Christmas at the Castle Read Free Page A

consisted of two guests, of which she was one?
    â€˜Peggy!’
    â€˜Do I detect another note of panic in that bellow, your writership?’ Peggy automatically picked the jug of hot coffee back up as she headed towards Kit.
    â€˜Alice only wants me to host the romance panel. I can’t do that.’
    â€˜Why not?’
    â€˜Because I was already terrified about being a guest. I’m not even sure I’m brave enough to do that yet.’
    Peggy dramatically smacked her palm against her forehead in mock despair, ‘But you can, Kit. It’s you and your friend Erin on the panel, isn’t it? Just turn it into a chat between you, her, and the audience.’
    â€˜Assuming Erin is still guesting, then yes.’ Kit smiled at Peggy, ‘I’m sure I was only asked to go in the first place because Erin is a nice person and we’ve always wanted an excuse to meet. Presiding over a panel, keeping the conversation going, holding a microphone; that’s something else entirely. What if I dry up?’
    Peggy’s supply of patience dried up in the face of Kit’s persistent lack of self-belief. She simply said, ‘You won’t.’
    â€˜What if the audience doesn’t want to ask questions in the Q&A bit at the end? What if there is no audience? Ticket sales aren’t good, and …’
    Peggy held up her hands in surrender, ‘Alright, I get it, you’re apprehensive, but honey, you are a bloody good writer.’
    â€˜But Erin is …’
    â€˜Erin is equally good, but you’re good in different ways. That’s the point of a panel, isn’t it? To have different sides of the same genre represented? You’ll have different stories to tell; and if that isn’t a good starting point for your questions I don’t know what is.’
    Feeling thoroughly told off but very grateful, Kit nodded meekly. ‘Thanks, Peggy.’
    â€˜You’re welcome! Now, write those questions and get sorted, otherwise you’ll only dwell on it all day and get nothing else done.’
    Kit had scribbled down a few ideas when another thought hit her. For a while now she’d been writing contemporary fiction and romance under her own name, but prior to that she had written erotica under a pseudonym, Katrina Penny. Would she have to talk about that as well? Would people like it, or would there be pitchforks and burning torches outside the castle gates on her arrival?
    Knowing she was in danger of becoming irrational again, Kit picked up her mobile.
    â€˜Phil. Help!’

Chapter Three
    Sunday November 22 nd
    Cameron Hunter rocked back on his desk chair and stared out across the estate grounds of Crathes Castle. From where he sat he could see the sweep of the formal gardens that huddled neatly around the foot of the sixteenth-century tower house, and on to the woodland beyond.
    He still couldn’t believe he’d managed to land a job in one of the most picturesque places in the country. On crisp winter mornings like this one, when the fallen russet leaves crunched underfoot and the evergreen leaves shone with the spidery touch of Jack Frost, it seemed madness that he’d actually hesitated before applying for the estate manager’s post.
    Returning to the pile of paperwork on his desk, Cameron’s gaze fell on a stack of ‘Christmas at the Castle Literary Festival’ flyers. It had seemed like such a good idea at the time. The chance to impress his new boss and attempt a “kill or cure” technique on the ghost of his former relationship at the same time.
    Cameron often wished he’d never set eyes on Alice Warren. He hated that he couldn’t stop loving her, even when she made it clear that their time together had just been a bit of a fling.
    He thought he’d be safe taking a job back in the area now that Alice was living in Edinburgh. Yet on his very first trip into Banchory after taking the job, he’d seen her