Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 87609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Alistair frowns. “Mom, we’re not—”
“Welcome to the beach shack.” She sweeps forward and grasps hold of my hand. “Come inside, come inside. It’s too windy for drinks on the patio. But they’ll taste just as good in the parlor.”
Beach shack, my butt. The place is a mansion. All glass walls and beamed ceilings. Despite her colorful clothing, the decor seems sedate. Lots of cream and dark wood. And the moment we walk inside, Lady Helena bellows, “Dougal, they’re here. Where are you? We need drinks.”
“I’m coming,” yells back someone with a heavy Scottish accent. Dougal appears to be around the same age as Lady Helena. In his sixties, if I had to guess. He’s fit and tall with a bald head and bushy gray beard. And after giving Alistair a hug, he heads immediately to the well-stocked bar in the corner of the living room. “What’s your lass’s name?”
“My name is Lilah and we’re just friends,” I say. “Nice to meet you.”
The older man laughs. “The lad’s always been a friendly sort. Hasn’t he, Your Ladyship?”
“Oh, yes,” she says. “Wait. Is that the right answer? Should I have lied? We don’t want to scare her off.”
“You’ve forgotten your glasses, old man,” says Alistair. “Need me to come back there and pour?”
Lady Helena reclines on a cream armchair. “You better, or half of the good whiskey is going to end up on the floor.”
“I heard that,” says Dougal.
“Of course you did. We never said there was anything wrong with your hearing.” Lady Helena turns to me with a smile. “Dougal is my gardener, butler, chauffeur, and so on. He grew up on the family estate in Scotland and then went on to work there like his father.”
“Did you grow up there too?” I ask.
“No. I was mostly in London or away at school. Mother hated that drafty old castle. But we visited now and then.”
Alistair and Dougal continue to argue good-naturedly behind the bar. It might be the first time I’ve seen him remotely relaxed. Smiling and laughing. Whatever hesitation he shows with his mother, there’s none when it comes to this man.
“Talisker, thirty-year-old single malt, from the Isle of Skye,” announces Dougal, serving first Lady Helena and then me. There are several fingers of amber liquid in the heavy crystal glass. “In honor of our new friend Lilah.”
“Thank you.”
He stands beside my chair, waiting until I taste it. Talk about putting on the pressure. “What do you think?” he asks. “Nice and peaty, isn’t it?”
I swallow it down and smile super convincingly. “It’s very good.”
“Just admit that you don’t like it.” Alistair sits on the sofa opposite me. “Lilah is apparently not a scotch drinker.”
Dougal’s face falls. The man is heartbroken. How could I have done such a thing? He then shrugs and swiftly takes my glass from me. “We won’t waste it, then.”
“Oh, no,” cries Lady Helena. “What do you drink? Darling, what does she drink?”
“I’m fine,” I say. “Really.”
Alistair taking a seat on the opposite side of the room from me seems like a statement. Though I am a grown-up who doesn’t need her hand held. But there’s a distinct distance between us now.
“How long have you two known each other?” asks Dougal.
“Since Saturday,” says Alistair.
Dougal’s brows rise. “Not long at all.”
“When you know, you know.” Lady Helena sighs wistfully. “I once got engaged to a total stranger while on a bender in Paris for Fashion Week. These things happen. The sheer awkwardness of waking up with the most exquisite hangover and not being able to remember my fiancé’s name.”
Alistair blinks. “So, you didn’t in fact know.”
“She left the ring on the nightstand and got on the first plane back to Heathrow,” says Dougal. “Never saw him again.”
Lady Helena pouts. “My point is that you can fall at first sight. There’s no set allotment of time that must pass before love is allowed. Isn’t that right, Lilah?”
“Time is just a construct,” I say.
“Suck-up,” mumbles Alistair.
“But we’re only friends, as previously mentioned.”
“Oh.” Lady Helena’s smile doesn’t stay down for long. “But you must have a good feeling about where things are heading, though, darling. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have brought a woman you’ve only known for two days home to meet me.”
Alistair’s brow furrows like never before.
“Just friends,” I repeat with a smile.
She turns to her son and asks, “You spend time with women who are just friends?”
“Yes, Mother.”
“Well done, darling. You certainly didn’t get that from his side of the family.”
“I always wanted to drive the coastal ride in a convertible,” I explain. “It’s on my wish list. Your son was kind enough to offer. Of course, it would have been rude not to stop since we happened to be passing.”
He nods. “What she said.”
“How did you meet?” asks Dougal.
“She almost crashed into my car.”
Dougal gasps dramatically. “Not your grandfather’s Aston Martin!”