Scott entered the hacienda through the kitchen.
“Murdoch!”
Teresa fell in step behind Scott.
“Oh Scott! Did you pick up the mail?”
“Not now Teresa. Murdoch?!”
In the hallway the search party added one more when Johnny joined in. “Boston, anything interesting come in the mail?”
“Shut up Johnny. Murdoch!”
Before entering the study Scott did an about face and held up his hand to his uninvited companions.
“Halt.”
“Stay.”
He slowly shut the study’s door and turned to observe his father sitting calmly behind his desk.
“Murdoch.”
“Hello my son.”
Scott held up Kinsey’s letter. As soon as he saw his father’s amused expression he knew he had guessed correctly. It was Murdoch who had written Kinsey and invited her to come visit but had done so pretending to be Scott. Scott’s furrowed brow indicated knew Kinsey had accepted.
“You wrote to her and signed my name to the letter?”
Murdoch explained his reasoning. He felt Kinsey would be more comfortable accepting the invitation if she thought it was from Scott and not from some old man she never met. This revelation left Scott anything but speechless. Scott began listing all the reasons this girl was going to be one big headache once she arrived. He pointed out to Murdoch that he had no clue what trouble writing that letter will cause. Scott mentioned that his father might have lost his mind.
Murdoch watched his oldest son …the one who kept so much to himself…the one with the calm composure…the level head…Murdoch watched Scott rant and it made him smile. He was not having difficulty reading the boy now. “Johnny and Teresa are looking forward to meeting Kinsey.”
“They knew about this before I did?”
“I wanted to know what their reaction would be before I sent the letter.”
“What about my reaction?”
“Oh I knew what your reaction would be son.”
Scott stopped, let out a long sigh while running his hand through his hair. Flopping down in the chair opposite his father he stared at Kinsey’s letter.
“Why did you do it?”
Murdoch explained he felt that Scott and Kinsey crossing paths was a sign to start mending family ties. “What better way, Scott, than to reconnect with your cousin and find out what you have in common.
“We have nothing in common.”
“You both have Garrett blood running through your veins.”
“I think Kinsey would agree, at times, that is nothing to be proud of.”
“See. We have already discovered something you two have in common and she hasn’t even arrived.”
Murdoch watched his son’s face and detected the curtain being drawn once again. “Scott, why are you so upset over this?”
During the next hour Scott expressed his doubts about mending family ties. His last encounter with Harlan Garrett had left Scott feeling disgusted, betrayed and depressed. He’d shut a mental door on the whole affair. Why open it even a crack for a girl he hardly knew?
“Scott, Kinsey is staying less than one week - 5 days. If it turns out to be a complete disaster then it can be confirmed your old man has indeed lost his mind.”
“Sir, I apologize -”
Murdoch stopped the apology with an abrupt “Don’t!”. He explained that Scott’s words were completely normal, expected and justified. No apology was necessary.
“Son, what I did…sending the letter and signing your name…well, it was…”
“Sneaky.”
Murdoch smiled and nodded at Scott’s conclusion. Yes, it was sneaky. Murdoch rose, approached his oldest, patted him on the shoulder and left the room. Scott glanced down at Kinsey’s letter.
“Five. Days.”
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