Beyond Claymore

By Catherine Carson

Cameron Lingard and Josh Meldrum are asked to relocate – Cameron to the Highlands and Josh to London.
Not only their lifestyles are changed but their lives take on an entirely different turn from the path they had set themselves on.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Sep 20, 2015
• ISBN: 9781326425845

Book preview

Beyond Claymore

Beyond Claymore

By Catherine Carson

Standard Copyright © Catherine Carson 2015

ISBN 978-1-326-42579-1

ISBN 978-1-326-42584-5

Profile of the author

Born in Scotland I now live with my husband in the North West of England.  We have three children who, between them have given us six wonderful grandchildren.

I studied commercial subjects at school and college and spent most of my working life in the offices of various companies, starting as a junior in a local garage typing invoices for car repairs.   I left Scotland and crossed the border to England to marry the man I met whilst on a holiday with my extended family and eventually became a secretary with a beer bottling company leaving six years later when the first of our three children came on the scene. 

Returning to the workforce when our children were young adults I finally untied the apron strings to join the offices of a large wholesale book supplier and embraced the advancement in technology since I had first learned to type on a manual typewriter and take notes in shorthand.

During the years I became something of a letter writer as friends and family lived in many parts of the country and indeed the world.  Often friends and family would tell me…..‘You could write a book’ to which I always replied…..‘But would anyone read it’. 

When my granddaughter asked if I would write a book especially for her I confided in my good friend Lisa Schmidt and she told me to go for it.  That book became the first of many stories which had been lurking in my imagination for a good number of years.

Once started I found the stories simply kept coming and often an overheard conversation or a glimpse from the passenger seat of the car would trigger a likely scenario which my imagination would then elaborate and weave into a story.

My hope is that my writing brings a little pleasure into the life of my readers and allows them to leave the mundane world behind for a few hours as they meet the characters I adore creating.

www.facebook.com/catherinecarsonbooks.uk

www.catherinerenacarson.jimdo.com

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Dedication

This book is dedicated to my loyal readers who enjoy my stories and come back for more. Once again I thank my daughter, Helen Cole, for coming up with the front cover having only my rough outline of the story to work with.

All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names.  They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author and all the incidents are pure invention.

Other Books by this Author

The Mouse in the Library

Family Ties

Overall Construction          

Wounded Wolf

Coffee and Cakes

Memories Rekindled

Wholesale Love

Hope’s Conflict

Estates of the Heart

Sibling Rivalry

Fighting for Custody

White Knight Black Knight

Through the Garden Gate…

Love Lost and Found

Alphabet Bachelors

A Dreamer’s Tale

A Precious Jewel

Footbridge of Solace

Girl Meets Boy

Demolition of the Heart

When Life Gives You Lemons

Return to the Past

Pretence & Reality

Opening a Can of Worms

Fields of Contention

A Heart Encased In Steel

Russian Revenge

Chasing a Dream

~~~~~~

Tapestry of Love-Bk 1 (free Bk)

Twins Exchanged-Bk 2

Highland Feud Bk-3

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Soil, Seed & Betrayal-Bk 1 (free Bk)

Desert Prince, Exiled Princess-Bk 2

Body Language-Bk 3

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An Open Book-Bk 1

Afraid to Love-Bk 2

A Second Chance-Bk 1

Taming the Playboy-Bk 2

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Estranged Husband & Father-Bk 1

Identical Mistake-Bk 2

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Sigh of the Claymore-Bk 1

Beyond Claymore-Bk 2

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Sneaking Into His Heart-Bk 1

Scent of the Heather-Bk 2

Chapter 1

After a succession of female PA’s who constantly threw themselves at the extremely charismatic and handsome CEO of Lingard Enterprises, Chace Lingard had made the decision to employ a male PA and had recruited Josh Meldrum straight from college at the age of twenty-one, hoping they would soon find a good working relationship. 

Chace Lingard had been a hard task master who expected a high standard from his PA and Josh often found himself having to bite his tongue in order to keep his well-paid job, but twelve years later they had indeed found a rapport and Josh enjoyed the cut and thrust of the high-powered deals he helped collate when his boss set his sights on taking over an ailing company and turning it round.

Ten years ago his boss had taken the penultimate step as he sought revenge from his estranged Father and step-family, whom he thought had abandoned him in the care of a drunken mother at the tender age of ten years; but after meeting a certain young woman his priorities changed and he became a loving husband and father.

Bridges were built with his estranged family and their companies were merged into Lingard and Sons.  Josh found himself being offered the position of General Manger at the Claymore Highland Adventure Centre.  The position had been held by Kass Muir until her marriage to Chace, who insisted his wife needed to take a back seat during her first pregnancy.

Chace and Kass were now the proud parents of two boys, nine year old Paul and seven year old Malcolm and a beautiful little girl who had recently celebrated her third birthday.

Over the past ten years, as well as being General Manger Josh remained PA to Chace Lingard who now based himself in the Highlands but kept in constant contact with Lingard and Sons, in London.  When Paul retired he handed over the running of the London office to his younger son Cameron, but there were still occasions when Chace was required to negotiate the addition of a new enterprise and Josh was always by his side to ensure everything ran smoothly and was accurately recorded.

Living in the local village of Laurinston, in an apartment at the top of Heather House, a guesthouse owned by Sarah and Malcolm Muir, the parents of Kass Lingard, Josh found it much more convenient to live off site, as it meant he could keep his private life exactly that – private.

He knew Kass Lingard was eager for him to settle down and start a family but he had set himself a target and made a silent vow, if he had not met anyone by the time he was forty he would marry one of the women in his little black book and pray things would work out. 

By his reckoning it gave him seven years before he needed to give it serious thought, seven years in which to carry on enjoying the favours of the ladies his status as eligible bachelor gave him.

Malcolm Muir had recently had a mild stroke and his wife Sarah and daughter Kass insisted he either sell Heather House, or find someone who could take over the running of the guesthouse until he made a full recovery.

Sitting in his office, Josh watched his boss walking a few paces behind his tiny daughter.  A smile hovered on his lips at the sight of a six foot plus man giving the impression of someone nonchalantly following the small child as she determinedly pushed her bicycle along the pathways, using her feet to propel the wheels; when in actual fact his body was held taught ready to spring into action should his beloved daughter misjudge her footing.

Leaving the office Josh joined Chace Lingard on his vigilant task.  ‘Hey.  How are things going with Kass and Sarah’s efforts to get Malcolm to slow down?’ Josh tried to sound caring.  Feeling a little guilty his question was more out of self-preservation at the prospect of having a new landlord who may not be as amenable as the Muirs, rather than a concern for the man who was finding it difficult to cope with his health problems.

‘Funny you should ask that question.  We hope we may have found a solution to the problem, but it would mean a good number of changes all round.  I would appreciate if you could make yourself available for a meeting with Dad and me tomorrow morning, at say ten, in your office.’  Chace saw Josh was intrigued by his statement but was not prepared to enlighten him further whilst he was concentrating on keeping his daughter safe.

‘Sure Chace.’  Josh stopped to watch Chace continue his traverse of the pathways never letting his eyes leave the tiny figure a few yards ahead of him.

Checking with Reception to ensure no unexpected problems had arisen regarding the guests, Josh decided to call it a day and return to his apartment in Laurinston.

He had a date in Inverness with a very willing lady who knew exactly how to take away all the cares and stresses at the end of a working day.

Unlike his boss, Josh Meldrum was an average five feet ten inches tall, with mid brown hair and hazel eyes.  He did not have the muscle definition of a man who worked out regularly, but that did not mean his female companions felt the need to complain when he removed the designer label clothes he wore.  He had been told by a couple of his past girlfriends he was a handsome man, but he thought ‘handsome’ was a shade too far; he did, however, accept his smile was his best feature.

His little black book, as he liked to call it, was in fact nothing more than a few names in the contact list of his email account, but the women listed there lived far enough from Laurinston not to cause him any embarrassment with the local community, but were always willing to keep him company and pamper to his needs.

Unfortunately the only woman he really wanted to contact from the list would most certainly not accept any advances from him.  Her interests lay with a certain six foot plus, dark haired, blue eyed younger version of his boss – Cameron Lingard had been Lisbeth Muir’s constant companion ten years ago and as far as Josh was concerned the torch she held for him still burned brightly and he knew they always hooked up when she was between assignments.

Lisbeth worked in the hotel industry and was at present in Barbados and Josh knew everyone had played down Malcolm’s health problems as they did not want her rushing back before her allotted time.

Since coming to Laurinston ten years ago he had watched Lisbeth Muir grow from an awkward teenager into a very beautiful young woman. When she graduated from university and accepted the offer from a well-known hotel group to enter their training programme he had been pleased for her, but was afraid she would never return to the Highlands after experiencing some of the most exotic locations in the world.

In the dark of the night when he lay alone in his apartment bedroom above the guests of Heather House, he knew it was not the locations she visited which bothered him, but the fear one day she would come home to tell her parents she and Cameron had finally admitted their