Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 43714 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 219(@200wpm)___ 175(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43714 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 219(@200wpm)___ 175(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
“I’ve survived every encounter yet. Poachers don’t tend to be particularly smart. Especially if they’re coming on these lands and going after my deer, this place has enough of a reputation that anyone with half a brain cell would know to steer clear.”
“It’s so dangerous, though!” I exclaim. “Don’t you have a – what was it? A Ghillie, to help?”
“Aye,” Finlay nods, starting the buggy back up again and reaching over to strap on his seatbelt. “Aye, I do. Old Hamish. He’s not so good at getting around these days, but I keep him on. Not many men around here with his kind of knowledge, so we both patrol. He makes up for his age and the fact that he relies on the vehicles these days because he’s terrifying, and his gun is actually loaded.”
I shake my head in amusement at the description. Finlay starts the car going at a slower pace this time, taking it easy over the bumps and ridges of the hills and the stones that littered them.
The tough, tall tires of the car, which bring to mind monster trucks from home, make short work of the route, though we’re still jostled around constantly.
“It sounds like you really need that fence,” I say thoughtfully. It isn’t the most insightful comment, but I hope it counts for something. It might show him I’m really taking all of this in.
God, not that it mattered. Just because I was hot for him after he saved my life didn’t mean he felt anything for me.
He was probably anxious not to have a foreign tourist murdered on his lands.
“You’re not joking,” Finlay says seriously. “I’ve been trying to negotiate for it around the entire estate. We’re trying to get official conservation status from the government, which would give us more protection than we have now. And a fence.”
Finlay continues, “It’s not like we want the wildlife wandering off, anyway – if our deer leave their traditional grazing lands and head off somewhere else, they’re likely to clash with other alpha stags, and we’ll all lose out. The neighboring estates run hunts for their stags, so they want to keep their most impressive heads for as long as possible.”
“That’s terrible,” I say, shaking my head. “Keeping animals alive just so someone can pay you to kill them later.”
“You won’t find any disagreement here,” Finlay says grimly, taking a turn to the left onto a smoother part of the land, a flatter area that seems to lead right up to the hills I walked over earlier.
“Speaking of the stags, I should spend a few hours tracking down all of mine. I need to check on the herd that ran, make sure none of them have gunshot wounds, and then search the hills to see if we have any dead animals left behind by those poachers. I wouldn’t expect them to own up to it if they’ve already made a successful shot, so you never know.”
“Okay,” I say, easily enough.
It isn’t what I had planned for my evening, but this whole day has been one surprise after another.
I wouldn’t say no to spending the rest of the night with him, that was for sure. I loved what I’d seen of the estate so far, too, and I wouldn’t mind….
“So, I’ll take you to your hotel now and drop you off,” Finlay says, immediately dashing all of my hopes.
I had misinterpreted – a mistake that made my cheeks burn.
I was glad he was focused on the car and not looking at me.
“I’m sorry about all this, again. I swear, it’s not normally this bad. We don’t often have that much trouble.”
“It’s fine,” I mutter, trying not to let the disappointment show in my voice. Finally, the buggy crests the ridge of the hill, and there it is in front of me – my hotel.
“I’ll get you to the door,” Finlay says as if that’s a consolation, and I can only nod. Disappointment burning a hole deep in my chest.
The rest of the journey is swift, completing what had been a good amount of walking for me earlier in the day in a matter of a minute or two.
I find myself wishing I had something to say in order to keep me in the car longer, but instead, when Finlay parks up outside the hotel, I undo my seatbelt and slowly get out, following him into the lobby.
“Which room is it?” he asks. “I can walk you upstairs.”
“Oh!” I say, already embarrassed to have made him take me this far when he clearly has no interest in me. “That’s alright, really. I’ll probably go to the dining room first and have dinner since it’s around that time.”
“No problem,” Finlay says. He pauses and makes an awkward gesture with his hands, one of them still holding the buggy’s keys. “Like I said….”