37. Chapter 37
Chapter 37
All the Gossip
Violet awoke to the sound of the sea crashing in the distance. She opened her eyes to a dimly lit bedroom and glanced out the window on a stormy Sunday morning. Rain was blowing hard against the glass.
Normally, she’d go to the sanctuary on a Sunday, but today, she didn’t think she could. The truth was, she was afraid to see him again. Afraid he’d had his fun and was done. Afraid he’d be just her lovely amazing boss. How was she supposed to deal with that? She looked at her phone. Two missed calls from Fiona and still nothing from Lachlan. Her overzealous heart hurt, and she sighed heavily.
There was a knock on her door, and in a flash, her heart popped back to life. Here we go! She wanted it to be him. God help her, there it was. She wanted it to be him . Throwing her legs over the side of the bed, she stood up, took a quick look in the mirror, and wiped some makeup from under her eyes—not her best look, but no time to fix it now. She reached the door holding in her breath. Pulling it open, she found Fiona on the other side, drenched as a rat holding a tearing wet brown paper bag. A wave of disappointment washed over her. She recovered quickly, though.
“What took ye so long?” Fiona asked, chucking off her boots and barging past Violet, heading straight for her kitchen.
Violet smiled. “Good morning, Fiona.”
“Morning? It’s half past noon, ye daft lass! Have ye just woken then? I’ve been trying to ring ye all morning.”
Violet looked at the clock, confirming Fiona’s claim. Violet couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept past ten a.m., never mind noon! She must have been more exhausted than she realized. She had tossed and turned much of the night before falling into a fitful sleep.
“I had no idea the time,” Violet said with a yawn, pulling her fluffy yellow bathrobe tighter around her—funny how she’d looked at texts but not the time.
“Clearly. So how was your evening then?” Fiona asked with a conspiratorial look as she brought a plate full of bagels into the living room.
“Mmm, yum. Thanks,” Violet said, snatching up a buttered cinnamon raisin bagel.
“I’ll put the kettle on. I want the details,” she said, walking back to the kitchen.
“What details?” Violet asked from the living room with her mouth full. She hadn't realized how hungry she was.
Fiona came back a few minutes later with two mismatched mugs of tea and sat on the sofa across from her friend. Violet had picked up a few random mugs at a flea market, but there was a certain charm to them that she just adored.
As she picked up her mug from the coffee table, her mind flashed back to Lachlan’s sugar and creamer set. The one he’d gotten all weird about. The one that was garish and pompous looking, and suddenly, she understood. It was Anna’s. Ugh. Had they lived together? Retracing her memories, she wondered if she’d missed any other signs of that woman in Lachlan’s home. Interestingly, that was the only thing that screamed Anna MacDonald.
She polished off the first bagel and picked up another, ripping off a small piece and popping it into her mouth.
“Jeez, woman, when did ye eat last?” Fiona said, picking at her own bagel.
“Sorry, I didn’t really eat anything at the gala.”
“Too busy drinking and schmoozing, I suppose.”
“I guess.” Violet continued to devour her second bagel.
“Ye left without me and Andy last night,” Fiona said like it was a question. “When I couldn’t get a hold of ye this morning, I wondered if ye might be somewhere else?” She threw her a conspiratorial smile.
Violet laughed. “No, I was here. I had a headache.” She took a sip of tea. “Sorry, I ducked out on you guys. I was exhausted, so I slipped out. I didn’t want to cut your evening short.” It was partially true.
Fiona was way too perceptive, and Violet wasn’t sure she wanted to talk about last night. “How was your night? Did you have fun?”
“Braw!” Fiona beamed.
Violet wondered why her friend had a little twinkle in her eye today.
“Gosh, it was just a dreamy night, wasn’t it?” She didn’t wait for Violet to respond. “I felt like Cinderella going to the ball! The food, the dancing, the ambiance. Did you dance at all? I kept looking for ye, but ye were nowhere to be found. Andy was useless by the time he came back from the whisky tour. He was three sheets to the wind. I dinnae even think he remembered he’d gone on it with ye down there. Where’d ye get lost to then?” Fiona asked expectantly.
“Oh, I just spent a little more time down on the tour than Andy did, I guess.” Violet didn’t want to lie, but she wasn’t ready to divulge about her night.
“Ah, right, you’re into all that stuff then? Whisky making and such.” Her voice sounding bored by the very idea.
Violet laughed. “I suppose so.”
"Ooh, you'll never guess what happened!" Fiona said, taking a nibble off a piece of her bagel.
"Do tell," Violet said, finally feeling satiated.
"Did ye happen to see the beautiful brunette in the white sequined gown? Anna MacDonald?”
Violet swallowed her tea and felt herself tense. "Yeah, hard to miss," she said, trying to be casual.
"Well, I mean, it's a bit of gossip, and I'm not sure how true it is, but apparently, your boy Lachlan—”
Violet interjected, "He's not my boy.”
"Yeah, yeah, dinnae fash. It seems you're not the only one with a crush on our boss."
Violet felt suddenly ill again. Fiona didn't seem to notice, and she continued to animatedly tell her story.
"I huv it on good authority that this wealthy Anna woman was hoping to snag Lachlan's attention, but apparently, Lachlan's sister overheard the woman being a real cunt to someone.”
Violet gripped her tea mug a little tighter. Was that someone her? Had Orlagh overheard them?
"The same person told me that he overheard Lachlan telling that Anna woman off. And do you know what he said?" Fiona's eyes were alight.
"He told her that he'd sooner date a slice of fucking stale moldy bread than be in her company and that she could take her money and her bitchy fucking attitude and go back to the hole from which she'd crawled out from."
Violet stared at Fiona and then burst out laughing. She laughed so hard tears formed in her eyes. She didn't believe for a second those words would have come out of Lachlan's mouth, but she enjoyed the story all the same. She wondered if there was any truth to it. Had Orlagh overheard Anna being a C-word?” That wasn't hard to imagine. It didn't necessarily mean she'd overheard their conversation, though. And had Lachlan told Anna off?
"Who told you all this?" she asked when she finally was able to breathe again from laughing so hard.
Fiona looked at Violet square on and grinned from ear to ear. “So I met someone last night.”
“Ooh?” Violet took a sip of her tea, eyeing Fiona expectantly. Who was this mystery person who apparently was privy to all the gossip? "Do tell!"
“Right, well, I was standing back just people watching when this drop dead gorgeous man started to walk my way. It was crazy, like he was on a mission. He was staring right at me as he came my way. I didnae ken what to think. My first thought was that someone was behind me. I didnae think he could possibly be coming to me. And then I thought that he was maybe some kind of security and I was getting kicked out.”
Violet snorted, almost spitting out her tea.
“Dinnae laugh!” Fiona chided. “It wouldnae be the first time.”
That was a whole different conversation that Violet would need to have with her, but at the moment, she wanted to know about this mystery guy.
“Sorry, I’m just imagining the situation. I can’t believe you actually thought you were getting kicked out.” The wind rattled against the windows outside, and Violet tucked her legs a little tighter under her on the couch.
“Aye, well, it crossed my mind. Anyway, he walked right up to me face to face, I thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest.”
“And?” Violet urged.
“And he was flipping gorgeous!”
“Yeah, I got that, but what did he say? I'm assuming he didn't lead with the gossip of the evening.” Violet was glad to have something to distract her from the memory of her own events from the night before.
“He handed me a glass of champagne, winked at me, and then stood alongside me as if to join me in my people watching. I didnae ken what to think. Hot men dinnae just come and hang out with me. It was most extraordinary.”
“Well, he was probably like, ‘hot women dinnae just stand in the corner alone.’” Violet mimicked Fiona's accent. “So then what?”
Fiona got all serious and moved in closer as if to tell a secret. “He asked me if I wanted to leave with him.”
“What?” Violet asked incredulously. “You didn’t?”
“I sure as heck did.”
“Fiona!” Violet was shocked.
“What? He was hot, and I haven’t had a good lay in ages.” Violet stared at her friend, unable to close her mouth.
“Why are you so shocked?”
“You left with a complete stranger?”
“Aye, I did.” Fiona grinned like the cat who got the cream.
Violet chuckled. “Well, I’m glad it went well, but jeepers, he could have been trouble!”
“Oh, he was trouble, all right.”
Violet laughed. “Oh my God. Well, good for you then.”
“Brilliant night. To be honest, we didnae actually huv sex. He's hot, but no' really my type, but I will say the man has his talents.” She grinned as if recalling the details in her mind's eye.
“So, one wild night, or are you going to see him again?”
“I doubt it. Ye ken, kinda a one-and-done type thing. Eased my dry spell.” She smiled as if she were speaking of someone fondly from her past and not the guy she’d just seen last night.
Was it one-and-done with Lachlan? She almost winced at the thought stumbling through her head. Violet wanted to be supportive, and the truth was, she was happy for Fiona—but also maybe a little surprised. Violet had a sneaking suspicion that the hot bad boy from last night wasn't her type because Fiona actually batted for the other team. She hadn't said as much, but there were little things. For example, when they were in Glasgow, she’d noticed her eyeing up the women, not the men—but Violet hadn't given it much thought until now. It would also make sense why she hadn't actually had sex with the guy last night. Not that it mattered. She didn't care which team her friend batted for. Fiona seemed happy, and that's all she cared about.
"And it was this guy who told you all that gossip about Anna MacDonald?”
"Aye. When we were leaving, we saw her looking flustered and downright pissed off. She barged ahead of us, nearly knocking into me, and she literally busted a high heel in the process. At the time, I thought it served her right for being so rude cutting us off, and when we got in the cab, Drew told me the story.”
"His name is Drew?" Violet swallowed hard. Could it be Lachlan’s brother? Violet chided herself—not likely. They were in Scotland. There were likely plenty of Drews. Although, it was a bit ironic that a good-looking guy named Drew was at the Calliach Distillery Gala, and he seemed to know the family gossip.