Chapter 19 - Arran
ARRAN
Arriving at the Gloaming around seven thirty, eight o’clock every morning meant that me and the workers could secure parking in the large Castle Street lot.
By ten, however, all those spaces would be filled with cars and camper vans.
That was what happened every year as soon as Ardnoch hit the summer months, and it was now June.
After a morning run with Ery, followed by a quickie in her shower, I left for work. Keeping our casual sex arrangement secret this past month hadn’t proven too difficult, to be fair, considering how much time we’d spent together before.
What was proving difficult was keeping feelings out of it. I knew going in it would likely become an issue for me as time went on. I wanted to know about her past. I wanted to know what she was hiding from.
That Lachlan knew and I didn’t was a thorn in my bloody side.
I wanted Eredine to trust me with this.
And I was pissed off and frustrated she wouldn’t. Yet, I couldn’t show her that was how I felt because that wasn’t our deal.
The deal was great sex for however long we wanted.
Neither of us was showing signs of growing bored either.
I just hoped the moments we stole together made her happy enough … that maybe I was becoming essential to her. That maybe she thought of me at least once every hour, like I thought of her.
My biggest distractions from Eredine were the Gloaming and my house.
The Gloaming renovations were well underway.
The bar and restaurant were now open again at night and making us some money.
We’d kept on most of Gordon’s staff and had been paying them while we were closed, which was eating into profits, so it was good to have them back and working.
Eventually, when the bar and restaurant reopened during the day, I’d serve as the day manager, and we’d keep Bobby, who’d worked as Gordon’s right-hand man for years.
We’d finally given Bobby his due and made him the restaurant and bar evening manager.
The biggest renovation was the addition of en suite bathrooms in every guest room.
It had taken some planning to fit them in, and now the plumbing was giving me a headache.
Needing a breather from the organized chaos, I slipped out of the Gloaming around noonish to grab a coffee from Flora’s and sandwich from Morag’s Deli.
Ardnoch was always busy at the weekends with tourists, but you could rely on quieter streets during most weekdays in winter months.
Summer meant there were people every-bloody-where hoping to bump into a celebrity on the loose from my brother’s estate, like they were zoo animals.
Yes, I was grateful for the tourists. They frequented the Gloaming and soon they’d book our rooms. But the hustle and bustle on the streets, taking up all the tables in the cafés, and making an obstacle course of Castle Street, was jarring.
I’d never really had the chance to experience Ardnoch like this until now, though I’d stayed in much more crowded places in my life.
As I approached Flora’s to grab a to-go cup, I slowed at the sight of Monroe Sinclair standing outside talking to a young woman I didn’t recognize. The tension in Roe’s body caught my attention, the way her eyes darted around, as if she wanted to escape.
She’d been successfully avoiding me for a month, which probably meant she wanted nothing to do with me, but Roe would always be my friend, and right now, I didn’t like the vibe of whatever was going on.
I picked up my pace. “Roe!” I called just before I reached her.
Roe started, her gray eyes wide as she looked up at me. “Arran, hi.”
“You all right?” I looked at the unfamiliar woman and noted how she held her phone out between her and Roe. A quick glance at the screen revealed a recording app.
What the hell?
I narrowed my eyes on the young blond who didn’t look a day over twenty.
She tilted her head as she looked back at me. Something flickered behind her eyes before recognition suddenly lit them. “Are you an Adair?” she asked in a North American accent. “You look like Lachlan Adair.”
“Who is asking?”
The blond beamed and announced, “I’m Harriet Blume, a celebrity journalist.”
“You barely look old enough to have graduated from high school,” I said, my back up even more to discover she was a journo.
Lachlan had told me over the years that Ardnoch attracted paparazzi and journalists during the summer.
Paps hoped to snap a photo or two of members who dared venture into the village.
However, most of the celebrity gossips learned, after a few years of trying, that they couldn’t get the locals to talk about whatever went on at Ardnoch Estate.
One, because anyone who didn’t work on the estate had no clue what went on; and two, because they were loyal to the village and to Lachlan.
Many people owned businesses on Castle Street, the four streets that made up the village center, and down the many quaint lanes that connected those streets.
Ardnoch relied on tourism, and its tourism had increased tenfold since my brother transformed Ardnoch Castle.
The estate remained popular for its privacy, and the villagers understood that.
No one talked shit about the estate to tourists, let alone journos and paps.
Harriet tittered as if I were flirting by commenting on her youth. “Oh, that’s sweet. I’m twenty-one. But I’m not a graduate. No, I started interviewing celebrities on my social media platform. I have five million followers.”
Bloody Nora. “Is that so?”
“Aye,” Monroe finally spoke as she gave me a meaningful look. “Harriet here was looking for some—I think the word she used was dirt—on Ardnoch Estate and/or the Adair family.”
“Did I say that?” Harriet’s fake grin faltered. “I’m not sure I said it like that.”
“I’m certain you did.” Monroe gave her a false smile.
I glanced at Harriet’s phone. “Are you recording this?”
“Yeah, so?” She shrugged.
Instead of answering, I took Monroe by the shoulders and guided her away from the girl.
“Hey, where are you going? I have questions.”
I looked over my shoulder at her. “Ms. Blume, we don’t take kindly to journalists harassing our residents or tourists. I’m afraid you’ve wasted your plane fare.”
“Are you an Adair?” she called after me.
I ignored her, cursing under my breath, and then Monroe stopped us a few feet past Flora’s. “You all right?”
She tucked her hair behind her ear. “I had to book the morning off school to take Mum to a doctor’s appointment and thought I’d just drop her at home and then grab a coffee before heading to school for the afternoon.
I didn’t expect to get accosted by an aggressively happy and nosy girl shoving a phone in my face and asking me what dirt I could dish on your family. ”
I glanced back down the street to see Harriet had disappeared among the crowds. Those same tourists walked by Roe and me as we huddled against the side of the building that housed Flora’s. “Hopefully, she’ll be gone soon.”
“This place is different,” Roe said quietly, almost mournfully.
I sighed. “You mean, since Lachlan opened the estate?”
Roe looked at me but didn’t hold my gaze.
“I’ve only been home a few times over the last eighteen years.
Only once since Lachlan opened Ardnoch as a members-only club, and it was in winter, so I didn’t see this.
Ardnoch was always a busy wee place in the summer, but not like this.
It didn’t attract paparazzi, for a start. ”
“It’s a pain in the arse, I know. But the village is financially thriving from it.”
“I know.” She nodded. “I just … I’m … I’ve missed the quiet this past week. They seemed to converge on the village in a sudden swarm.”
“I’m surprised you’ve noticed. I haven’t seen you in weeks.”
Roe looked up at me now, guilt in her expression. “I’m sorry for running away last time I saw you.”
“Things don’t have to be awkward between us, Roe. I’m not angry about the past. Brodan and I are good. We’ve been good for years. It’s in the past. I hope we can move on from it and be friends.”
Her expression softened. “I’d like that.”
“Good. Now, tell me how you’re doing? Really?”
“I’m fine.” She shrugged, but I saw exhaustion in her eyes.
“I like my job. Mum broke her hip about six months ago. She didn’t tell me.
I got a phone call from her neighbor about how much she was struggling with recuperation.
She also mentioned the job at the primary school, and so it seemed like the right thing to do, the right timing. I came back to help with her recovery.”
I didn’t know all the details, but I knew their relationship hadn’t been easy when we were younger. “How is that?”
Roe looked away. “She’s doing well enough that I can move out. Gordon’s renting me a caravan in his park down by the beach.”
Irritated by the thought of Roe in a caravan, I scowled. “You can’t stay in a caravan permanently. It’s bloody freezing down there in the winter.”
“It’s just until something affordable comes available. Rent is much higher here than it used to be.”
Because of Ardnoch Estate.
Fuck.
My mind raced. Surely, we knew someone who could offer Roe a nice apartment or cottage for a decent rental cost? I’d look into it.
“I can see that Adair mind racing, but I don’t need help, Arran. In fact, I won’t accept it if you try.” Roe laid a hand on my arm. “I’m fine. I promise.”
Aye, we’d see. I sighed. “You’ll come to me if you need anything. Promise?”
She smiled that pretty smile and reached up on her tiptoes to draw me down to a hug.
Memories flooded me. She and Brodan walking together on the estate.
Or hanging out down by the beach, when we were kids, and me and Arro would chase after them.
The many, many times we played hide-and-seek in our old drafty castle. So many years of friendship.