The House Sitter: All Julie wanted was to be left alone with her broken heart, her horses, and a bottle of gin ...

By Jeanie Green

Julie Larkham and Gregor MacGregor, "Mac", were living a fairy tale existence in their whitewashed croft overlooking Kincaird Loch, in the Scottish Highlands.

Mac and his brother had inherited a dilapidated castle, which they had turned into a boutique hotel with the help of  Australian born, Julie and Chrissy. &nbs

• Language: English
• Publisher: Author Academy Elite
• Release date: Dec 3, 2019
• ISBN: 9781640859746

Jeanie Green

Jeanie Green's writing life began after a car accident. No longer able to work her horses she set the first novel in "The Braes Series" on her horse property in the Surf Coast of Australia. Jeanie features her Warmblood Stallion in the story and her Warmblood Mare - Anastasia is on the front cover, three of her ponies, her Highland cows and her dogs Jojo and Jinty are also part of the backdrop. Jeanie writing with the Faber Acadermy, at Allen and Unwin, she was then offered a mentorship with award-winning author Toni Jordan. Jeanie spent a further two years studying with the US-based Margie Lawsons Academy working with best-selling authors. Jeanie is published with Authors Academy Elite.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Kincaird Estate, Scotland

Mac held my hair and whispered to me in Gaelic. I concentrated on his voice and not on the acid swirling in my stomach, or my knees on the cold floor tiles, or my flushed cheek resting against the back of his large warm hand.

‘Who would have thought something the size of a peanut could cause all of this misery? We’ll be able to see the culprit next week,’ he murmured to me in his thick, lilting burr. There was always a smile in his voice when he talked about our baby. The thought of his child made him light up from inside, while I was plunged into a dark, deep, pit of despair.

Mac helped me to my feet and wrapped me in his arms.

Exhausted, I whispered, ‘Did you know kangaroos give birth when the baby’s the size of a peanut? It crawls into its mum’s pouch and stays there until it’s big enough to hop out. I wish I had a pouch.’ I let out a long sigh and slumped against his warm chest. ‘When I was growing up, I saw lots of kangaroos on my parents’ farm, most of them would’ve had peanuts in their pouches—and no morning sickness.’

‘Let’s get you back to bed.’ Mac scooped my limp body into his arms. ‘I’ll phone Hailey in a couple of hours and tell her you’re not well enough to take out the pony trek this morning. Chrissy can go in your place?’ Mac ducked under the low doorway and stepped into the warmth of our bedroom.

I shook my head against his chest and said, ‘Chrissy’s a polo player. I don’t think the clomping of a Highland pony is her thing. Plus, she’s already mad at me because I’m too sick to help in the kitchen. She told me all the rooms in the castle were fully booked from this Saturday until the end of September. We need to find someone to replace me at the stables, in the kitchen, and at the reception desk, at least until the morning sickness stops.’

‘Didn’t you say Hailey’s cousin could help?’ Mac’s words rumbled in my ear.

‘She’s coming in this morning to help muck out the stables. The smell of manure is almost as bad as the smell of coffee. They both make me queasy.’ I shuddered. ‘Maybe the girls can take the trek out. There are nine guests booked for ten o’clock.’

‘Only a few more weeks and the sickness should pass. Mum’s made you more soda scones. Dad’s bringing them with him today.’ Mac curled me into him and kissed my forehead.

I groaned when I remembered what Mac and his dad were doing.

‘Do you have to?’ I don’t know why I asked. I knew what the answer would be.

‘We have no other option. The old stag is rampant. He’s attacking everything that moves. I have a new high-powered rifle. It’ll be quick. He won’t know what’s hit him.’

Mac laid me on the bed. I shrugged out of my robe and shuffled over to the other side. Mac climbed in behind me and spooned me, his hand slid over my belly. The heat from his internal furnace warmed me. He energised me. I started moving my hips in a slow Hawaiian dance. Mac tensed and held my hips still.

‘You know not to wiggle that at me, especially this early in the morning.’ The smile was in his voice again.

I turned over and slid my leg over the top of his. ‘Your Auntie Mary told me it is supposed to stop morning sickness.’ I rubbed my nose against his. His dimples appeared.

‘Who am I to argue with an old wives’ tale?’

We kissed, my hips swaying and then rotating towards him. I moved closer, and closer, and closer …

My hormones were as wild as the old stag, and the only person who could soothe them was Gregor MacGregor. We reached critical mass together, and then fell down, down, down into a deep, contented sleep.

*****

Sunlight slid through the side of the curtains. Mac flinched, gulped in a deep breath, groaned, and swore in Gaelic. He opened one eye and looked at me.

I grinned my wide grin at him. ‘We’ve slept in—again,’ I said.

The hour after we should have been awake, was always the hour we slept the deepest. It was starting to be a part of our daily ritual. I stretched out my long body. Mac stretched out his longer body beside me.

‘As half-owner of the estate and hotel, you should have sleep-in privileges,’ I tried to say through a wide-mouthed yawn.

‘If we all slept in, there would be no one to run the place. Plus, my dad never sleeps in, and I don’t want to keep him waiting.’

I wrapped my arms around Mac’s neck and pulled my body closer to him.

‘Do you feel better?’ he asked.

‘Yes. I do. I can’t believe my sister had four children. I wonder if she was this sick. The only good thing about this, is you. Thanks for being my backup man.’ I pin-cushioned my cheek into his stubble.

‘I’ll always be your backup man.’ We kissed until Mac pulled away. He rolled over, sat on the edge of the bed, turned to me and said, ‘Don’t rush. Take your time sitting up, if you feel sick, lie down again. I’ll have a quick shower. I’ll see you downstairs.’ He leaned over and kissed my forehead. ‘I love you,’ he said softly, in a more commanding voice he added, ‘Remember, sit on the stairs and bump down, one by one, just in case you get dizzy.’

‘You’re like an old grandma.’ I rolled over and turned my back on him.

He pulled back the bedclothes and tapped my bare bottom, then he kissed me where he tapped me, he gave a low throaty moan.

‘Are you remembering your dad’s waiting on you?’

Mac grumbled in Gaelic and rolled out of bed.

*****

Fifteen minutes later, I stood in front of my long mirror in my official Kincaird Estate Adventures uniform. My clothes were starting to hang on me. I always thought you were supposed to gain weight when you were pregnant.

I pulled at the waistband of my white jodhpurs and noticed how bony my fingers looked. The Celtic eternity ring Mac had given me when we moved in together was loose. I slipped it off the ring finger of my left hand and put it on my dressing table for safekeeping. I pulled on my polished black leather riding boots and walked out of our bedroom door.

Standing for a second at the top of the steep stairs, I smiled down at Mac who was talking on the phone. He started semaphoring I should sit. With a grin I theatrically high-kicked down the treads. When I arrived at the bottom, I gave him a sweeping bow, Mac shook his head and kept talking.

I mouthed, ‘Hurry.’

I grabbed my Barbour jacket and headed out the back door to the Kincaird Estate’s Range Rover and jumped into the driver’s seat. I snuggled into the sheepskin seat covers and enjoyed my favourite view.

The morning mists wisped through the trees edging the Kincaird Loch. Ospreys were nesting in the pines on the far side. I picked up binoculars from the back seat and scanned the opposite shoreline, to see if I could glimpse the male bird fishing, his partner was sitting on eggs.

Mac appeared with his bulging backpack and fishing satchel and threw them into the back of the car, then he climbed into the passenger seat and showed me a photo of the osprey on his phone.

‘You’ve just missed him. I photographed him from the living room window. He caught a big trout and flew off to feed his’—he turned towards me, then added pointedly—‘wife.’

Gripping the steering wheel, I hunched my shoulders and slowly turned towards Mac. ‘How many times do I have to tell you, Mac? Baby first, wedding second.’

‘Okay, but I’m just saying, we could have it all over and done with by October, and the baby isn’t due until the end of December.’

‘Really—over and done with?’ I could feel my right eyebrow inching towards my hairline.

Mac knew he was beaten. He let out his—poor me—huff and changed the subject.

‘Auntie Mary’s bringing barley broth for your dinner and she’s staying over. I’ve asked her to set her alarm for five-thirty.’ Before I could argue, he held up his hands and said, ‘Just in case you faint again.’

It only happened once, but it was frightening.

‘Dad’s meeting us at the stables. We should be home by tomorrow night if all goes well. We’ll be out of radio contact, but I’ll call you as soon as I get a signal.’ Mac took my hand from the steering wheel and held it. His beautiful blue-green eyes drilled into mine. He leaned over. I leaned over. We pressed our foreheads together. ‘I worry about you, Julie.’

‘I’ll be fine.’ I pulled away first.

‘We’d better get a move on, but take it easy, I don’t want any of your rally driving stunts.’ Mac sat back and fastened his seatbelt.

I drove down the steep driveway faster than usual and screeched onto the deserted road.

Mac grumbled to himself. I laughed.

‘Who were you talking to?’ I asked, even though I knew from the tone of the conversation Mac was talking to his half-brother.

‘Magnus.’ Mac didn’t sound happy.

‘Where is he? Wasn’t he supposed to be on his way home?’

‘He’s still with the Barbie boys. They’re at Charlie’s shack in Surrey. He said he is coming back tomorrow.’

I smiled at Mac’s description of Charlie’s stately mansion.

‘What did he phone for?’

‘I phoned him. I’ve told him I want his backside up here until the end of the summer holiday season.’ Mac didn’t sound happy.

‘What did he say?’

‘He wanted to know if he’s having a niece or a nephew.’

I glanced across in time to see Mac’s annoyed face change into the wide self-satisfied—having a baby—face, with the same grin that alerted Magnus to our pregnancy.

‘I hope he keeps his promise and doesn’t say anything to Chrissy, at least until the twelve-week mark.’ I couldn’t wait until the magical twelve weeks were up, we could announce the news and hopefully the sickness would stop.

‘He won’t say anything. There are a lot of things he doesn’t tell Chrissy, but he’s going to ask her about taking some of the horse trekking groups.’

I glanced across at Mac. ‘I think something is going on with Magnus and Chrissy. I saw her yesterday. She was breathing fire and crashing around the castle’s kitchen. Has he said anything to you?’

Mac gave his usual gruff huff. Nothing annoyed him more than Chrissy. Both Capricorn goats, they’d butted heads since they’d met three years ago, when our boss, Charles Cavendish Smythe, invested in the Kincaird Castle and Estate, and asked us to help Mac and Magnus turn their dilapidated castle into a boutique hotel.

‘You know what the pair of them are like. If Chrissy stopped using weed and Xanax, she would be less paranoid, and Magnus needs to stop sticking stuff up his nose. I’ve no time for their …’ Mac let out a growl and shook his head.

‘It’s going to be another non-stop summer.’ I accelerated and snaked around the loch. Turning my favourite bend in the road, I looked through the break in the trees. The early morning sun streamed onto Mac’s imposing baronial castle. Five fairy-tale turrets reached towards an ethereal blue sky.

A few minutes later, we rattled over the wrought-iron bridge. I turned left and drove towards the old stone stables. Driving into the cobbled courtyard, I parked next to Mac’s dad’s car. Mac pulled out his tent and equipment from the back of the Range Rover and put them into the utility green Land Rover. We were walking towards the cottage next to the stables when Hailey popped her head out of the front door.

‘It’s a lovely day for a trek,’ she sing-songed across to us, ‘Jimmy, Myra, and I are just having a quick cup of coffee.’

My stomach flipped at the thought of the smell of coffee. I shortened my step. I called across to her, ‘Hailey, does Myra know how to ride?’

‘We went to pony club together, and she’s evented too, but I would hardly call sitting on a tabletop with four moving legs—horse riding.’

‘Would you two be okay taking out the trek? I’ll stay here and do some bookwork.’

Mac stepped in front of me. ‘I hope you’re not planning to ride your horse. I’m telling you now, Julie. I don’t want you riding him. He’s a big bas…’

My stony stare stopped Mac mid-sentence. He continued in a less surly tone. ‘Sorry. Promise me you won’t ride him. Especially if there is no one here.’ Mac held my face between his hands. His eyes pinned mine. ‘Promise me.’

‘Do you think I’m stupid?’ I pulled away from his grip.

‘What’s going on here? Are you two lovebirds having words?’ Jimmy MacGregor was walking towards us from the cottage, his rifle-bag on one shoulder, his fishing satchel on the other. Jimmy leaned in and kissed me on the cheek.

‘Mac is making me promise not to ride Spartacus.’

‘I’ve always said my son’s a wise man.’

‘My horse is okay with me. It’s your son he doesn’t like.’

‘There’s a lot of people that horse doesn’t like, but I must admit he seems to behave himself with you.’ Jimmy turned to Mac. ‘It’s time we were on the road, son.’ Jimmy reached into his fishing satchel and pulled out a brown paper bag and handed it to me. ‘Soda scones from Mac’s mum. She asked me to give you this, she thought it might help with the morning sickness.’ He handed me a box of ginger tea.

‘Thanks, Jimmy. I’ll call Martha and thank her.’

I turned when I heard the first of the three courtesy Range Rovers drive into the yard. Mac put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me to him. ‘You look after yourself and our little peanut. I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll phone you as soon as I get a signal. Remember, no horses—do you hear me?’

‘I hear you. I love you. I’ll see you tomorrow.’ I had one eye on our guests who were climbing out of the cars. They were Chinese. I raised my hands, called out, ‘Zao’, and walked towards them.

I looked over my shoulder, waved, and grinned at Jimmy and Mac.

‘I’ll see both of you tomorrow.’

But I didn’t.

It was nine months before I saw Mac again.

Chapter 2

Inverness Hospital, Scotland.

The rattle of the tea trolley and the cheery voice of the tea lady seeped into my unconsciousness. My body, my arms, my legs, my head were heavy. Concentrating hard, I lifted my eyelids. Chrissy came into focus. She was sitting on the chair next to my bed.

‘Mac?’ The word came out on a breath.

Chrissy leaned forward. ‘It’s okay. Everything is going to be okay.’ Chrissy took my hand and squeezed my fingers until it hurt. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ Her voice was low, her eyes hard.

My eyes snapped shut. I pulled my hand from hers.

She knew why I didn’t want to tell her. I didn’t want to hear her false congratulations. I didn’t want to see her dead-eyed smile. I didn’t want to deal with her jealous barbs wrapped up in light-hearted banter. I didn’t want her green-bellied snake to appear.

Once again, she would be cursing me for being the person she wanted to be. For living the life, she wanted to live. For having the relationship, she wanted to have. And especially for being preg….

My eyes crept open. ‘Mac?’ I pushed out the word again.

Chrissy turned towards the corridor and held up her hand towards the tea lady. ‘He’s busy at the hotel. They’re fully booked, and they have two weddings this weekend. With you and me here, they’re two people down. He’s trying to find more staff. He said he’ll get here as soon as he can. Maybe tomorrow.’

Chrissy kept her eyes on the tea lady. She put up one finger, for one sugar.

I pressed the red button.

The self-administered morphine slid into my body.

My veins turned to jelly.

It took seconds for reality to disappear.

The morning sickness disappeared on the day of the accident.

I had no memory of the accident. I had no memory of the ambulance.

Chrissy told me she found me in the stable with my stallion, Spartacus, standing over me. She travelled with me to the hospital. She stayed with me.

I remember the nurse holding my hand. She told me everything was going to be all right. I remember the young, childlike, female doctor telling me I had lost the fetus, but—good news—there was no physical reason not to try again.

I remember the intravenous drip being connected to my arm.

I remember being told to push the button when the pain became too much.

I pushed the button.

*****

On day two, Chrissy lay beside me on the bed. Her head on my pillow, her mouth to my ear, she whispered, ‘Mac’s been phoning. I didn’t want to wake you. He said three people have called in sick. He has his mum, dad, and Auntie Mary helping, but he needs people who know what they’re doing.’ She didn’t sound concerned.

I shivered, pressed the button, and drifted.

*****

On day three, Chrissy bent over me, her forehead on my pillow, her cheek next to mine, quiet as a fox she said, ‘Mac thinks you should go home. He thinks being with your family will help you recover quicker. I’m coming with you. My mum has married again. Stepdad number four. I didn’t even meet number three.’

I froze. The ceiling became liquid. Warm tears ran over the top of my ears and settled in my hairline.

I didn’t want to go back to Australia.

A dark heaviness pressed into my chest.

I couldn’t breathe.

They had taken away my button.

Chrissy wiped the side of my face. ‘Mac said he’d come to Australia when everything settles down.’

We both knew the truth.

Mac wasn’t coming to Australia. Mac blamed me for the accident. I hadn’t listened to him. I’d caused the loss of our baby.

And we both knew Mac did not forgive—or forget.

My throat was dry. I croaked to Chrissy, ‘Can I speak to Mac? Can you phone him, please?’

‘I’ve left my phone charger at the castle. I’ll have to run into town to get another one. You can speak to him tonight.’ Chrissy straightened up and looked down the corridor.

‘How did he sound on the phone?’ My throat was dry.

‘You know Mac. He can only worry about one thing at a time. His focus is back to building his business.’

She could have added—and not building his family.

Chrissy sat on the edge of the bed with her back to me. She’d never liked Mac, once, she told me she hated him.

With a quivering voice, I asked, ‘Chrissy, what did Mac say when he found out about losing the ….’ I trailed off, not wanting to say those words.

‘Nothing. You know what he’s like. He would have gone off into the hills if he didn’t have to sort out the hotel’s problems.’

Chrissy slid off the bed and sat on the chair next to me. She looked at me—really looked at me.

‘Remember when we first met him? Mac wouldn’t even look at his mum when he found out Lord Kincaird was his biological father, not Jimmy McGregor. If it wasn’t for you, I doubt if he would have ever spoken to her again.’

I thought about the first time I met Mac, in a low-ceilinged pub, on the cobbled street leading up to Edinburgh Castle. Chrissy and I were members of Charlie’s polo squad. We had been playing a tournament on the outskirts of Edinburgh. Our team had won. It was a celebration and we’d all drunk too much.

Mac told me his family were invited to the reading of the Last Will and Testament of Lord Kincaird. They believed Jimmy was being rewarded for a lifetime of service on the estate. He wasn’t. Mac found out that Lord Kincaird was his father, and that he’d become the joint owner of a dilapidated castle, and Magnus, the little boy who’d run after him all of his life, was now his half-brother.

I tried to sit up in bed. A sharp pain shot across my back, I gasped. I looked over at Chrissy and asked, ‘What about Magnus?’

Chrissy shrugged and looked down the cold white sterile corridor.

My heart stopped.

Finally, it had happened. Magnus had freed himself from Chrissy. No one had expected the relationship between Magnus, the Oxford-educated son of Lord Kincaird, and Chrissy, the hired help, to last. But, interestingly, head-turning Magnus stayed loyal to Chrissy. We all knew he felt indebted to her for the part she played in getting the castle up and running. But no one thought it would last.

As part of his hosting duties, Magnus laughed and flirted and kept the female guests happy, while Chrissy slogged in the dungeon kitchen, but every night they reunited in their turret suite, where they indulged in their passion for mind-altering substances.

*****

On day four, Chrissy sat on my bed. ‘I’ve booked our flights. We’re leaving in two days. The doctors said it’s okay. You need to keep on top of your pain management. It’s time.