Chapter 13
THIRTEEN
ALEX
“Here we are. One cottage pie and one order of stovies with oatcakes.” Laura Craig, the manager and part owner of the pub, who ran everything like clockwork in Ewan’s absence, handed over a takeaway bag. “Are you one short on workers today?”
“Pardon?”
“Only food for two.”
“Ah. No. This isn’t for Finn or Callum. I’m taking lunch out to Ciara at the castle.”
Laura’s eyes sharpened with interest. “Are you, now?”
I didn’t rise to the bait, just left that little detail hanging between us as I lifted the bag in salute. “Cheers.”
Picking up lunch had been a calculated move. She wanted a public-facing relationship to back up the fiction we were presenting, so the best way to accomplish that was to be seen as the dutiful boyfriend. If word got back to Ewan—and I was banking on him and Isobel being left in peace at the exclusive studio in the Outer Hebrides—he’d either think Laura was mistaken, or he’d call me directly to ask what was going on. If he did, I’d be honest that this was merely a favor to scare off her ex.
If it turned into something else… Well, I’d cross that bridge if I came to it. I wouldn’t make assumptions where Ciara was concerned.
I followed my GPS out to Ardinmuir Castle. Fifteen or twenty minutes out from the village, it rose out of the trees like the fortress it had once been. I knew from conversations with Ewan that Kyla and Connor had been working for years to restore the place. To my eye, they’d come a long way. I didn’t know what condition the castle had been in before, but now it looked like what it was… a blend of centuries that represented some of the best of Scotland. No wonder they’d had such success turning it into an event venue.
I had no idea where in the castle Ciara worked, so I parked on the gravel drive in front of the stairs that led to the massive front doors. Surely someone would answer my knock. Grabbing the food, I trotted up the steps. The heavy iron knocker vibrated the door like a battering ram. The wind kicked up as I waited, and I hunched deeper into my tweed walking jacket. I didn’t know how far the sound would carry. I was still searching around the doorframe for a bell when the massive door swung open.
“Can I help you?” The man was older, with dark silver hair and an olive complexion. His dark eyes were curious as they took me in.
“Ah, I’m looking for Ciara.” I held up the bag. “I brought her food.”
Too late, I realized that probably made it sound like I was a delivery boy. But rather than offer to pay me and taking the food, the man opened the door wider.
“I’ll take you to her.”
“Cheers.”
I followed my impromptu guide through labyrinthine halls, trying to look everywhere at once. I wondered if I could talk Ciara into a proper tour of the place. She was cousin to the MacKeans, but on their mother’s side, so this wasn’t part of her heritage. Still, she’d have an in with the people who could give me a tour. I was immensely curious about the history of the place.
We exited the castle proper and went into a newer part of the structure. Though new was relative. Maybe a couple hundred years versus six hundred. At last, we stopped in front of a paneled door, and my guide knocked once before opening it.
“Ciara, you’ve a visitor.”
“Thanks, Munro. Who is—” Ciara trailed off as I stepped into the room, her eyes going wide. “Alex?”
She stood beside a massive whiteboard covered in a diagram as complex as some of the missions I’d planned. Kyla, Sophie, and Afton sat scattered around the room, surrounded by what appeared to be an explosion of office supplies. They stared at me with undisguised interest. Havoc rose from where he’d been curled up on a dog bed and crossed to sniff at the food.
Suddenly ill at ease with my improvised plan, I lifted the bag in explanation. “I knew you were going to be slammed today, so I brought you lunch.” I’d known no such thing, but I’d surmised that she worked hard and long, so I’d taken a shot in the dark.
“Oh, I… Thanks.” She seemed flustered by my being here. Maybe work hadn’t been included in that public-facing part of the plan. “I’m sorry. I don’t really have time to stop and eat with you just now.”
Kyla set her tablet aside. “We can take a break.” Beneath her casual, breezy tone was a heavy implication that as soon as that break was over, Ciara was expected to tell them absolutely everything about what was going on here.
“A short one,” Ciara conceded. “Give me just a minute.”
I gave Havoc a scratch behind the ears. “Take your time.”
As she finished up whatever she was doing, my attention went back to the board. It was some kind of big flow chart of the logistics of an event.
Ciara capped her marker and set it aside. “C’mon.”
“Ladies.” I nodded to the others and followed her out of the room, trailed by the dog.
We wound through even more hallways until she led me into a room and shut the door behind us. It was a library. Lots of dark wood and leather and endless shelves of books. Before I could give in to temptation and start perusing titles, Ciara turned. “What are you doing here?”
Taking in the tense expression on her face, I rocked back on my heels. “Overstepping, apparently.” I explained my logic. “But I can see now I should have cleared it with you first. I’m sorry.”
Her shoulders relaxed fractionally. “No, it’s… fine. I just wasn’t expecting to see you here. It’s an adjustment. All of this is an adjustment.” Circling around the massive desk I didn’t need anyone to tell me was an antique, she dropped into the chair. Havoc lay down beside her. “Didn’t you have to work today?”
I shook off the mental image of spreading her out on that desk in nothing at all. “I did. Do. But they can get on well enough without me for an hour or so.”
“So, what did you bring me?”
I stepped up to the desk. “Stovies with oatcakes or cottage pie.”
“I will never ever say no to Dom’s cottage pie. Hand it over.”
As she settled back with her lunch and a disposable fork, I took a seat. “I see you did it.”
“Did what?”
“You found a way to make a lateral move with your training in large-scale festival planning into something more to your taste.” That had been my advice to her three years ago. She, too, had been in transition, not happy in the field in which she’d earned her degree.
“Ah. Well, I suppose I have.”
“It’s impressive. And the fact that you’ve done it by twenty-five speaks to your drive and determination.”
“Thank you.” She chewed thoughtfully, her brows knit as if she were trying to make up her mind to say something. “Is there anything you can tell me about where you’ve been the past few years?”
“Home. Largely working in my brother’s construction firm in Dumbarton.”
“Construction? Somehow, that’s not what I imagined you doing.” Her cheeks colored.
Because she’d imagined me? Or because she thought she’d said something rude?
“Not that there’s anything at all wrong with construction. It’s a vital trade and perfectly honest work.”
“No offense taken. It wasn’t what I expected to be doing either.” But after everything had gone sideways, it was the only thing that felt safe. “I needed to be close to home. We lost our dad, and Mum took it hard.”
Every drop of antipathy bled out of Ciara’s expression. “Oh, Alex. I’m so sorry. What happened?”
I stabbed at my food. “Car accident.” That had been the official report, anyway. I’d had my suspicions, but I hadn’t been able to prove anything nefarious. Seeming to sense my mood, Havoc came around the desk and put his head on my knee, wagging his thick tail.
Clearly understanding I didn’t want to continue along this path, she changed the subject. “Are you and your brother close?”
Grateful for the diversion, I stroked the dog’s ears. “Aye. He and his husband were lifesavers. They just adopted a little girl last year. Niamh’s five.”
A smile flickered at the edge of Ciara’s lips. “And does she have her Uncle Alex wrapped around her little finger?”
I smirked. “Know something about that, do you?”
“Are you saying I’m spoiled?”
“I’m saying you’re clearly the apple of your parents’ eye and your brother adores you. It was obvious in every picture scattered all over their house.”
She hesitated again. “He was who you were coming to meet in Inverness, wasn’t he?”
“Aye. It was… a shock when I got to your parents’ house and saw photos of you everywhere.” I’d half expected the ground to open up and swallow me whole because I’d shagged my best mate’s little sister.
“I expect it was.” Her tone had gone neutral again. But she didn’t pursue the topic.
We lapsed into a silence that wasn’t quite comfortable but wasn’t entirely contentious either. Havoc stayed beside me, staring hard until I gave in and tossed him one of the oatcakes. He snapped it out of the air, chomping it down in three bites. Once lunch was finished, Ciara gathered up the rubbish and led me out of the castle, through the kitchen.
“I parked round front.”
“I’ll walk you to your car.”
I supposed it was progress that she didn’t just boot me out and send me on my way. Or maybe she was just keeping up appearances.
We passed her little blue Peugeot on the way. I paused at the side, angling my head for a better look.
“Did you always have this scratch?”
“What scratch?” She came around to see what I was looking at. “Bloody hell. Brodie. It had to be Brodie. Some kind of backlash from Saturday. Not that I’ll be able to prove it.”
“Aren’t there security cameras?”
She just looked at me, as if wondering what sort of world I came from. “No. There are no security cameras. It’s not a big deal. He’s just throwing a tantrum because I’ve moved on.”
I didn’t like it. I didn’t like it at all. “Was he in the habit of throwing tantrums when you were together?”
“No. Never.”
That was something. But still. “What is Brodie’s full name?”
Ciara immediately shut down, crossing her arms. “I don’t want you doing anything. You’re just meant to be a shield.”
“I promise I’m not going to go rough him up or anything. I just want to know who I should be listening to references for.” And I wanted to know who to dig deeper into. But she didn’t need to know that.
After a long hesitation, she finally admitted, “His name is Brodie Drummond. He’s from Braemore.” She was putting on a tough face, but I could tell that this prolonged lack of resolution was wearing on her.
I took a chance then and gripped her shoulders, pulling her in for a hug. “It’s going to be okay.”
With a soul-deep sigh, she relaxed into me, not exactly returning the hug, but more just… leaning. I could handle that.
She was the one who stepped back, shaking her head as if she had to remind herself how she was supposed to feel about me. That she was still angry. I filed that away to mull over later.
“I know you need to get back to work. So do I.”
She walked with me around to the front, where I’d left my truck, but she didn’t touch me again. “Thanks for lunch.”
“Anytime. See you later, Ciara.”
Another sigh I didn’t know how to read. “See you later, Alex.”