Carnmore, November 1898

Wrapped in her warmest cloak and shawl, Livvy Urquhart paced the worn kitchen flags. The red-walled room looked a cozy sanctuary with its warm stove and open shelves filled with crockery, but outside the wind whipped and moaned round the house and distillery with an eerily human voice, and the chill penetrated even the thick stone walls of the old house.

It was worry for her husband, Charles, that had kept Livvy up into the wee hours of the night. He would have been traveling back from Edinburgh when the blizzard struck, unexpectedly early in the season, unexpectedly fierce for late autumn.

And the road from Cock Bridge to Tomintoul, the route Charles must take to reach Carnmore, was always the first in Scotland to be completely blocked by snow. Had his carriage run off the track, both horse and driver blinded by the stinging wall of white fury that met them as they came up the pass? Was her husband even now lying in a ditch, or a snowbank, slowly succumbing to the numbing cold?

Her fear kept her pacing, long after she'd sent her son, sixteen-year-old Will, to bed, and as the hours wore on, the knowledge of her situation brought her near desperation. Trapped in the snug, white-harled house, she was as helpless as poor Charles, and useless to him. Soon she would not even be able to reach the distillery outbuildings, much less the track that led to the tiny village of Chapeltown.

Livvy sank into the rocker by the stove, fighting back tears she refused to acknowledge. She was a Grant by birth, after all, and Grants were no strangers to danger and harsh circumstances. They had not only survived in this land for generations, but had also flourished, and if she had grown up in the relative comfort of the town, she had now lived long enough in the Braes to take hardship and isolation for granted.

And Charles…Charles was a sensible man-too sensible, she had thought often enough in the seventeen years of their marriage. He would have taken shelter at the first signs of the storm in some roadside inn or croft. He was safe, of course he was safe, and so she would hold him in her mind, as if her very concentration could protect him.

She stood again and went to the window. Wiping at the thick pane of glass with the hem of her cloak, she saw nothing but a swirl of white. What would she tell Will in the morning, if there was no sign of his father? A new fear clutched at her. Although a quiet boy, Will had a stubborn and impulsive streak. It would be like him to decide to strike off into the snow in search of Charles.

Hurriedly, she lit a candle and left the kitchen for the dark chill of the house, her heart racing. But when she reached her son's first-floor bedroom, she found him sleeping soundly, one arm free of his quilts, his much-read copy of Kidnapped open on his chest. Easing the book from his grasp, she rearranged the covers, then stood looking down at him. From his father he had inherited the neat features and the fine, straight, light brown hair, and from his father had come the love of books and the streak of romanticism. To Will, Davie Balfour and the Jacobite Alan Breck were as real as his friends at the distillery; but lately, his fascination with the Rebellion of '45 seemed to have faded, and he'd begun to talk more of safety bicycles and blowlamps, and the new steam-powered wagons George Smith was using to transport whisky over at Drumin. All natural for a boy his age, Livvy knew, especially with the new century now little more than a year away, but still it pained her to see him slipping out of the warm, safe, confines of farm, village and distillery.

More slowly, Livvy went downstairs, shivering a little even in her cloak, and settled again in her chair. She fixed her mind on Charles, but when an uneasy slumber at last overtook her, it was not Charles of whom she dreamed.

She saw a woman's heart-shaped face. Familiar dark eyes, so similar to her own, gazed back at her, but Livvy knew with the irrefutable certainty of dreams that it was not her own reflection she beheld. The woman's hair was dark and curling, like her own, but it had been cropped short, as if the woman had suffered an illness. The dream-figure wore odd clothing as well, a sleeveless shift reminiscent of a nightdress or an undergarment. Her exposed skin was brown as a laborer's, but when she raised a hand to brush at her cheek, Livvy saw that her hands were smooth and unmarked.
The woman seemed to be sitting in a railway carriage-Livvy recognized the swaying motion of the train-but the blurred landscape sped by outside the windows at a speed impossible except in dreams.

Livvy, trying to speak, struggled against the cotton wool that seemed to envelop her. "What-Who-" she began, but the image was fading. It flared suddenly and dimmed, as if someone had blown out a lamp, but Livvy could have sworn that in the last instant she had seen a glimpse of startled recognition in the woman's eyes.

She gasped awake, her heart pounding, but she knew at once it was not the dream that had awakened her. It had been a sound, a movement, at the kitchen door. Livvy stood, her hand to her throat, paralyzed by sudden hope. "Charles?"

The world slipped by backwards, a misty patchwork of sheep-dotted fields and pale yellow swaths of rape that seemed to glow from within. Occasionally, the rolling hills dipped into deep, leafy-banked ravines that harbored slow rivers, mossy and mysterious. The bloom of late spring lay across the land with a richness that made Gemma James's blood rise in response. As the train swayed hypnotically, she fancied that time might encapsulate the speeding train and its occupants in a perpetual loop of rhythmic motion and flashing hillsides.

Giving herself a small shake, she looked across the aisle at her friend Hazel Cavendish.

"It's lovely"-Gemma gestured out the window-"wherever it is."

Hazel laughed. "Northumberland, I think. We've a long way to go."

Farther down the car, a mother tried to calm an increasingly fractious child, and Gemma felt a guilty surge of relief that it was not she having to cope. As much as she loved her four-year-old son, Toby, it was not often she had a break from child care that didn't include work. Nor, she realized, had she and Hazel spent much time together away from their children. Until the previous Christmas, Gemma had lived for almost two years in the garage flat belonging to Hazel and her husband, Tim Cavendish. As Hazel and Tim's daughter, Holly, was the same age as Gemma's son, Hazel had cared for both children while Gemma was at work.

"I'm glad you asked me," Gemma said impulsively, smiling at Hazel across the narrow tabletop that separated them.

"If anyone deserves a break, it's you," Hazel replied with her customary warmth.

The previous autumn, Gemma had been promoted to detective inspector with the Metropolitan Police, assigned to Notting Hill Police Station. The promotion, although a goal long set, had not come without cost. Not only had it brought long hours and increased responsibility, but it had also meant leaving Scotland Yard, ending her working partnership with Superintendent Duncan Kincaid, her lover-and, since Christmas, her housemate.

"Tell me again about the place we're going," Gemma prompted. A week ago, Hazel had rung and, quite unexpectedly, asked Gemma to accompany her on a cookery weekend in the Scottish Highlands.

"I know it's short notice," Hazel had said, "but it's only for four days. We'll go up on the Friday and come back on Monday. Could you get away from work, do you think? You haven't had a holiday in ages."

Gemma understood the unspoken subtext. A therapist as well as a friend, Hazel was concerned that Gemma had not fully recovered from her miscarriage in January.
It had been a hard winter. The fact that the pregnancy was unplanned and had been difficult for Gemma to accept had made the loss of the child even more devastating; nor had she recovered physically as quickly as she might have hoped. But with spring had come a lifting of her spirits and a renewal of energy, and if she still woke in the night with an aching sadness, she didn't speak of it.

"It's a small place called Innesfree," Hazel told her. "A pun on the owners' name, which is Innes."

"Nice sentiment, wrong country."

Hazel smiled. "It's near the River Spey, at the foot of the Cairngorm Mountains. According to the brochure, John Innes is making quite a name for himself as a chef. We were lucky to get a place in one of his cooking courses."

"You know I'm not up to your standards," Gemma protested, thinking of some of her recent kitchen disasters in the house she and Duncan had taken in Notting Hill. She had yet to master the oil-fired cooker, in spite of Hazel's helpful advice.

"The course is supposed to be very personalized," Hazel assured her. "And I'm sure there will be other things to do. Walks by the river, drinks by the fire…"

"How very romantic."

Much to Gemma's surprise, Hazel colored and looked away. "I suppose it is," she murmured, leaning back into her seat and closing her eyes.

Gazing at her companion, Gemma noticed the smudges beneath the fan of dark lashes, the new hollows beneath the well-defined cheekbones. For a moment Gemma wondered if Hazel could be ill, but she dismissed the thought as quickly as it had come. Hazel-therapist, perfect wife, mother, and gourmet vegetarian cook-was the most healthy, balanced person Gemma had ever known. Surely it was merely a slight fatigue, and the weekend's rest would be just the restorative she needed.

Donald Brodie lifted one section of the wort vat's heavy wooden cover and breathed in the heady aroma of hot water and barley. He had been fascinated by this part of the distilling process even as a child, when his father had had to lift him up so that he could peer down into the frothy depths of the vat. It still amazed him that the liquid produced by combining ground, dried barley with hot water could produce a final product as elegant as a malt whisky-but perhaps that was why he had never lost his fierce love of the business.

Even today, when he had so much else at stake, he had gone round the premises after work finished, as was his habit. He closed the vat and crossed the steel mesh flooring to the stairs, his footsteps echoing in the building's cavernous space. Once outside, he locked the door and stepped out into the yard, stopping a moment to survey his domain.

It had been mild for mid-May in the Highlands, and the late afternoon air still held the sun's warmth. Before him, the lawn sloped down to the house his great-great-grandfather had built, a monument to Victorian Romanticism in dressed stone. He turned, looking back at the building he had left. To the left stood the warehouse, once the home of the vast floor maltings, with the distinctive twin-pagoda roofs that had ventilated the kiln; to the right, the still-house and the now-defunct mill. Although the mill had not been used to grind barley to grist since the early 1960's, his father had restored the wheel to operation, and water tumbled merrily from its blades. The building now served as the distillery's Visitors Centre.

The mill was powered by the burn that ran down from the foothills of the Cairngorms to meet the nearby River Spey, but the water that went into the whisky came from the spring that bubbled up from the gently rolling grounds. In the making of whisky, the quality of the water was all-important, a Highland distillery's greatest asset.
The Brodie who had named the place Benvulin had shown a wayward imagination-ben being a corruption of the Gaelic word beinn, or hill, but vulin, the phonetic spelling of the Gaelic mhoulin, or mill, was a bit more accurate.

Tomorrow he would entice Hazel into coming here-a not-so-subtle reminder of her heritage and of what he had to offer-but then, he had grown tired of subtlety. The phone calls, the notes, the casual lunches in discreet London restaurants, spent skating around what they were feeling; all those things had served their purpose, but now it was time for Hazel to face the truth. His friends, John and Louise Innes, had done their part in getting Hazel here by arranging the cookery weekend; now he must do his-and soon, he thought, his pulse quickening as he looked at his watch.

The mobile phone on his belt vibrated. Slipping it from its holder, he glanced at the caller ID. Alison. Damn and blast! He hesitated, then let the call ring through to voice mail. If there was one complication he didn't need this weekend, it was dealing with Alison. He'd told her he had a business meeting-true enough, with Heather, the distillery's manager, who'd insisted on bringing Pascal Benoit, the Frenchman whose conglomerate was salivating over Benvulin. Not that he could put off Alison indefinitely, mind, but a few more days couldn't hurt, and then he would find some way of dealing with her for good.

With that thought, he went to wash and change for the evening, whistling all the while.

Sitting down at his wife's desk, Tim Cavendish began to work his way through the drawers. He was a methodical man, and his time was limited, because Holly, who at age four protested naps with great indignation, would not sleep long. He told himself this was a job, a project, to be approached like any other; he could, in fact, pretend he was looking for something, a lost note, or a receipt. Perhaps that would quiet the ingrained revulsion he felt at invading another therapist's privacy. But Hazel, he told himself, had forfeited all rights to such consideration.

Pencils, elastic bands, paper clips-all the innocent paraphernalia of work. Hazel's appointment book lay open on her desktop; her case files were stored in a separate cabinet. Disappointed, he sat back and idly lifted the corner of the blotter.

The dog-eared photo was near the edge, as if it had been examined often. From its fading surface Hazel gazed back at him, smiling. She wore shorts, her tanned legs seeming to go on forever, and her face, younger and softer, was more like Holly's than he remembered. Beside her sat a large man in jeans, his arm thrown casually, possessively, around her shoulders. His face was strong, blunt, his thick hair a bit longer than was now fashionable. Behind them, the purple haze of a heather-covered moor. Scotland, in summer.

His first impulse was to destroy the photo; but no, let her keep it. She would have little enough when he had finished with her.

A corner of white protruded from beneath one side of the snap. He nudged the photo out of the way with the tip of his finger, as if touching it would contaminate him.

A business card. Good God. The man had given her a business card, like a commercial traveler come calling. Unlike the photo, it was new, still pristinely white, and it told him what he wanted to know. Donald Brodie, Benvulin Distillery, Nethybridge, Inverness-shire.

Tim felt an icy calm settle over him. He pocketed the card, returning the photo to its hiding place. Seconds seemed to stretch into minutes, and in the silence he heard the pumping of his own heart.

He knew now what he had to do.

"What if they don't eat meat?" Louise Innes stood at the kitchen sink, filling vases for the evening's flower arrangements. Although her back was turned to her husband, John knew her forehead would be puckered in the small frown that had begun to leave a permanent crease. "Did you not think to ask?"

"I assumed someone would have said, if there was a problem," John answered, keeping his voice even but whisking a little harder at the batter for the herb and mushroom crepes that would serve as that night's starter. Although the kitchen was his province, the house Louise's, she didn't mind questioning his menu choices.

"And venison, especially-"

"Och, it's a Highland specialty, Louise. And Hazel Cavendish is your old school friend-I should think ye'd know if she didna eat meat."

"This weekend was a bad idea from start to finish," Louise said pettishly. Her English accent always grew more precise in proportion to her degree of irritation, as if to repudiate his Scottishness. "I haven't seen Hazel since the summer after university, and I don't approve of the whole business. She's married, for heaven's sake, with a child. You've always let Donald Brodie talk you into things you shouldn't." His wife pulled half a dozen roses from the pail of flowers John had brought from Inverness that morning, laid them across a cutting board, and sliced off the bottom inch of the stems with a sharp knife. The ruthlessness in the quick chop made him think of small creatures beheaded.

Louise had taken a flower-arranging course the previous year, attacking the project with the efficiency that marked all her endeavors. Although she could now produce picture-perfect bouquets that drew raves from the guests, he found that the arrangements lacked that certain creative touch-a last blossom out of place, perhaps-that would have made them truly lovely.

"If that's the case, perhaps ye should take some responsibility," he snapped at her. "It was you introduced me to Donald, ye ken." He knew he was being defensive, because he'd allowed Donald to wheedle him into taking Hazel and her friend without charge, and this meant they'd turned away paying guests on a weekend at the beginning of their busiest season. But then, he had his reasons for keeping on Donald Brodie's good side, and the less Louise knew about that, the better.

Louise's only answer to his sally was the eloquent line of her back. With a sigh, John finished his batter and began brushing mushrooms with a damp tea towel. It was no use him criticizing Louise. The very qualities that aggravated him had also made this venture possible.

Two years ago, he'd given up his Edinburgh job in commercial real estate and bought the old farmhouse at the edge of the Abernathy forest, between Coylumbridge and Nethybridge. The house and barn had been in appalling condition, but the recent property boom in Edinburgh had provided him with the cash to finance the necessary refurbishments.

Louise, at first unhappy over the loss of her job and circle of friends, had in time thrown herself into the project with her customary zeal. While he did the shopping and the cooking, she took reservations and did the guests' rooms, as they could not as yet afford to hire help.

Resting the heel of his hand on his knife, he quartered the mushrooms before chopping them finely. A glance told him Louise still had her back to him, her head bent over her flowers. He felt his temper ease as he watched her. She might not have approved of the arrangements for the weekend, but she would do her best to make sure everything went smoothly.

"You'll be glad to see Hazel again, will ye not?" he asked, in an attempt to placate.

Louise's shoulders relaxed and she tilted her head, her neat blonde hair falling to one side like a lifted bird's wing. "It's been a long time," she answered. "I'm not sure I'll know what to say."

"I'm sure Donald will fill in the gaps," he said lightly, then cursed himself for a fool. Louise would never be able to resist such an opening.

"That's the problem, isn't it?" She turned towards him, a spray of sweet peas in her hand. "Donald always fills in the gaps, and never mind the consequences. He's as feckless as his father, if not more so. Heather's livid, and we have to get on with her once this weekend is over."
"I don't see why it should make any difference to Heather," he said stubbornly. "Hazel's her cousin, after all. Ye'd think she'd be glad to-"

"You don't see anything!" Spots of color appeared high on Louise's cheekbones. "How can you be so dense, John? You know how precarious things are at the distillery just now-"

"I still don't see what that has to do with your friend Hazel coming for a weekend." He added a clove of garlic to his board and chopped it with unnecessary force.
Louise turned her back to him again just as the sun dipped low enough in the southwest to catch the window above the sink. She stood, backlit, the light forming an aureole around her fair hair, as if she were a medieval saint.

"Why are you suddenly so determined to defend a woman you've never met?" Her voice was cold and tight, a warning he'd come to recognize. If he didn't put an end to the argument now, it would spill over into the evening, and that he couldn't afford.

"Listen, darlin'-"

"Unless there's something you haven't told me." She stood very still, her hands cupped round the finished vase of flowers.

"Don't be absurd, Louise. Why wouldna I have told you, if I'd met the bluidy woman?"

"I can think of a number of reasons."

Scraping the mushrooms and garlic into the melted butter waiting in a saucepan, he considered his reply. He'd never learned how to deal with her in this mood, having tried teasing, sarcasm, angry denial-all with the same lack of success. But the longer he delayed, the more likely she would take his silence for an admission of guilt. "Louise-"

She turned, and he saw from her expression that it was too late to salvage the argument, or the evening. "What's got into you, John?" she spat at him. "How could you possibly have thought I'd approve of your conspiring to sabotage another woman's marriage?"

As the train sped north, the fields of Northumberland and the rolling hills of the Scottish Borders yielded to granite cliffs and forests, and, at last, to the high, heather-clad moors. Gemma gazed out the glass, entranced by the patterns of dark and light on the moor side, as if someone had laid out a child's crude map of the world across the hills.

"They burn the heather," Hazel explained when Gemma asked the cause of the odd effect. "The new growth after the burning provides food for the grouse."

"And the yellow patches?"

"The deep gold-yellow is gorse. Lovely to look at but prickly to fall into. And the paler yellow"-Hazel pointed at the blooms lining the railway cutting-"is broom."

"All this you remember from your childhood?" Gemma asked. Hazel had told her she'd lived near here as a small child, before her parents moved to Newcastle.

"Oh." Hazel looked disconcerted. "I worked here for a bit after university."

Before Gemma could elicit particulars, they were interrupted by the arrival of the tea trolley, and shortly thereafter they drew into the doll's house of Aviemore station.

Gemma eyed the Bavarian fantasy of gingerbread and painted trim with astonishment as Hazel laughed at her expression. "It's by far the prettiest building in Aviemore," Hazel said as they gathered their luggage from the overhead racks. "The station raises great expectations, but Aviemore's a ski and hiking center, and there's not much else to recommend it."

They picked up the keys for their hired car from the Europcar office in the railway station, then emerged into the evening light. At first glance, Gemma found Hazel's assessment to be accurate. The High Street was lined with mountain shops, restaurants, and a new supermarket complex; to the left the stone block of the Hilton Hotel rose from a green slope; to the right, beyond the car park, lay the Aviemore Police Station. But to the east, behind the railway station, rose mist-enshrouded mountain peaks, gilded by the sun.

"Is that where we're going?" Gemma gestured at the hills as they chucked their bags into the boot of the red Honda awaiting them in the car park.

"The guest house is in the valley that runs along the River Spey. But you're never out of sight of the mountains here," Hazel added, and Gemma thought she heard a note of wistfulness in her voice.

Ever more curious, Gemma asked, "You know the way?" as they belted themselves in and Hazel shoved the car hire map into the glove box.

"I know the road," Hazel said, pulling into the street, "but not the house itself."

In a few short blocks, they'd left Aviemore behind and turned into a B road that crossed the Spey and dipped into evergreen woods. "We're running along the very edge of the Rothiemurchus Estate," Hazel explained. "That's owned by the Rothiemurchus Grants-they're quite a force in this part of the world."

"Grants?" Gemma repeated blankly.

"A famous Highland family. I'm- Never mind. It's complicated."

"Related to them?"

"Very remotely. But then most people in the Highlands are related. It's very incestuous country."

"Do you still have family here, then?" Gemma asked, intrigued.

"An aunt and uncle. A cousin."

Gemma thought back over all the hours they'd spent chatting in Hazel's cozy Islington kitchen. Had Hazel never mentioned them? Or had Gemma never thought to ask?

In the time Gemma had lived in Hazel's garage flat, they had become close friends. But on reflection, Gemma realized that their conversations had centered around their children, food, Gemma's job, and-Gemma admitted to herself rather shamefacedly-Gemma's problems. Gemma had thought that Hazel's easy way of turning the conversation from her own life was a therapist's habit, when she had thought of it at all. But what did she really know about Hazel?

"When you came back after university…," she said slowly. "What did you do?"

"Cooked," Hazel answered grimly. "I catered meals for shooting parties, at estates and lodges."

"Shooting? As in the queen always goes to Balmoral in August for the grouse?"

Hazel smiled. "We're not far from Balmoral, by the way. And yes, it was grouse, as well as pheasant and deer and anything else you could shoot with a bloody gun. I had enough of carcasses to last a lifetime." Slowing the car, Hazel added, "We should be getting close. Keep watch on the left."

Gemma had been absently gazing at the sparkle of the river as it played hide-and-seek through pasture and wooded copse, trying to imagine a childhood spent in such surroundings. "What exactly am I looking for?"

"A white house, set back from the road. I'm sure there will be a sign." Hazel slowed still further, her knuckles showing pale where she gripped the wheel. Odd, thought Gemma, that Hazel should be so anxious about missing a turning.

They traveled another mile in silence then, rounding a curve, Gemma saw a flash of white through the trees. "There!" A small sign on a gatepost read Innesfree, Bed & Breakfast Inn.

Hazel braked and pulled the car into the drive. The house sat side-on to the road, facing north. Its foursquare plainness bespoke its origins as a farmhouse, but it looked comfortable and welcoming. To the right of the house they could see another building and beyond it, the glint of the river.

The sight of smoke curling from the chimney was a welcome addition, for, as Gemma discovered when she stepped out of the car, the temperature had dropped considerably just since they'd left Aviemore. Hazel shivered in her sleeveless dress, hugging her arms across her chest.

"I'll just get your cardigan, shall I?" asked Gemma, going to the boot, but Hazel shook her head.

"No. I'll be all right. Let's leave the bags for now." She marched towards the front door, and Gemma followed, looking round with interest.

The door swung open and a man came out to greet them, his arms held out in welcome. "You'll be Hazel, then? I'm John, Louise's husband." He took Hazel's hand and gave it a squeeze before turning to Gemma. "And this is your friend-"

"Gemma. Gemma James." Gemma shook his hand, taking the opportunity to study him. He had thinning dark hair, worn a little longer than fashion dictated, wire-rimmed spectacles, a comfortable face, and the incipient paunch of a good cook.

"We've put you in the barn conversion-our best room," John told them. "Why don't you come in and have a wee chat with Louise, then I'll take your bags round." He shepherded them into a flagstoned hall filled with shooting and fishing prints and sporting paraphernalia; oiled jackets hung from hooks on the walls, and a wooden bin held croquet mallets, badminton racquets, and fishing rods. In contrast to the worn jumble, a table held a perfect arrangement of spring flowers.

A woman came towards them from a door at the end of the hall. Small and blonde, with a birdlike neatness, she wore her hair in the sort of smooth, swingy bob that Gemma, with her tangle of coppery curls, always envied.

"Hullo, Hazel," the woman said as she reached them, pecking the air near Hazel's cheek. "It's wonderful to see you. I'm Louise," she added, turning to Gemma. "Why don't you come into the parlor for a drink before dinner? The others have walked down to the river to work up an appetite, but they should be back soon."

She led them into a sitting room on the right. A coal fire glowed in the simple hearth, the furniture was upholstered in an unlikely but pleasant mixture of mauve tartans, a vase of purple tulips drooped gracefully before the window, and to Gemma's delight, an old upright piano stood against the wall.

As soon as Gemma and Hazel were seated, John Innes brought over a tray holding several cut glass tumblers and a bottle of whiskey. "It's Benvulin, of course," he said as he splashed a half inch of liquid amber into each glass. "Eighteen-year-old. I could hardly do less," he added, with a knowing glance at Hazel.

"Benvulin?" repeated Gemma.

After a moment's pause, Hazel answered. "It's a distillery near here. Quite famous." She held her glass under her nose for a moment before taking a sip. "In fact, the whole of Speyside is famous for its single malt whiskies. Some say it provides the perfect combination of water, peat, and barley." She drank again, and Gemma saw the color heighten in her cheeks.

"But you don't agree?" Following Hazel's example, Gemma took a generous sip. Fire bit at the back of her throat and she coughed until tears came to her eyes. "Sorry," she managed to gasp.

"Takes a bit of getting used to," John said. "Unless you're like Hazel, here, who probably tasted whisky in her cradle."

"I wouldn't go as far as that." Hazel's tight smile indicated more irritation than amusement.

"Is that a Highland custom, giving whisky to babies?" asked Gemma, wondering what undercurrent she was missing.

"Helps with the teething," Hazel replied before John or Louise could speak. "And a host of other things. Old-timers swear a wee dram with their parritch every morning keeps them fit." Finishing her drink in a swallow, Hazel stood. "But just now I'd like to freshen up before dinner, and I'm sure Gemma-"

Turning, Gemma saw a man standing in the doorway, surveying them. Tall and broad-shouldered, he had thick auburn hair and a neatly trimmed ruddy beard. And he was gazing at Hazel, who stood as if turned to stone.

He came towards her, hand outstretched. "Hazel!"

"Donald." Hazel made his name not a greeting, but a statement. When she made no move to take his hand, he dropped it, and they stood in awkward silence.

Watching the tableau, Gemma became aware of two things. The first was that Hazel, standing with her lips parted and her eyes bright, was truly lovely, and that she had never realized it.

The second was the fact that this large man in the red-and-black tartan kilt knew Hazel very well indeed.