Chapter 18
EIGHTEEN
CIARA
Monday found me clutching my extra-large mug of coffee like Gollum his precious. It was definitely going to be a two-cup morning. We’d gotten back from the concert late Saturday night, and I’d been up early the next morning to catch up on the work I’d blown off to go out. It would be my last weekend outing for several weeks, as we had a whole string of weddings coming up at the castle, including our biggest event to date in a little over a month. My work schedule was one of the things Brodie and I had fought about regularly, but Alex seemed unconcerned. As he pointed out, he worked for himself, and once their adventure company officially opened its doors, he would be working a lot of weekends as well. It had been an oddly coupley sort of conversation, considering we weren’t really dating, but I found I appreciated his attitude, nonetheless.
“Ciara.”
The sound of my name jerked me out of my own head. “Huh?”
From the look on Sophie’s face, it wasn’t the first time she’d tried to get my attention. “I asked how the weekend went. Was the concert good?”
“Sorry.” My apology was interrupted by a jaw-splitting yawn. “It was fine. Not really my kind of music, but it was still a good time. It was nice to get out of town for a change of scenery.”
The excursion had been fun. Hanging out with my friends and with Alex. Despite coming from a wildly different background, he’d seemed to get on with them well. I’d been tense about it at first, but once I got over myself and accepted that I had to act appropriately in front of them, I’d relaxed. It had been easier than I wanted it to be. The truth was, I enjoyed Alex’s company. I’d enjoyed him when we’d met on the train. He was easy to be with. And I was trying not to think about how instinctive it had been to stay cuddled close to his side. It made me remember far too clearly what it had been like to be even closer.
Not. Happening. Again.
But God, it was hard not to think about it. Especially when he was in that super alpha protective mode. I knew part of it was his training, and that he struggled as Ewan had with being in crowds in public. But he was taking the situation with Brodie as a serious threat, which was more than I’d expected and more than I’d thought was needed.
But my ex had been at the concert, and I could think of no good reason why that would be. Especially as he’d clearly been skulking around instead of attending like everyone else. While Alex had leapt to some problematic conclusions that I wasn’t ready to accept, his attention to my safety made me feel cared for and protected in a way that was, frankly, a problem.
It was becoming harder and harder to hold on to my antipathy. If I forgave him, what did that mean for us? A second chance? Would he want that? Or would it simply open me up to a fresh heartbreak that I still didn’t know how to handle?
“Somebody is mooning over her fake boyfriend,” Kyla sing-songed.
“I am not mooning. That would require being more than semi-conscious, and I’m not at all certain I qualify just now.” Another massive yawn interrupted my self-defense. “I did manage to finish the timeline for the Burton-Sullivan wedding and sent off quote requests to our vendors for the extra tables and chairs for the Dooley-Kelso engagement party.”
“Good. That should be most of the time-sensitive stuff that needed dealing with before this weekend’s event. The bride and groom are scheduled to arrive on the premises Wednesday. Charlotte’s already gathering components for the welcome baskets.”
“Oh, Pippa told me this weekend that the next batch of her cheese should be ready tomorrow.” I scribbled a note. “I’ll head out to her croft to pick that up myself.”
“Perfect.” Kyla checked something off on her tablet.
Afton turned away from the tea station, a mug of steaming peppermint tea in her hands. “See if she’s got any extra we can buy to keep on hand. I’ve got a few recipes I’d like to try, but we’d need a stockpile to actually offer it as a menu option.”
Someone knocked on the doorjamb.
“Come in,” Kyla called.
Angus stuck his head into the room. “We’re back from our walk, and I’ve got a delivery here for Ciara.”
Havoc pushed past him and made for his bed in the corner.
I frowned. “I wasn’t expecting anything.”
He stepped inside, a long, narrow box clutched under his arm.
Sophie clapped her hands. “Oh! That’s the sort of box my deliveries usually come in. Maybe Alex is sending you flowers!”
I felt a foolish, girly little flutter at the idea of that. Because sending flowers here meant no one but people who were in on the true status of our relationship would know. And that meant… what? That he just wanted to be sweet?
Taking the box from Angus, I slit the tape on either side and carefully worked it open. At the sight of what was nestled inside, I froze.
The flowers inside were dead. Not as if something had gone horribly wrong in shipping, but as if they’d been deliberately gathered that way. The yellow petals were wilted and curled in on themselves, and the leaves and stems were brown and brittle.
Havoc was suddenly beside me, leaning against my legs with a whine.
“What on earth?” Sophie’s hand settled on my shoulder as she peered past me into the box. “Those were… yellow carnations, I think. But why would anyone send you this?”
“Sophie, what do yellow carnations mean?” My voice sounded far away to my own ears.
“Um… well, traditionally disappointment or rejection.”
Numb, I carefully poked through the box, but there was no card and no return address. Just my name and Ardinmuir Event Planning listed on the label. But I knew. They had to be from Brodie. His latest form of lashing out at me. I could no longer pretend that this was normal or even peripherally acceptable. I was officially in over my head.
Aware of everyone staring, I pulled out my phone and took a picture of the box to text to Alex.
Me: I just got this.
Three seconds later, my phone rang.
“Hey.”
“Where are you?” Alex’s voice was calm but deadly serious.
“At work. Up at Ardinmuir.”
“I’m on my way. Don’t touch anything else.”
“Okay.” I backed away from the box and sank down onto the sofa. Havoc dropped to his haunches beside me, sticking close.
We were still there when Alex strode in twenty minutes later.
He came straight to me, crouching down and taking my hands in his. Only then did Havoc ease back.
“You okay?”
“Not really.”
“Can you give us the room?” Alex didn’t look at my coworkers as he asked it. He didn’t take his eyes off mine.
I expected them to argue, but they quietly cleared out, shutting the door softly behind them.
Alex shifted to sit beside me and pulled me into his arms. I burrowed in, letting myself lean, because he was big and solid, and I knew he had my back.
“I think I made a mistake.”
His arms tightened around me. “You did nothing wrong. Seeing the best in people isn’t a flaw. Trying to be kind isn’t a flaw. It just… doesn’t always work.”
“Clearly.”
He brushed a kiss over my temple. “It’s going to be okay. Where’s the box?”
I nodded to where it still sat on the table.
Letting me go, he crossed the room and examined the package as carefully as if he were diffusing a bomb. “No note. No return address. Nothing handwritten.”
I dug my fingers into Havoc’s ruff. The feel of the big dog was grounding, and I could see how he helped with Isobel’s anxiety. “There’s nothing to tie it to Brodie or anyone else. There’s nothing we can take to the police. What are we supposed to do?”
“We collect evidence. We keep and document all the details because it establishes a pattern. Combined with the damage to your car, I think we can argue escalation.”
I thought of the note he’d left under my door that I’d just tossed in the bin. Something must’ve shown on my face.
“There’s been something else. What haven’t you told me?”
“I didn’t think it was a big deal.”
“Ciara…”
“He’s been sending me notes, gifts and the like, since I broke up with him.”
“What did they say?”
“They were all the same theme. He misses me. Wants me back. Please give him another chance. The last one was the night you came over to discuss the details of this whole thing.”
Realization brightened his face. “That’s why you were uneasy that night.”
“Yeah.”
“Did you keep them?”
“No. None of them. I just thought he was being a nuisance and that he’d eventually take the hint.”
Alex scrubbed a hand down his face. “Okay. Anything else? Any other personal encounters where you felt uncomfortable?”
I told him about the run-in we’d had at the butcher shop in Braemore.
Hearing it all laid out like this, I could see what I’d refused to consider before: Brodie was being obsessive, and he’d long since crossed the line. Which meant he wasn’t the man I’d believed him to be. How the hell had I been such a poor judge of character?
“All right. Probably none of this on its own is enough to justify a non-harassment order. But you’re going to report it either way, so it’s documented.”
I hoped it didn’t come to true legal action, but I didn’t argue. At this point, I was afraid of what Brodie might do next.
“Meanwhile, you’re getting some extra security. I need to order some things.”
As Alex began making a list, I watched him, wondering if I could be wrong about him, too. Because right now, he was acting like the man I’d believed him to be when we met before, not the guy he was after he ghosted me. Which one was the real him? And how could I trust my judgment either way?