Chapter 5 Regan
REGAN
Blisters chafed in gnawing pain at the back of my heels and along my toes as I finally turned down the narrow country road that led to the impressive contemporary homes in the distance. I could hear the sea and smell the salt in the air.
The distance from Ardnoch village to Caelmore didn’t seem like much when I was in the car.
It’s why I’d insisted, after Robyn dropped me off this morning, that I could walk back.
She’d offered a pair of her hiking boots, but I’d refused because she wore a size bigger than me, and I thought that would be worse.
I was wrong. Thinking of the hiking boots I’d left back in Boston, along with half of my belongings, I whimpered as I limped along the private, packed-dirt road.
“Screw it.” I kicked off my heels and sighed in relief as my swollen, hot feet met cool earth.
Bending to collect the Mary Janes I’d assumed would be better than the stilettos I’d brought, I cursed my love of heels and dresses.
In my rush to leave, I’d stupidly left all my backpacking gear behind.
A cheap flight meant the inability to take luggage over a certain weight.
I’d brought a tiny suitcase, and there was not a pair of sneakers or flats to be found in it.
If I was going to stay, that would have to change.
Though, it was doubtful I could stay if I didn’t find a job soon. I’d spent all morning and part of the afternoon charming every shop, café, and restaurant owner in the village.
Ardnoch was the quaintest place I’d ever been.
A main square with a large parking lot for visitors was central to Ardnoch. I’d discovered on my employment quest that the shops, restaurants, hotels, and bed-and-breakfasts were scattered throughout the village on cute row streets.
The historical architecture and design was amazing.
Prior to coming here, I’d stalked Robyn’s Instagram for her new photos, so I’d seen Ardnoch through her lens.
But seeing it in real life was even better.
I knew from my sister’s photo captions that all the buildings here predated the mid-twentieth century, and dominating it all, near the Gloaming—the town’s biggest hotel, right on the square—was a medieval cathedral.
The main thoroughfare of Ardnoch was called Castle Street.
Guessing it was so named since it was the road that led out of the village toward Ardnoch Castle and Estate.
Castle Street was an avenue of identical nineteenth-century terraced houses with dormer windows.
A lot of the homes had been converted into boutiques, cafés, and inns.
Off Castle Street were identical row streets with fewer converted businesses.
Still, I left no stone unturned and walked the four-block radius before it became apparent the rest of the buildings were residential.
No one was hiring.
It was the end of the summer, and soon they would let go the temporary staff they’d hired for the tourist season. How could an entire village not need new employees? No servers, no shop assistants, no cleaners, nothing!
And after the increasingly awkward and tension-filled interactions with Robyn over the weekend, there was no other option but to get a job and move out of Lachlan’s house. I knew she wanted me to stay, but I didn’t think it was a good idea.
Lachlan was a quiet one. I still hadn’t figured him out. All I knew so far was that he watched over Robyn like a man ready to take a bullet for her. With me, he was a different kind of watchful. Sometimes, it was like he saw too much.
Like how much of a coward I was.
I still couldn’t bring myself to broach the subject of me disappearing on Robyn. At least now she was talking to me. What if she really hated me after I explained what had been going on in my head? She might think it was as pathetic an excuse as I did.
She’d see once and for all how codependent I was.
How not brave I was.
It wasn’t easy being a coward and even more difficult when your big sister was fearless.
Except she seemed to tiptoe around the elephant in the room as much as I did. That realization made me even more nervous. But at least it was all a giant distraction from the bastard who’d plagued my life for eight months.
The thought juddered through me, and I immediately threw it out.
The sound of an engine at my back helped with the disposal of bad thoughts, and I glanced over my shoulder to see a green Defender moving slowly toward me.
Wondering who it could be, I stepped into the grass at the side of the road and leaned as far back as I could to allow the vehicle to pass.
Instead, it slowed, a blond woman at the wheel.
She rolled to a stop and I heard, “Regan!” from the back seat.
Eilidh pushed her face between the blond woman’s seat and the empty passenger seat. Lewis’s head hovered above hers.
“Hey, guys.” I grinned. “How’s it going?”
“I got Best Drawing today!” Eilidh beamed.
I leaned against the passenger door. “Great job! I’m not surprised. Superstars tend to win a lot.” She giggled at my wink, and I turned to Lewis. “Hey, buddy. How are you?”
He shrugged but gave me a small smile before he gestured to the woman at the wheel. “This is Aunt Arrochar.”
The sole Adair sister. I’d been curious to meet her after hearing Robyn speak so fondly of her.
“Hey, I’m Robbie’s sister, Regan.”
Arrochar leaned over and popped open the door. “Get in.”
“Thanks.” I hopped in and noted her gaze on my feet. “Wrong shoe choice. I walked from the village.”
She raised light blond eyebrows above striking, pale-blue eyes. “If you intend to stay here, we’ll need to get you proper walking boots.” She stuck out a slim hand. “Like Lewis said, I’m Arrochar. Lachlan and Thane’s sister. It’s nice to meet you, Regan.”
I shook her hand and felt a tap on my shoulder. Eilidh grinned cheekily at me.
“I told my friends about the fairy dust in your cheeks. Anna says her big sister Rosie has the same ones in her cheeks, but no one told her about the fairy dust. She can’t wait to tell Rosie.”
I chuckled. “I’m sure it will come as a surprise to her.”
“Eilidh, sit back, sweetie, we’re not home yet,” Arrochar ordered quietly. Her niece did as she was told.
“Where’s Thane?” I asked the aunt. From first impressions, we couldn’t be more unalike.
Her platinum-blond hair was so much lighter than the sandy color of her siblings that I’d guess it was dyed.
It was the only thing about her that suggested appearance was important.
I’d dressed in an impractical short dress in the mod silhouette I favored, my makeup and hair done.
Arrochar had her long hair pulled back into a messy ponytail.
As far as I could see, she wore only mascara, and her clothes were definitely utilitarian.
Jeans, lightweight blue-plaid shirt with a white T-shirt beneath, and Converse.
And yet the ordinary clothes did nothing to distract from her striking features. She wasn’t classically pretty; she was something more. I wasn’t sure if it was her eye color or the way she held herself or what … but Arrochar Adair was an unusual kind of beautiful.
If she sensed my perusal, she ignored it as she responded to my question about Thane. “Inverness at his new job. He can’t find a nanny, so I offered to take a few days off work to look after the kids so he can find someone. Pronto.”
I frowned. He’d made his sister take time off work when he had a perfectly responsible adult with a lot of time on her hands around to help? Not wanting to utter my irritation in front of the kids, I pressed my lips tight.
Arrochar spoke as we pulled into Thane’s driveway. “You’re not at all what I expected.”
“Because I’m not Lara Croft’s younger replica?”
She snorted and threw me an appreciative grin. “Pretty much.”
I rolled my eyes but chuckled as I eased out of the Defender, grateful Thane’s driveway was paved and not gravel.
“Can Regan come play with me, Aunt Arro?” Eilidh asked around the other side of the vehicle as they got out.
“I’m sure Regan has plans.”
“I really don’t.” I walked around the SUV to join the threesome. “If I’m not intruding, that is.”
“Not at all,” Arrochar assured. “But”—she gave Lewis a pointed look—“you will do your homework first.” She turned to me.
“Eilidh doesn’t get homework. They’ve introduced a new style of teaching since I was a bairn and primary one is a lot like nursery now.
I don’t get it. I could handle homework when I was five. ”
I didn’t have time to offer an opinion about how not all kids were at the same stage developmentally at five because Eilidh rushed to me and grabbed my hand.
“Come on, Regan.” She tugged me forward, overjoyed to have me there.
A tender ache echoed in my chest as I let her lead me toward the house. Catching Arrochar’s curious look, I saw a hint of bemusement in her expression.
Lewis waited for us at the house, and as Arrochar let us in, he said, “I told Connor we should stop saying Mrs. Welsh smells when it isn’t true.”
I tried not to raise an eyebrow. “And what did Connor say?”
He wrinkled his nose. “He called me the teacher’s pet.”
Oh, shit.
“But then Mrs. Welsh was mean to him for no reason. She made him read out a chapter of the book we’re reading, and he isn’t so fast and she kept being mean and telling him to read faster. And I told her she was being mean to him. So me and Connor are okay now.”
I met Arrochar’s gaze, and she said, “Tell her what happened next, Lewis.”
Frustration crossed his face. “We both got sent to Mrs. Cooley’s office.”
At my questioning look, Arrochar supplied, “The head teacher.”
“What? What for?”
“For being disrespectful,” she replied as she guided the kids to the kitchen. “You can grab a snack before you start your homework.”
“Surely that’s not fair if the boys weren’t in the wrong,” I said quietly as Lewis and Eilidh hurried ahead into the kitchen.