Chapter 27 - Taran
It was cowardly to send London in my stead to meet Quinn at the house so he could install the camera doorbell.
I knew it. He knew it. Quinn sent me a text telling me he’d left the instructions with London because I needed to install the app on my phone to get it properly working.
I could practically hear the annoyance in his text.
Three times that week, when I saw him striding down Main Street toward the store, I’d hurriedly whispered to Ewan or Paisley to tell him I wasn’t there while I hid and listened to my staff lie to Quinn.
I was such a mess after our moment on the beach. I could feel the walls I’d built up over years crumbling, and I was petrified.
I wished I were braver.
Especially as Quinn promised to tell me about his suspicions regarding my break-in, Cammie’s vandalized car, and our mystery road rage assailant.
The police, unfortunately, had no information and were putting it down to drunk driving.
As for Cammie’s vandalism, they’d come up with nothing and for now thought it might just be a sick prank.
When I received a phone call from a post office on Oban explaining a package had arrived addressed to me and that they were unable to send it across on the ferry due to the estimated value and some insurance issues, it was a welcome distraction.
The staff member at the post office told me the item had been sent by a large online retailer, and that it was an electrical device worth over a thousand pounds.
I had no idea what the item was or who had sent it, but after double-checking caller ID to confirm it was the post office in Oban, I decided to take my car onto the ferry first thing Saturday morning to get to the post office before it closed for the weekend.
I made sure I had everything I needed for the ferry crossing since we weren’t allowed back to our vehicles until we’d docked.
The morning ferry was always particularly busy with Glenvulin residents journeying to the mainland for work, but it was especially busy on a Saturday.
I smiled hello to locals who recognized me, and they weren’t surprised I didn’t stop to chat.
That was the one good thing about returning to a community who had helped raise you.
Those who had been there knew I was always a quiet person, not unfriendly, but not extroverted, and they were always eager to gossip to newer residents about everyone.
I could just imagine them saying, “Och, that’s just Taran.
She means nothing by it. Always been a bit shy, that one.
” I could imagine it because I’d literally overheard Mrs. Macdonald tell one of the bakery owners that while they waited in line for coffee and I stacked bookshelves behind them.
Small flask of coffee in hand, I wandered through the boat, eyes on the phone in my other hand as I sipped.
I only looked up once I reached the railings at the stern.
Staring back toward Leth Sholas and its colorful buildings, how they added a spot of brightness to a dull day, I hoped no one approached me.
It was August 1st today, I realized.
Thirteen and a half months since Mum passed.
Feeling the rise of overwhelming grief, I quickly threw the thought from my head and chugged back a gulp of coffee.
“Fancy seeing you here.”
The familiar voice caused me to choke as I lowered the flask in shock.
Quinn leaned against the railing beside me, head turned toward me, his lips curled at the corners. Those blue eyes twinkled with amusement as I coughed around the halted coffee.
Butterflies fluttered in my belly and just like that, I had the distraction I’d sought.
“What are … what?” I glanced over my shoulder, wondering where the hell he’d come from. “I didn’t see you drive onto the ferry.”
“I was behind you.” He turned to face me, straightening but still leaning against the railing. Quinn wore a long-sleeved Henley with a tartan shirt over it. A nice pair of jeans. No dust or paint on them. And hiking trainers that looked brand new.
When I brought my gaze back up, he quirked an eyebrow at my perusal. Mischief gleamed in his expression. “Like what you see?”
I flushed and rolled my eyes, leaning past him to stare back at the town we were leaving behind. “What are you doing here?”
He settled beside me again, his arm brushing mine. “Angus’s field hockey team made it to the finals, so I booked a room at the Haven for the weekend. I’m taking the kids to dinner tonight.”
What were the chances? “That sounds nice.”
Quinn nudged me with his shoulder. “This is the part where you tell me what you’re doing here.”
“The post office on Oban called about a package they can’t deliver. It’s some electrical device that was sent by a big online retailer, but I never purchased anything. I’m going over to see what it’s all about.”
“Why can’t they deliver it?”
“Something about its value being over what they can put on the ferry for insurance purposes.”
Quinn’s brows furrowed. “Taran, I’ve never heard the like.”
I shrugged. “I checked, and the number that called me was the post office.”
He glanced at his watch. “I don’t need to be at the game until noon, so I’ll come with you to the post office.”
Irritated by his high-handedness, I straightened to full height to glower at him. “Oh, you will, will you?”
Quinn mirrored my stance. “Aye. Considering you’ve been broken into and almost mowed down in the space of a week, I will escort you to the post office for this weird and mysterious package.”
“Nothing has happened since. Has anything happened to you? I know Cammie hasn’t had anything else happen to her.”
“And you’d know that because you’re not avoiding her.” His tone was gentle, nonaccusatory.
Which made it worse. “Quinn … maybe if you told me your suspicions about who is behind it, it might go a long way to building some trust between us.”
He let out an exasperated sigh. “Not fair.”
“You’re not playing fair.”
“Fine.” He glanced over both shoulders to make sure there was no one else near enough to hear us. Then he leaned on the railing again, gesturing with his head for me to come closer. Despite the fact that his proximity befuddled my brain, I leaned in.
My preoccupation with how good he smelled, how handsome he was, was undone when I suddenly realized how grim his expression had grown.
“Quinn, what is going on?” I asked just loud enough to be heard over the ferry’s engine and the boat cutting through the choppy water.
He licked his lips as if they were dry and ran a hand over his beard, rubbing it like I’d seen him do when he was troubled or exasperated. “It was two days after I married Kiera,” he began.
My heart felt like it toppled out of my rib cage and into my stomach with a painful thud.
Quinn flicked me a wary look. “I have more than your forgiveness to earn, Taran. I was a selfish, fucked-up kid. Marrying Kiera was excruciating. Having to hide from her how excruciating it was, was hellish. Only Forde and Cammie really knew the extent of my depression during that time. Kiera was still pregnant, so Heather had yet to come along and give me purpose after losing you.”
Sympathy I never thought I’d feel scored through me in a burning ache. I nodded at him to continue.
“Forde suggested we go for a post-stag do since I’d refused to celebrate the impending nuptials.
He thought it would help bring me out of my funk.
In the end, three of us took out a small cuddy cabin cruiser we’d rented from the harbor to go fishing.
” Quinn stared out toward Leth Sholas. “We took an icebox filled with beer and we did very little fishing and a lot of drinking.” He turned his head to me, and I sucked in a breath at the agony I saw in his eyes. “It was Forde, me, and Liam McCall.”
“Liam died,” I remembered. “That was the night he died?”
His hands balled into fists as he turned back toward the water.
“We stopped not far from shore on the northwest side, got shit-faced, and passed out in the boat. Every one of us. Forde woke up to the sunrise and realized Liam wasn’t on the boat.
He woke me and called for help on the radio.
The search went on for weeks.” Quinn exhaled a shaky breath.
“Taran … it’s a kind of hell not knowing what happened to someone you care about.
If he was in trouble, if he fell overboard, surely, he would have shouted for help?
Did he and we were too drunk to hear him?
We’ll never know. We can only torture ourselves with the unknown.
And then, of course, there’s Forde’s theory. ”
I’d reached out to cover Quinn’s arm with my hand, horrified for him that he’d gone through that. Liam had always been a nice kid, quiet but gentlemanly toward me. I’d always thought he kind of hero-worshipped Quinn.
Quinn stared down at my hand on his arm and as I lifted it to let go, he quickly covered it with his own. His calloused palm was rough against the top of my hand, his long fingers cool as they tightened around mine.
Goose bumps prickled on my skin and my breathing faltered as awareness rioted through me.
Our eyes met and held and everything else disappeared around us.
“Forde,” Quinn finally forced out. “Forde wondered if it was deliberate.”
I gaped, shocked at his meaning. “Suicide?”
He nodded slowly. “We all knew Liam’s father was abusive.
Liam would disappear on us for weeks. We saw the bruises, we witnessed his dramatic mood swings.
We didn’t … we didn’t know how to talk to him about it, and we didn’t try.
I … I wished we’d tried. That’s why I never stay quiet now if I see a friend hurting or in trouble. ”
I leaned in closer. “Quinn, you don’t know what happened to Liam. You can’t blame yourself, whether it was a tragic accident or if he went into that water of his own volition.”
“Eoghan blamed us.” His expression tightened and understanding dawned as I remembered Eoghan’s verbal attack in Pages & Perks.
“He tried to get the police to believe it was foul play, but Paul Young has been a policeman on this island for thirty years. He’d had more than one neighbor call him with concerns that Eoghan was abusing Liam and his mother.
Paul couldn’t do anything about it because Liam and his mum denied it.
He didn’t trust Eoghan, and he knew me and Forde well, so he didn’t think too much of the claims, but Eoghan got the village gossiping.
Forde and I were under a microscope for weeks.
Finally, Eoghan and Liam’s mother left Leth Sholas and we could breathe again, as horrible as that might sound. ”
He eyed me warily. “I’ve never gotten drunk since. What happened with Kiera and then Liam … I knew that alcohol was the enemy, not the answer. A pint or a dram is my limit now.”
I knew why he’d told me that.
He was telling me so I needn’t worry that he’d inadvertently hurt me again because of being too drunk to remember his actions.
I avoided responding to that and asked, “So, you think Eoghan is back now for some kind of misguided revenge? After all these years?”
“I think the only thing stopping him was his wife, and now that she’s gone, he’s got nothing but his own demons to face.
I think he’d rather direct his anger outward than inward.
” Quinn straightened and I did too, mirroring him as he turned into me.
“Until I have some evidence to prove that he’s the one behind all this, I don’t want you venturing off to places alone. ”
“I lived in Glasgow for eighteen years. I can take care of myself.”
“Please, Taran. If anything happened to you …” He gave a sharp jerk of his head. “Nothing can happen to you. So let me accompany you to the post office.”
Realizing it would be the ultimate act of pettiness to deny him this after he’d trusted me with his story, I found myself nodding.
Plus … it was becoming clear to me that Quinn’s life during our estrangement hadn’t been sunshine and roses.
While he had the joy his children brought him, there had also been loss and suffering.
Truthfully, I didn’t want that for him. In the past, in my pettier moments, I’d wished him misery.
But in reality, I hated the thought of Quinn being unhappy.
“Fine. You can come with me.”
His shoulders relaxed ever so slightly. “Then you can come with me to Angus’s game.”
I gaped at his outrageous suggestion. “I don’t think so.”
“Are you scared?” he taunted with a sly grin.
I shoved him playfully and he laughed, the sound warming me in all my feminine places. “I’m not coming to your son’s game like a … like I’m your … you know.”
“Och, no one will think that.”
“No,” I insisted firmly.
“Then join us for dinner afterward.”
“I have to get the ferry home. Sorry.”
Quinn grimaced but thankfully let it go.