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)
Fyfe appeared relieved by the embrace. Concern hollowed his gaze, though, as he looked me over. “How are you?”
“I’m good.” I turned from him, announcing to the room. “Where’s the champagne?”
Uncle Arran immediately held out a glass to me.
I laughed, grinning. “Ever the bartender.”
He gave me a mock bow. “At your service.”
Raising my glass, I turned to my brother and Callie. “To Lewis! For finally pulling his finger out of his arse to claim the kindest, smartest, prettiest girl in Ardnoch before she realized she could do better.”
Everyone burst into laughter, including the bride-to-be, while Lewis mock glared. I grinned at him and called over the titters, “No, no, in all seriousness … I have the best big brother in the world.” Tears blurred my gaze, and Lewis’s expression turned tender. “No one else but Callie could ever hope to deserve you. I’m so happy you found your way back to each other. I love you both. To Lewis and Callie!”
“To Lewis and Callie!”
My brother crossed the room to pull me into his bear hug. “It’s good to have you back,” he whispered before planting a gruff kiss to the top of my head.
“You too.”
“Love you, Eils.”
“Love you, Lew.”
A few hours later, some of the younger members of our family had dispersed to get sleep before the big day. I was sitting with Mor and Callie. Lewis had gone upstairs to put Harley down. My gorgeous wee niece was staying the night with us because my parents were babysitting.
We were going over last-minute options for our hair tomorrow. Callie had bought a bunch of different clasps, clips, and hair gems, and we were deciding what would work best. I was maid of honor and Mor was a bridesmaid.
Callie’s wedding dress was very boho princess, so I was naysaying the sparkly diamante clips.
“Pearls and flowers,” I said quietly, because we didn’t want to give away anything regarding Callie’s dress.
Mor fingered the diamante star, and I saw the disappointment on her face. Callie looked at me and we shared a silent conversation.
“You know.” I picked up the star and placed it against Mor’s beautiful red hair. “Maybe it would be nice for our bridesmaid to have a point of difference. This would look gorgeous at the top or bottom of a fishtail braid.”
Mor pretended not to be hopeful. “Do you think?”
“Absolutely,” Callie agreed. “I like it.”
My wee sister tried to hide her smile and failed. “Okay.”
A shadow fell over our small group and I looked up, my skin buzzing with awareness at the sight of Fyfe.
“Hey.”
“Hi.”
He nodded toward the deck outside. “You got a minute?”
The balcony was lit up in the evening dark. The last time we’d stood out there, it was still summer. But autumn had arrived and so had the shorter days. Not wanting to be disagreeable on the eve of my brother’s wedding, I nodded and stood. Following Fyfe out, I braced against the rush of chilly air.
“Too cold?” Fyfe asked, leaning against the balcony.
I tried not to let my gaze devour his long, strong body as I approached. “A bit. What’s up?”
“We just haven’t had a chance to talk in what feels like ages.”
Settling beside him but with enough distance so we weren’t touching, I said, “I’ve been busy sorting out my life.”
Fyfe heaved a shaky exhale. “Eilidh … I … I’ve been a shit friend.”
My eyes flew to his.
His expression was anguished. “I should have pushed harder, made you admit how you were feeling, asked more, talked you into coming home—”
I pressed a hand to his arm. “Stop.” My goodness, this man could tear me up. Knowing he cared this much was torture because … it made me hope for more from him. “Nothing or no one could have done that. I needed to hit that point by myself. And I did. I’m doing much better.”
“I can see that.” He reached out to touch my cheek and I forced myself not to react. “You seemed so much more like yourself in there.”
“I’m getting back to that person. But hopefully to a better version of her.” I slowly eased away so it didn’t seem like a rejection. “How are you?”
“I’m not done asking about you. When do you come home?”
“What do you mean?”
“You said you’re retiring. That you’ll be announcing it soon, right? So when do you come home?”
“Oh.” I’d battled with the idea of returning to Ardnoch and landed on splitting my time between here and London. “I’m not. I’m staying in London. While I figure things out. I’ll spend a few months in Ardnoch over the summer, though.”
“You should come home.” He scowled. “You know that’s where you need to be.”
“I know I need to take all the changes that are happening in my life one step at a time,” I replied calmly.
The muscle in his jaw twitched as he turned to glower out at the darkness beyond. We could hear the water crashing against the shore below and see glimmers of waves catching in the half-moon light.