castle and was at present working in one of the bed chambers in the original keep.  Effie went off to find her hoping Euan would be ready for his morning walk giving her the excuse to check up on her errant sons.

Pushing open the heavy oak door Isa was sat crossed legged on a large peg rug in the middle of the room with the tapestry cloth from an old armchair stretched on a frame before her as she worked on the fine stitches.  Euan saw his grandmother and ran to meet her.  ‘He has been waiting for you to come for him.’  Isa said raising her eyes from her work.

‘If Lachlan finds you sitting on that cold floor he will ban you from the keep.’  Effie wondered how on earth her daughter-in-law managed to look so comfortable sitting crossed legged on a hard floor when she was seven months pregnant. 

‘He might try Effie but I think we both know he is all bluster but I am getting a little cramped so if you don’t mind I might join you and Euan this morning and you can tell me why you are looking concerned.’  Effie Lamont loved this young woman who had brought about the change in her son and her one hope was Rory and Glen could also find the happiness their brother and sister had.

The heavy rain had left the footpaths muddy and full of puddles and Euan was togged out in his bright yellow rubber boots and raincoat.  As the trio made their way through the woods the two year old was squealing with delight each time he jumped into a puddle sending muddy water up into the air to drop back round his feet.  Effie and Isa let him walk ahead of them making sure they kept out of direct line of his exuberant splashes.

‘I take it Rory and Glen are causing those worry frowns on your forehead.  Do you think they are planning one of their forays into Perth to check out the