Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 109783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 549(@200wpm)___ 439(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 549(@200wpm)___ 439(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
“Weirdly wonderful and fucked at the same time.”
Seeing the happiness in his eyes (a joy I’d worried Lewis would never find again after he and Callie broke up), I chuckled, delighted for him. I adamantly avoided looking at Fyfe because I was afraid if I did, I’d lose hold on containing my hurt. “I’ll bet. Mum knew I was coming and told me you’d be here, so I thought I’d stop in before I go home. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“Join us.” Lewis gestured to the booth.
The thought of sharing a meal with Fyfe after what I’d overheard filled me with panic. “No, I should check in with Mum, Dad, and Mor.”
“Are you sure?” Fyfe asked, and I could hear the plea in his tone, even though I didn’t look at him. “You’re more than welcome to stay.”
My gaze flickered in his direction but deliberately glanced past his eyes. “Nah, I’m good.” And I wasn’t here for him, I reminded myself. What I thought was between us was not what was between us. I’d built up a fantasy in my head, and it was time for a reality check.
Anyway, I was home for my family, not a man. I moved up onto my tiptoes to press a kiss to Lewis’s cheek. “I’ll stop by tonight so I can see the new house in person and check on Callie. That okay?”
“Of course.”
“See you then.” I turned on my heel and strode out of the restaurant, aware that people had noticed me, and tourists had their phones out. Ignoring the sound of camera shutters as they took photos of me, I rushed from the pub and jumped back into the SUV.
“It’s Eilidh. I wouldn’t touch her if she was the last woman on earth.”
Fyfe’s words echoed in my head, over and over, like an earworm as I drove out of Ardnoch to Caelmore. To my family home.
What were the last few months between us, then?
To Lewis, he made it seem like our friendship was merely the odd text here and there.
Did that mean he was ashamed of it? Why would he hide it from my brother? I hadn’t told Lewis, but that was because I’d been avoiding meaningful conversations with my family until I figured out what it was that needed to change in my life.
But Fyfe … obviously our daily conversations didn’t mean to him what they meant to me. In fact, maybe I’d imagined the close friendship I thought had grown between us. I’d imagined that beneath the surface, it was more than friendship.
As soon as I pulled into the driveway of my childhood home, my mum came flying out the door. I rushed from the SUV and straight into her arms.
Tears clogged my throat when we embraced as if we hadn’t seen each other in years.
“It’s so good to have you home, sweetheart,” she whispered, not hiding her tears. Mum never hid a single emotion.
I always knew, despite her not being my birth mother, that she loved me as if I were her own.
And I knew then, with sudden, jarring clarity, that I wanted to come home.
For good.
Even with Fyfe’s ugly confession ringing in my ears.
I wanted to come home.
Only … I didn’t know how to make it happen without admitting I’d failed.
An hour had passed. I’d forced a hug on my wee sister Morwenna who clearly resented my sudden desire to be more involved in her life. Dad was at work, so I knew I’d see him when he returned. Tired, I decided to take a nap. Morwenna was in what used to be my room, so I settled into my parents’ smaller guest room, a room that used to be Mor’s.
Callie and Lewis were crashing in the guest annex while damage to the cottage was being repaired after the break-in. Lewis had no furniture in his new place yet, so they couldn’t stay there. I happily took the guest room in the main house. And not just because Callie and Lewis needed the privacy of the annex more than me. I’d never told anyone, but I hated the place. I’d hated it ever since Mum’s ex-friend tied us up and left us in there when we were kids.
I was so young. I didn’t remember much from that age, but I remembered every second of that terrifying night. It was before Regan was technically our mother. She was still our nanny at the time. What we didn’t know, but I’d learned later as a teen, was that Mum was running from an old friend who was in love with her. She had no idea how obsessed he’d become until he showed up in Ardnoch and broke into the house.
Mum and Dad weren’t home. Our aunt Eredine was babysitting. It’s funny how so many of those early childhood years were a vague mashup of feeling rather than memory, but there were some moments I remembered as if they’d happened yesterday. The moment that strange man appeared and knocked out Aunt Ery, only to manhandle me and Lewis into the annex to tie us up, was vivid. I could still hear Lewis screaming my name as he tried to fight the man off. Could hear my brother’s terror for me and his little boy rage that he couldn’t protect me.