Katie Oliver - Christmas At Pemberley - And the Bride Wore Prada

‘I can’t believe you came here,’ Caitlin hissed ten minutes later, ‘to my parents’ home!’ She glanced back over her shoulder at the face of the castle. ‘Thank God it was only Colm you spoke to ‒ what if my father should see you, what if he or my mother find out you’re here?’

‘They won’t. I’m not planning to stay. Does anyone else besides your grandmother know about us?’ he added.

‘No – but they all will, if they see you out here! And it’s bad enough that grandmamma knows. She’ll have you arrested if she sees you here and finds out who you are…’

‘I had to see you.’ He stepped closer, and his dark eyes searched hers. ‘I came all this way, braved a lot of messy roads in a car that really isn’t made for snowy conditions, to tell you I miss you, Cait. Come back. Come back to Edinburgh. I’ll get you reinstated.’

She shook her head firmly. ‘I can’t come back. It’s impossible.’

‘I’ve started divorce proceedings. I told you I would.’ He lowered his voice. ‘You’re all I’ve thought about.’

‘What about Jeremy?’ she snapped. ‘He’s my friend, Niall, and he’s your son ! He’ll be devastated to find out that you and I...’

‘I’m sure he already knows.’ He shrugged. ‘Besides, my son is a grown man. Even if he feels something for you – which you’ve assured me yourself that he doesn’t – he’ll have to come to terms with the situation.’

She turned away. ‘I’m sorry, Niall, but I told you, I can’t do this any more.’

‘Caitlin, wait.’ He caught hold of her arm. ‘Our relationship has nothing to do with Jeremy. He won’t care about you and I.’

‘I think he will. He won’t fancy being the butt of his friends’ jokes, once they find out he’s spending the Christmas holidays in Scotland with his father’s mistress —’

‘Caitlin?

She whirled around, guilt written on her face. ‘Jeremy! What are you doing out here?’

He didn’t answer, but regarded her and his father without expression. ‘I think the better question,’ he said to Caitlin even as his eyes remained on Niall’s, ‘is to ask what he’s doing here?’

The three of them got into the Jaguar at Niall’s suggestion and sped off to the village to find a pub, and lunch.

‘So tell me ‒ why did you come here?’ Jeremy asked his father bluntly after the barmaid had deposited their ploughman’s lunches and a trio of pints.

‘I came,’ Niall said as he picked up his pint, ‘to see Caitlin. And to see you.’

‘Mum says you’ve filed for divorce.’

‘Yes, it’s true. I wanted to tell you the news in person but, as usual, your mother beat me to it.’

‘You didn’t come here to tell me in person,’ Jeremy scoffed. ‘You came to tell Caitlin about the divorce. You couldn’t wait to tell her the happy news.’

Caitlin stared at him. ‘Jeremy, that’s not true.’

‘Of course it’s true. Oh, I heard the rumours at uni,’ he added, ‘but I didn’t believe them. Not until Mum called this morning to tell me herself, that is.’ He threw his napkin down. ‘How could you do it, Caitlin? How could you carry on with my father all this time, and never say a word to me about it, and completely trash my parents’ marriage into the bargain?’

She reached out and laid a hand on his arm. ‘It wasn’t like that, Jeremy, it wasn’t—’

He shook her off. ‘Don’t waste your breath. You two deserve each other.’ He stood up with a loud scrape of his chair.

‘Jeremy,’ Niall commanded in a low but determined voice, ‘sit down.’

‘No, Dad, I won’t, thank you very much. I’ll get a taxi back to the castle; then I’m going home, to Edinburgh. To Mum.’

‘You needn’t leave,’ Caitlin objected.

‘I won’t stay.’ He turned to fix his father with a sardonic smile. ‘I wager I know something you don’t, Dad. Something that even Caitlin doesn’t know that I know about. I overheard her talking with her mum behind closed doors earlier this afternoon.’

Her heart accelerated. ‘What are you talking about?’

His eyes met hers, and he smiled. ‘Will you tell him, or shall I?’

‘Tell me what?’ Niall demanded, glancing at each of them in turn. ‘Will one of you please tell me what’s going on, this instant!’

‘It seems Caitlin’s pregnant, Dad. And you’re the father. Congratulations.’

And with a last, contemptuous glare at the both of them, Jeremy left.

When they returned to Draemar late that afternoon, Jeremy and his Land Rover were gone.

‘When did you plan to tell me, Caitlin?’ Niall asked as he switched off the ignition in front of the castle and turned to look at her. ‘ Did you plan to tell me?’

She fiddled with the latch of her seat belt. ‘No, I didn’t. I’m having the baby, but I’m giving it up for adoption.’

‘The hell you are.’

Startled by the resolve in his words, Caitlin lifted her face to his. ‘How can you say that? You have no right to tell me what to do. This is my child—’

‘ Our child.’

‘‒and I can’t possibly have this baby! I have my education still to finish. And you’re a bit old to start another family—’

‘Well, thanks for that.’ He leant back against the seat and stared, unseeing, through the windscreen. ‘Is that how you see me? A man who’s past it?’ Anger – and hurt – darkened his eyes as he turned to face her. ‘Shouldn’t the decision to have another family ‒ or not ‒ be mine to make, as well as yours? Who the hell do you think you are?’

‘No – I think the real question is, who do you think you are?’ she snapped. ‘You slept with me, which got me kicked out of uni, and now you’ve gotten me pregnant to boot, and all you’re worried about is your...your male pride? Is that how you see me? As proof of your virility?’

‘No, of course not.’ He let out a short breath. ‘I love you, Caitlin, whether you believe it or not. This isn’t just some passing fling for me. Oh, I’ll admit it – it may have started out that way. But you...you made me fall in love with you. I’ve thrown away my marriage, and I’ve possibly ruined my relationship with my son – but I won’t let you throw us away.’

He reached out and took her hands, and his eyes searched hers. ‘I love you. I love this baby. I want you – both of you. Only say that you’ll marry me, Caitlin Campbell, and come back to Edinburgh, and be my wife.’

Chapter 31

Caitlin snatched her hands back. ‘Have you lost your mind, Niall? You and me, married? It would never work!’

‘Why not?’

She shook her head in mingled bewilderment and fury. ‘Because we’d never be accepted as a couple, that’s why! Your Edinburgh friends, and especially your wife’s friends – they’ll hate the very idea of me and you. And they’ll like the idea of me and you and a baby even less!’

‘I don’t care what other people think.’ Scorn sharpened his words. ‘I never have. All I know is that I’m happy when I’m with you, Cait. You’ve brought colour back into my grey existence.’

‘You always did have a pretty way with words, Niall.’ Caitlin crossed her arms beneath her breasts and glared at him. ‘But I have to be practical. Do you really want to throw your married life away, to be frozen out socially from your friends and faculty, in exchange for dirty nappies and two o’clock feedings and hostile Scottish in-laws?’

‘If giving up my old life means I that can be with you,’ he said earnestly, his gaze unwavering on her own, ‘then yes. I am. I’m more than ready to throw everything aside to be with you, and,’ he reached out a tentative hand and laid it atop her stomach as he affected a thick (and very bad) Scottish accent ‘our wee little baby.’