Back in my lodge room, I pulled my phone from my bag. Lincoln had sent a quickGreat work, Mollyreply first thing this morning but no further update on the design meeting. I’d have to take that as a sign that everyone was on board with my plans for the site. Any concerns would have been forwarded to me immediately.
Dinner conversation mostly centered around the dolphins the kayak group had encountered on the firth. I tried to suck it up, but I had a hard time squashing my jealousy of people who had seen dolphins in the wild.
“They were so close,” Harlow said. “One kept swimming right in front of my kayak. I could have touched it.”
“That was a once in a lifetime experience,” Carlos said. “I wouldn’t trade that for anything.”
Bea refused to be outdone. “We had a lovely time on the hillside. The views were not to be missed. I’d imagine dolphins can be seen from shore, but the views can only be seen from above.”
“That one experience made the whole trip worth it.” Harlow flatly ignored Bea’s praise.
“Just that one?” Carlos countered. His slow grin made me think they were talking about something very different from dolphins.
“I find kayaks too unpredictable,” Rupert said as he buttered a roll. “I much prefer the hill walk, even if the ladies did bore us with their talk of man troubles, eh Lewis?”
Good Lord, take me now. Lewis looked as alarmed as I felt. He continued chewing rather than answer. Seemed like a wise course of action.
“Man troubles?” Duncan echoed, pinning me to my seat with his eyes.
I wasn’t about to get roped into another dinner conversation about my love life. I made a face as though I had no idea what Rupert was talking about.
“I was just suggesting Molly broaden her horizons,” Bea said, ever so helpfully.
Duncan raised his water glass to me. “To broadened horizons.”
I was pretty sure my cards were already on the table with this man, but I raised my glass and clinked it to his. “To being open to the unexpected.”
After dinner, I browsed the bookshelf in the sitting room, pretending I wasn’t idling away my time until Duncan came back downstairs. Every good book collection should have a copy ofPride and Prejudice, and this one didn’t let me down. I took it to one of the cozy couches and settled in. Skimming to where Darcy catches Elizabeth by surprise at his estate, I lost myself in Pemberley.
Bea wandered in and sat down beside me, e-reader in hand. After a while, Duncan joined us, took over one of the armchairs, and opened his book, ready to read about disaster in the mountains. I snuck glances at him, my eyes darting between Darcy and Duncan.
“I’ve been thinking, Molly.” Bea leaned closer as though we were having a private conversation but didn’t lower her voice at all. “About you finding a man.”
Oh, don’t do this now. Or ever. Never would be perfect. “Thank you, but it’s fine, really.”
She ignored my attempt to shut down the conversation. “Don’t underestimate the power of clothing. You’re pretty, but your outfits could do with a little touch-up. You want to dress like a lady now and then, show a little leg but not too much.”
As though I should hike Ben Macdui in a dress and heels. “Well, Duncan’s here, so…”
I’d thought my veiled argument against such helpfulness in present company would speak for itself, but she seemed unwilling to take the hint.
“We can get his opinion.” For all her interest in other people’s lives, Bea had no skill at all at reading them. “Duncan, wouldn’t you agree that men like to see a little leg now and then—but not too much?”
He smiled as though he’d been waiting for someone to ask him such a ridiculous question.
“For the first, I’d say absolutely we like to see a little leg, but I have to disagree with you that there’s such a thing as too much.”
Bea thinned her mouth into a prim line at his saucy answer. She angled her body toward me to cut Duncan from our conversation.
“Let the man make the first move,” she went on, unrelenting in her desire to be my dating coach. “Make polite conversation, show interest, but let him take the initiative. Men like to feel they’re in charge.”
“Is that true, Duncan?” I asked.
His smile ticked up. “Oh yes, we love the illusion that we have any control at all.”
“Above all,” Bea went on, “you want to be elusive. You’re not a fish to be caught and thrown back into the pond, if you understand me.”
She couldn’t possibly have been clearer. No, strike that. I had a feeling she could make her meaning horrifyingly plain, and probably would if I gave her enough time.
