Faith roused from sleep to a roaring sound. After a few moments of confusion, she remembered she was at Kindrogan Castle, and decided the noise could only be a gale blowing outside. A tad reluctantly, she shifted from the warm cocoon of her covers and boosted herself on an elbow.

The guest room she’d been given at Kindrogan Castle had a double aspect looking out over the courtyard on one side and the mountains on the other. An eerie light penetrated between the drapes.

Faith slid out of bed, wrapping the tartan bedspread around her shoulders for warmth, and winced as she stepped off the bedside mat onto the cold floor. She pushed open the curtains to reveal a whiteout, the driving snow almost horizontal. A bitter draft penetrated around the ancient metal window frames, raising goose bumps on her arms.

She found the bathroom, washed, applied a little makeup, and dressed quickly in jeans, a thick sweater, and thermal slipper socks, then padded downstairs in search of coffee. At the bottom of the stairs, Duncan Mackenzie stood dressed in army uniform, peering out the tall narrow window beside the front door.

At the sight of his colonel’s insignia, she responded automatically. “Good morning, sir.” She didn’t salute as she wasn’t in uniform, but when she stepped off the bottom stair, she braced, partially standing at attention in a gesture of respect to a senior officer.

She hadn’t found the chance to say more than a few words to him the previous evening, and to be honest, she found him a little intimidating. Not only was he the laird, he was almost larger than life, well over six feet tall and built like a heavyweight boxer.

He gestured for her to relax. “Call me Duncan, please.” He returned to staring out the window and sighed. “I was due at the Institute of Thermal Medicine this morning, but that’s not going to happen. We haven’t seen the weather this bad for a good few years.”

Faith joined him and peered into the driving snow. “I hoped to meet a couple of friends at Aviemore this afternoon.” She checked her watch. “My plan was to catch the train from Kinder Vale station at ten thirty.”

Duncan laughed. “I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you the train won’t run in this, even if you could reach the station.” He looked exactly like an older version of Hew, his hair silvering at the temples. “You might be stuck here for a few days, I’m afraid. If you need me to speak to your commanding officer to let him or her know the situation, I’m happy to do so.”

“Thanks. I might need to take you up on that if I can’t make it back to Edinburgh by Tuesday.”

Faith stared at the mesmerizing rush of snowflakes and thought it might have eased off slightly, although the wind still howled and moaned. In the distance, she caught the flash of lights.

“Is there a vehicle out there?”

“Hew fetched the snowplow when the snow let up a while ago. We thought it might be possible to try clearing the route beside the loch, but it came in heavily again a few minutes ago.”

Hew was out in this weather? “Isn’t it dangerous to be driving near the loch with the visibility so bad?”

Duncan nodded and tapped his mobile phone where it rested on the windowsill. “Hew knows the land like the back of his hand, but I called him just now to check up on him. It’s not unknown for the tractor to get stuck in this weather.”

The glare of the headlights she’d seen came into view again, closer and brighter now, and then disappeared out of sight.

“He’ll bring the snowplow into the courtyard.”

Duncan turned and headed for the kitchen, so Faith followed. His wife, Naomi, was there stirring a huge pot of porridge on the stove, while Fergus and a pretty blond girl of about eight and a dark-haired preschool boy sat at the table.

“Morning, Faith.” Naomi smiled over her shoulder. “I hope you slept through the racket of this creaking old place in the blizzard.”

“My senses were suitably dulled by the whiskey cocktails last night. I didn’t notice it was snowing until I woke up.”

“Mummy, who’s this?” The little girl had stopped playing with her toy pony to stare at Faith.

“This is the message-in-a-bottle-lady. Her name’s Faith.”

“Wow. Really.” The little girl’s eyes widened.

“Faith, meet my daughter, Holly.” Naomi settled one hand on the girl’s head and the other on the dark hair of the little boy. “This is our son, Andrew.”

Andrew was busy assembling Lego bricks into something space age and didn’t even glance up.

Faith greeted the children and exchanged a few words with Fergus, who was doing some homework.

“A cup of tea?”

When Naomi held up an old-fashioned teapot, Faith nodded. She’d hoped for coffee but she didn’t want to be difficult.

The back door opened and snow swirled in on a freezing wind, virtually blowing Hew through the door. He turned and slammed it closed before brushing the caked white stuff off his coat and running a hand over his face. Crouching, he stroked the dogs who had jumped out of their beds and trotted to greet him, tails wagging.

“Sorry, Duncan, there’s no chance.” He pulled off his hat and shrugged out of his coat, turning to hang them on a peg behind the door. Then he sat in a sagging old armchair by the door that looked as though it might be a dog chair, and unclipped his boots before levering them off.

His gaze found Faith and he gave her an almost smile. “I’m afraid you won’t make it to Aviemore today. The slopes will probably be closed anyway. Too dangerous in this weather.”

“That’s not a problem. I’ll let my friends know.”

“A cup of tea to warm you up, Hew?” Naomi held the teapot aloft, and he nodded. “I’ll serve the porridge now that you’re in.” Naomi gestured at the table. “Sit down, everyone.”

Before anyone could move, a succession of animalistic shrieks sounded from Hew’s pocket and he pulled out his phone.

“White-tailed-eagle-cry ringtone,” Fergus said, obviously noticing Faith’s raised eyebrows.

“Hello. Yes.” Hew padded towards the table in his socks and stopped behind a chair, raking his fingers back through his hair. “You’re joking.” He rolled his eyes heavenwards. “People don’t use the wits God gave them.” His gaze focused on the kitchen window. “Well, we won’t be able to do anything until this blizzard abates. Let everyone on the team know to be on standby. As soon as we have a window in the weather, we’ll head out. Talk to you later.”

Hew sat and put his phone on the table. “A dog walker set out yesterday at dusk and hasn’t come home.”

“And they’ve waited until now to raise the alarm?” Faith couldn’t believe nobody had missed the guy sooner.

Hew shrugged. “I don’t know the story behind it. That was the local police liaison. I guess he’s only just been notified, but we couldn’t have gone out last night in the dark anyway.”

Duncan shook his head. “If he’s been out all night in this weather, I don’t fancy his chances, not unless he found a bothy to shelter in.”

“Did they say what sort of dog he had with him?”

Hew shook his head.

Faith glanced at the snow still racing past the window and winced. Unless it was a hardy breed, it would be in trouble too. “You’ll need a veterinarian when you send out the mountain rescue group. I’d like to volunteer.”

Hew rubbed a hand over his mouth. “It’ll be challenging, Faith. Every member of the team has specialist training.”

Faith met his gaze steadily. “Does the army’s cold-weather training in Norway count?”

Duncan laughed. “She’s got you there, Hew.”

• • •

Hew hated waiting to go on a rescue. Once he knew someone was out there in adverse conditions, possibly hurt, he wanted to get going and find them. Even Faith’s company hadn’t banished his impatience. He had taken her on a tour of the castle, watching the weather out of the windows, distracted, even though he was grateful to the snow for keeping her here.

Now he drove the snowplow along the track to the converted farm building about half a mile from the castle that housed the Kindrogan Mountain Rescue Team’s base. Faith hung on the back of his seat, togged up in protective clothing borrowed from Naomi. She’d tied her hair back in a ponytail and pulled a hat down over her ears, all business.

Although part of him worried about taking her on a rescue mission that might put her in danger, he was pleased to have her with him.

The forest track had been protected from much of the snowfall by the thick pines, and they made good time. They emerged into the clearing and headed towards the rescue center, pushing the snow aside as they went.

“Okay, we need to load up the gear and take it to Kinder Flat. The others will take the road from the village directly there, and Daniel’s flashy new pickup should make it through the snow.”

“What’s at Kinder Flat?” Faith said.

“It’s the only place the helicopter can land around here.”

Hew unlocked the padlock on the wooden door of what had once been a tumbledown barn and showed Faith the room where they kept the gear. Faith grabbed a pack over each shoulder and a snow pole in each hand, and he followed her to the snowplow and wedged the packs, protective hats, and poles behind the seat and in other nooks and crannies.

Once they were loaded up, Hew climbed into the driver’s seat and held down a hand to help haul Faith up with the packs behind his seat.

“Hold on tight,” he said, and moved off, the engine straining as the huge blade on the front of the tractor shoved the snow aside.

Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the flat cement area, now a smooth expanse of white snow beneath a pale blue sky. They needed to hurry because dusk came early at this time of year, and they’d already lost half a day to the weather.

“Hop down and wait here for a few minutes while I clear the helicopter landing area.”

As Hew zipped back and forth, clearing the snow from the yellow circle on the cement that showed the helicopter where to touch down, he spied Daniel’s shiny red pickup charging across the snowy flat towards them. The vehicle headed for Faith and stopped beside her.

The rescue team of seven guys climbed out of the pickup and gathered around Faith. Hew squinted through the windscreen, realizing three of them weren’t married. The sense of possessiveness he’d felt last evening crept back.

“Crazy,” he said to himself. He’d only just met her, and they didn’t even know each other very well. What was it about Faith that made him want to claim her before another man did?

He craned his neck around as he had to turn the tractor, sure Faith was standing unnecessarily close to Daniel. Thank goodness that man was already married and off the market. There was no way he could have competed with a good-looking army doctor.

Hew hoped Faith liked him, had gotten that impression last evening, although he might have been imagining things. He was under no illusion he would make a good catch. Women liked professional men with a good education and plenty of money. He had bailed on his college degree, was a single dad, and his cottage and just about everything else he had belonged to his brother.

With that dismal thought sinking his self-esteem, he scanned the area he had cleared to ensure it was large enough for the helicopter to land. Satisfied, he lifted the blade from the ground, and the tractor tires crunched across the snow towards the group. He parked well away from the landing zone and shouted a greeting to the other members of his team.

They approached, offering greetings in return, and he tossed down a pack to each of them. A walkie-talkie crackled, and Hew exchanged a few words with the pilot of the Sea King search-and-rescue helicopter coming from RAF Lossiemouth to give them a ride into the mountains.

“ETA five minutes,” he announced.

They all shouldered packs, and he filled in the team on what they knew about the missing dog walker as the tiny yellow dot of the helicopter grew larger against streaks of cloud and blue sky. The rumble of the engine resolved into the whump-whump of the blades as it descended towards the ground.

The team members all turned away, sheltering their faces from the cold bite of the snow blown around by the downdraft.

Daniel seemed to have taken Faith under his wing, which shouldn’t have annoyed Hew, but it did. Hew normally tended to step back and let men like Daniel have the limelight. But Hew was the leader of the mountain rescue group and this was his show, not his brother-in-law’s.

Hew stepped up beside Faith and touched her arm as the door opened on the helicopter and one of the crew gave them a thumbs-up.

He cupped a hand against the noise and shouted into her ear. “Okay?”

She nodded, and then they were running side by side for the loading door on the helicopter. They threw in their packs and poles, and scrambled aboard with the rest of the team. Hew sat beside Faith and strapped himself in, watching as she did the same thing.

They rose into the air with a wobble as the wind gusted, and the group exchanged banter like they always did.

Faith gripped Hew’s arm. Her breath was warm on his cheek as she leaned close. “I feel guilty that I’m excited about the chance to get up into the mountains to see this beautiful countryside when we might find someone hurt up there.”

“Better that than being frightened,” he said. As he drew back and met her gaze, her green eyes glowed as if lit from within.

He’d always thought he would never find a woman who liked the things he did, but she obviously loved animals and wildlife, or she wouldn’t have become a vet, and it seemed she enjoyed the wild beauty of Scotland as well.

She was a woman after his own heart.