Page 58 of Love Bomb

“I’m so sorry,” Dougal rushed to say. “I had no choice but to give them rooms. I couldn’t turn them out into the snow.” His cheeks flushed. “Although, I dearly wanted to,” he confessed.

Rona patted his arm as her stomach clenched. “It’s not your fault. It’s the fault of whoever ratted me out.”

“It had to be Kitty Baxter,” Dougal said, his lip curling with distaste. “Your mother and Kitty were always tight. Two peas in a pod. Both of them take it personally when the people around them are happy.”

Dougal wasn’t wrong. Rona had never liked the owner of the area’s biggest farm. She was one of those people who enjoyed using their wealth and power to make others suffer.

“Rona,” her father barked.

There was no ignoring them any longer. Rona glanced across the restaurant, only to see that they were making their way toward her.

In a room of casual diners dressed for winter warmth, her parents stood out like peacocks in a henhouse. Her mother wore a black sheath of a dress that had been tailored to fit her tall, lean figure and her hair was pinned in a perfect twist. Her make-up was flawless and there were pearls around her throat. Her father was in a navy-blue suit and tie that probably cost more than most of the other diners earned in a year.

Behind Rona, at the fireplace, she heard a tourist whisper loudly, “Are they royalty? He looks like King Charles.”

Rona wasn’t surprised at the comparison. It was one her father encouraged.

Dougal frowned as he watched her parents. “I know it’s no consolation,” he said. “But the only rooms I had available were the two singles that sit right above the bar. The rooms are a bit small, with windows overlooking the carpark, and they have to share a bathroom, but I’m sure they won’t mind.”

If Rona could have laughed, she would have. Her parents hadn’t even shared a bathroom when they were married.

“I thought those rooms weren’t renovated yet, and you only kept them for emergencies,” she said.

“There are all kinds of emergencies, Rona,” Dougal said darkly.

It was too late to say anything more because her parents were upon them. There were no warm smiles or hugs of welcome. Just disapproving sneers for Dougal and looks of irritation for their daughter.

“Rona,” George Dalgliesh the Fourth snapped. “Didn’t you hear us calling your name?”

“Hello Mother, Father,” Rona said. “I wasn’t being rude. I was talking to Dougal.”

They sniffed in disdain, dismissing Dougal with a glance. It was nothing she hadn’t seen before, but it was still humiliating. Their attitude hadn’t exactly made it easy for Rona growing up.

A sudden memory flashed into her mind. Bain, feet wide, fists lifted, defying anyone to call her a snob. “She’s nothing like her damn family,” he’d barked at the crowd of kids who were out for blood. “She’s no’ them. You hear me? She’s Rona.”

She almost smiled. To Bain, she’d always been in a category of her own.

“Rona,” Lorna Dalgliesh said with pinched disapproval. “Look at the state of you. You look like you’ve been rolling around in the snow.”

Rona glanced down at the baby blue sweater Margaret had knitted for her. It was warm and soft and felt like a hug. She thought she looked fantastic.

“Your mother and I need to talk to you,” her father said, gesturing behind him. “We have a table.”

“If it’s about the will, you made your views very clear at the reading,” Rona told them. “So, unless you want to discuss something else, I think I’ll eat in my room.”

“Rona,” her mother snapped through a sharp smile. “Do not make a scene. We have come all this way to speak with you. The least you can do is behave politely.”

The tone threw her right back into her childhood.

Rona, stand up straight. Rona, children should be seen and not heard. Rona, keep your dress clean. Rona, stay away from that MacGregor boy, he’s terribly common.

“We had hoped to eat at the new spa restaurant,” her father said, as though the owner of the hotel wasn’t standing right beside him. “But as we couldn’t get ahold of you, we weren’t able to reserve a table.” He sneered as he glanced around the dining room. “We shall just have to make do.”

“Such a pity,” her mother said. “The spa was reviewed in The Herald.”

Rona was mortified, while Dougal looked as though his head might explode.

“The fish and chips shop along the road was in The Herald too,” Dougal said. “If you hurry, you can still eat there.”