Chapter 11 Monroe
MONROE
PRESENT DAY
Instead, I concentrated on the task at hand.
It was lunchtime. The kids were in the cafeteria or out on the playground, and we’d inhaled our own lunches so we’d have time to discuss the upcoming Christmas play.
Unfortunately, I had to rush to Mum’s as soon as the school day ended to take her to a late appointment with her physical therapist. So this was the only time we had this week to choose a musical among a very small list we could legally get a license to perform.
“I don’t know about you two, but I am completely out of my depth as a stage director.”
They chuckled, and Ellen nodded. “I’ve done it a time or two, but I’m warning you both, it will be stressful on top of everything else we have going on.”
That’s what I was worried about.
“And,” David said, leaning forward, his gaze flicking between me and Ellen, “Cooley is determined to make Ardnoch Primary’s reputation as stellar as Ardnoch Academy, so she wants the plays on social media, and she wants it to have potential to go viral. No pressure.”
I frowned. “Why? We’re a tiny village in the north of Scotland. Also, Ardnoch Academy is a secondary education facility that provides learning in a specialized field. It’s not an ordinary high school. I should know, I went there.”
He smirked. “All I know is, Cooley reckons that if we make the school adored by the public, she might get more in her budget next year from the council. Like the academy.”
“Ardnoch Academy is given its budget based on its success rates, and it has a pretty high success rate of sending its pupils on to higher learning. Cooley wants us to traipse the kids out like zoo animals on social media to get a bigger budget?”
“Don’t look at it like that.” Ellen gave me an admonishing look. “We can still make this fun for the kids and give Anita what she wants. Stop calling her Cooley, David. You’re not one of the children.”
He scowled at her like one of the children, and I inwardly sighed.
I’d worried when I realized the three of us would have to work together.
While I got on individually with both of them (so far), I’d noticed within only a few weeks of working at the school that Ellen and David often clashed in the staff room.
How were the three of us going to write and direct a play?
“Any favorites on that list?” I nodded to the paper in Ellen’s hands. We’d been told that while we had to organize the entire school to open show night with a medley of Christmas songs, the plays themselves did not need to be Christmas themed. The lower school had already chosen The Nutcracker.
“We did Guys & Dolls in high school,” David offered with a shrug. “Is that on the list?”
I grimaced. “No. And it’s a little mature, is it not?”
“There’s something called Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.” Ellen squinted at the paper.
“Again, a bit mature.”
She looked at me blankly, suggesting she didn’t know the content of most of the plays on her list.
Wonderful.
I sighed. “I was thinking … The Wizard of Oz.”
“Let’s do it,” David replied.
“Just like that?”
“We need to apply for the license now or there will be no musical.”
“Agreed.” Ellen surprised me with her emphatic nod.
“Okay. The Wizard of Oz it is. Let’s apply for that today. Now.” I grinned a little hysterically at them. “Assuming we get the license… how do we direct a musical?”
“My uncle could help.”
I startled at the young voice.
Lewis Adair stood just inside my classroom, his big eyes round and eager.
Unfortunately, I hadn’t processed his words. “Lewis, what are you doing here? Lunchtime isn’t over.”
“I left my apple in my backpack.” He gestured to the wall of hooks where the children hung their bags.
“Okay, grab it and go, please.”
“Wait, wait.” Ellen stopped him. “Lewis, which uncle could help us with the play?”
What?
Panic shot through me, and I sat ramrod straight.
Lewis gave her a small smile and stepped forward. “My uncle Brodan. He’s a movie star.”
He said it like we didn’t already know that.
“Talk about making the school go viral,” David murmured, his eyes huge with excitement. “Brodan Adair directing.”
No.
No. No. NO!!!!!!
“We have to direct it ourselves,” I answered hurriedly, trying not to snap for Lewis’s sake. “We can’t have outside help.”
“Not true.” Ellen shook her head. “Last year, the P7s did the Christmas play, and a parent directed it. Brodan Adair is Lewis’s uncle. That’s like a parent.”
“No. That’s like an uncle. Plus, we can’t impose on Lewis’s uncle because I’m sure he’s not staying in Ardnoch permanently.”
Lewis stepped forward again, his breathing a little faster with enthusiasm. “I can ask him. I’m sure he’ll say yes.”
“That would be wonderful, Lewis.” Ellen beamed. “Could you ask your uncle this week and give us an answer by Friday?”
“Yes, Mrs. Hunter.”
“Thank you!”
“Nice.” She and David shared an ecstatic smile.
Fuck. My. Life.
brODAN
“How did the writing go today?” Walker asked as I drove us to Thane’s for dinner.
“It’s going good. I think I’ll have the first draft finished soon.” I still couldn’t quite wrap my head around the fact that I was writing and actually enjoying it. “You’re good at this life management shit, you know. You could take it on as a second career.”
Walk grunted as he stared out at the passing scenery. “Managing your life is enough for now.”
“To be fair, you haven’t had to make many decisions lately.”
“Aye, because the ones I already made are keeping you busy.”
I smirked. “True.” I shot him another look. “You’re not bored working security for the estate, are you? I know it’s not the jet-setting life you’re used to.” Walker had been a bodyguard to several celebrities before he became head of my security detail.
“If I were bored or unhappy, I wouldn’t be here.”
Fair enough.
My not-so-loquacious friend characteristically didn’t speak for the rest of the ride.
Thane and Regan had invited us over for Monday night dinner—we missed Sunday because of the chaos my new nieces had rained down upon my siblings.
The new parents and their adorable but very loud daughters were not attending tonight.
I made a note to look in on them this week. To make sure they were all okay.
I hugged Regan as she welcomed us and tried not to laugh as she held out her arms to Walker and he scowled at her in warning and patted her shoulder awkwardly in greeting.
“He’s not the cuddling type,” I murmured in her ear as we walked into the main living space.
Her dimples popped as she nodded. “Duly noted.”
“Uncle Brodan!” Eilidh jumped from a stool at the island and rushed me. She was getting too big to haul up into my arms, I realized as I hugged her back. The thought made me feel shit about missing out on so much, so I threw it away.
I was all about the present these days.
No dwelling allowed.
Eilidh released me with a cheeky grin and stepped over to Walker, tilting her head back to look up at him. “You’re as tall as Uncle Mac.”
Walker’s expression softened the tiniest bit. “Is that so?”
“Yeah. He’s my Aunt Robyn’s daddy, but he’s married to my Aunt Arro. That must be really confusing for Skye and Vivien.”
I coughed into my fist to cover my laugh, my eyes meeting Arran’s across the room. Eredine had turned her head into Arran’s shoulder to stifle her own amusement, but Arran was blatantly chuckling.
Walker, however, kept a straight face. “You just have to explain it to them when they’re older.”
“Explain it how?” Eilidh wrinkled her nose. “I don’t think you can explain that.”
Thane coughed loudly, most definitely covering a laugh as Regan turned her back on the lot of us and busied herself in the kitchen, definitely trying not to bust a gut.
“Well, let’s see,” Walk said patiently. “Skye and Vivien are first cousins because Lachlan and Arrochar are brother and sister. But Skye is not only Robyn and Lachlan’s niece, she’s Robyn’s half-sister.
Vivien is not only Mac and Arrochar’s niece, she’s Mac’s granddaughter, so that makes Skye Vivien’s half-aunt. ”
Eilidh’s hands flew to her hips in indignation. “And you don’t think that’s confusing?”
Laughter burst out of me before I could stop it, and Walker’s lips twitched with amusement. “I suppose it is.”
“I love this kid.” I bent down to press a quick kiss to Eilidh’s temple, grinning as I straightened, eyes on Thane. “Good job, Bro.”
Thane raised his hands. “I can’t take credit. She came out like that.”
Thundering footsteps on the stairs drew my attention, and Lewis suddenly appeared at the bottom of them.
“Is dinner ready yet? I’m starving.” His eyes widened at the sight of Walker, and then he swung his gaze around the room as if searching.
At the sight of me, my nephew beamed in a way that tugged at that gnawing ache in my chest. “Uncle Brodan!”
Lewis was usually so quiet, it was gratifying to see him show enthusiasm about my presence. “Hey, bud, how’s it going?”
He hurried across the room, slipping slightly in ill-fitting socks.
“Pull up your socks, Lew, before you break something,” Thane said from the couch, taking the words out of my mouth.
“Uncle Brodan, I need to ask you something.”
“Lewis, let your uncle eat before you ask him for favors,” Regan called from the kitchen.
His face fell, and he trudged to the table with an “Okay, Mum.”
Christ, he was a good kid. Curious, I turned to Thane and mouthed, “Favor?”
Thane gave me a strange look, almost wary. His lips parted as if to say something, but then he just gestured to the table.
Soon we were all seated and helping ourselves to toppings for the chicken fajitas Regan had cooked.
It was messy and delicious because the woman had the magic touch, but my focus was on my nephew.
Once I’d inhaled one fajita and was piling toppings on the next, I said, “Okay, hit me with it, Lew. What’s up? ”
Fucking great kid that he was, he looked to Regan first for approval.
She smiled and nodded.
Lewis turned back to me, his expression pleading.
What the hell …
“Uncle Brodan, my class and the P6s and P7s are doing The Wizard of Oz for our Christmas musical.”
Understanding dawned. “Did you get a part, bud? Do you need some pointers?”
“Well, yeah, but also I overheard the teachers freaking out about how they don’t know how to put on a play, and I said I’d ask you if you’d direct it. So … will you direct it for us?”
Fuck.
I had not been expecting that.
But looking down at his cute wee face, eyes begging me to say yes, I couldn’t say no. Directing small kids in a musical didn’t exactly sound like an ideal job for the next few months, but I would get to spend more time with Lewis. Maybe make up some lost time.
“Before you answer,” Thane interjected, and there was that wary look on his face again. “Remember that Ms. Sinclair is Lewis’s teacher.”
Fuuuuuuuuucccccck.
Oh, hell no.
There was no way in fucking hell I was spending weeks with that woman.
Shit.
I stared at Lewis, trying to think of gentle words to let the wee man down.
“He’ll do it,” Walker announced decidedly from across the table.
I glowered at him. Repeat that, and I will eviscerate you.
The bastard didn’t even flinch. He just took another bite of his fajita.
“Will you, Uncle Brodan?”
“Look, Lewis—”
Walker cleared his throat loudly, and I turned back to the motherfucker. He held my stony gaze as he wiped his mouth with a napkin and said, “Two words: Black. Shadow.”
And he was supposed to be my friend.
What a prick. I silently promised retribution. But with the word fuck reverberating in my head, I turned to my nephew and acted my arse off as I promised enthusiastically, “I’ll do it.”