Page 17 of Love Bomb

It was held aloft by Bain MacGregor. Because of course he was there, grinning like an idiot while he supported the historical society and ate one of the pies Morag was selling from the back of her car.

She stalked over to him and pointed at the sign. “It’s not the MacGregor folly. It’s the Dalgliesh folly. Built by Mack Dalgliesh.”

“His birth name was George MacGregor Dalgliesh The Second, and it’s always been called the MacGregor folly—after its architect.” The grinning fool looked up at the tower. “And what an architect he was.”

“Nobody called him by his full name because it would have confused him with his father. He was always known as Mack, after his middle name. And it’s the Dalgliesh folly—the town deliberately used his middle name because they were worried people wouldn’t be able to pronounce Dalgliesh.”

“You can keep repeating that as much as you like, but I do believe it’s in the guidebook as the MacGregor folly.” He took another bite of the pie while his eyes sparkled with amusement. When he was done chewing, he carried on. “As I remember, his middle name was taken from his mother’s maiden name—Alice MacGregor. A fine woman from the MacGregor clan, which makes her my great-great-great-whatever-aunty, and by all accounts, she was probably the last honorable member of the Dalgliesh dynasty. Would be a shame not to remember her legacy in the name of the folly.”

“Knock it off.” She snatched his placard from his hands, threw it down onto the snow, and stood on top of it. “This is why my family hated yours. You can’t claim something that doesn’t belong to you.”

“Your family hated the MacGregors for the same reason they hated the rest of the town. We were beneath them. You come from a long line of snobs who like to flaunt their wealth.”

“No, I don’t,” Rona lied.

“You’re literally standing in front of a building that was erected because your ancestor had so much money he didn’t know what to do with it.” He looked at the building again. “It’s concerning that he thought this was his best option.”

Rona made a strangled noise before stomping off to confront Dougal. The man had been like a father to her. She felt betrayed.

“How could you?” she demanded.

“Now, Rona,” he said, holding up his hands in a gesture of appeasement. “I know you’re angry with your parents, and to be honest, you have a right to be. But why take it out on this poor building? It’s never done anything to you.”

He was wearing a massive red coat that made it look like he’d come straight from the North Pole to protest.

“This building,” she pointed at the ugly tower, “has been a bone of contention in my family for generations. Do you even know how many stupid, ugly fights I’ve witnessed over the years about who gets to own the folly? Look at it!” She swung her arms in its direction. “It’s a huge, ugly dick of a building, and yet it’s still more important than me to everyone I’m related to. All I’ve ever heard is how it’s our legacy. It’s historic. It’s in the books. It’s our contribution to highland culture.” She wanted to scream. “It’s a tower with a hole in the top!”

“To be fair, the historical society glassed the hole over years ago. Now it’s a tower with a window in the roof.”

Rona let out a strangled scream.

Dougal mistook the scream as a protest over the town adding a window.

“They had to do it,” he rushed to explain. “Not long after you left, the MacGregor brothers set off fireworks in the tower during Guy Fawkes night. They exploded out of the hole in the roof. The women of the Morality Society took issue over the symbolism and petitioned the town council to add glass to the tower. We had no intention of taking them seriously until Morag threatened legal action. And, honestly, back then, we couldn’t guarantee the MacGregor boys wouldn’t do it again. So, we added the glass. We had no choice, Rona.”

She stared at him for a second. “I don’t care about the stupid window,” she snapped. “I care about all these stupid people, who are out here in the snow, poking their noses into something that doesn’t concern them. This is my folly. Mine!”

Dougal gave her a worried look. “There’s no need to get upset.”

“Upset?” she screeched. “Upset?” She took a step toward him. “You have no idea what upset is yet. This tower is coming down. I’d have blown up the castle too if I could. But my parents sold it when the market crashed.” She felt like her head was going to explode, she was so angry. “They sell the castle—a useful building. A building without a hole in the roof. They sell my home. But they keep this!” She stomped over and kicked the stone structure. All she did was hurt her toe. “Well, no more,” she shouted as she kicked it again. “The Dalgliesh folly has reached the end of the road. It’s coming down.”

“It’s the MacGregor folly,” somebody from the historical society corrected her.

Rona let out a scream. This one wasn’t strangled.

“That’s it,” she shouted. “Everybody get back from my folly. You hear me? Back up. Right now. You touch the folly and I’ll have you arrested for trespassing. I own this monstrosity and I want everyone to leave here this instant.”

Suddenly, she was being swept off her feet and thrown over a shoulder.

“I’m just going to take Rona back to the hotel and see if there are any meds she might have missed this morning,” Bain announced to the crowd.

There were murmurs of wary agreement.

“Put me down,” Rona shouted as she struggled in Bain’s hold. “That bloody folly will go kaboom if it’s the last thing I do. I’m done with it. You lot can kiss your big stone penis goodbye, because by the time I’m through, it’s going to be dust.”

“Watch your head,” Bain said as he unceremoniously dumped her into the passenger seat of his truck.

“This is kidnapping,” she yelled. “Somebody call the police.”