10. Locke
LOCKE
Two weeks in, Braeburn’s gossip mill had settled into a steady hum—and I’d started splitting my time between keeping up appearances and keeping the company running.
On that particular morning, there was a plate of still-warm tattie scones sitting on the island counter when I walked into the kitchen in Lochbrae.
“Agnes, you’re a dream,” I murmured, picking one up and tearing into it. “Morning.”
Weston grunted from behind his coffee cup. He was hunched over his laptop. Lena was on the phone, pacing behind him, talking a mile a minute.
“What’s going on? You two look like you’re in some sort of crazy damage control mode.”
Weston put his coffee down. “We have a surprise regulatory site visit.”
“For the wind farm?”
He nodded. “We just found out this morning.”
“What does that mean?”
Weston rubbed his eyes. “It means we get to spend the next eight hours walking around with the inspector.”
“Does it have to be you?” I wondered, making my way to the fancy coffee machine on the counter. It was one of the best parts of Lochbrae as far as I was concerned.
“CEO presence will help smooth over compliance and optics,” Lena said, hanging up the phone. “And I need to make sure whatever non-compliance we get flagged for gets addressed as quickly as possible, which means having me on hand to start farming out tasks as needed.”
“What’s your plan for Aisling?” I asked as I waited for my coffee to brew. “Surely, you’re not bringing her with you? That’d be death by boredom.”
“Of course not,” Lena said. “We’ve asked Auntie Isla to watch her for the day.”
“I’ll try not to be offended that you don’t trust Uncle Locke to look after her while you’re gone,” I teased as I picked up my deliciously warm mug. “Might I remind you, I am the favorite uncle.”
“There’s an idea,” Weston said with a mischievous look.
“Why don’t you go down to the inn and help Isla out for the day?
Might be good window dressing for the old fake relationship.
” They knew the truth about the fake engagement, though I’d kept the baby news to myself. “You could color. Do puzzles.”
“Oh, boy,” I said dryly. “How could I possibly turn that down?”
“Yeah!” Aisling cried suddenly, dragging a small pink roller suitcase into the kitchen. “Uncle Locke, come!”
“Do you really need all that?” Weston asked her, wincing as one of the suitcase wheels popped off. Aisling sat on the floor to fix it.
“It’s just my nail polish and my three best stuffies and my beads,” she said. She gave Weston a serious look. “Isla said we’re making friendship bracelets today.” She turned to me, elated. “And we’re gonna paint our nails! Isla always paints cute flowers for me.”
She stood, taking my hand and inspecting my nails.
“Hmm…You need a manicure.”
Lena snorted.
“You’ll come, won’t you, Uncle Locke?” Aisling said, hitting me with her best pout.
“Oh, not the lip,” Weston said. “Now you’re done for.”
“Please, please, pleaseeeeee,” Aisling begged, that little lip trembling.
I bit my cheek to keep from smiling. There was no way out of this now—not without disappointing Aisling, and that option was unacceptable.
“Let me go reschedule some meetings, okay?” I’d been working remotely from Weston’s until the deal with the distillery went through. “Then I’ll meet you down at the inn.”
Aisling squealed, racing around the island once before throwing herself at me. She wrapped her arms around my neck, then pecked my cheek.
Lena smiled softly at us. “Love, let Uncle Locke go. He can’t breathe.”
She released me, rushing to drag her suitcase to the front door. “I have glitter nail polish!” she shouted. “You can use it first!”
I rubbed my ear, wincing. “That squeal breaks the sound barrier.”
Weston nodded in agreement. “I’ve gone deaf in one ear since becoming a foster dad.”
When I showed up at the Deerhound an hour later, Isla was behind the check-in desk, welcoming a couple to the inn.
I watched her for a beat, admiring her easy charm, the warmth with which she spoke, that beautiful smile.
I imagined her staring down at our child with that same smile, and my chest clenched.
Her eyes flickered up, her gaze landing on me. That smile curled, her eyes crinkling at the corners. Maybe she was happy to see me? She inclined her head slightly, directing me toward where Aisling was seated on the cozy sofa beneath the waterfall painting. I made my way over there.
She had a coloring book in her lap, two stuffed animals watching from the arm of the sofa, and about three hundred markers spread out on the coffee table. Was this my future? God, I couldn’t wait.
Aisling looked up, her eyes widening in excitement. “Uncle Locke!” Markers tumbled off the sofa as she jumped up to hug me. “You came!”
“I did,” I said, sinking down beside her, rescuing markers from the floor. “What are we working on?”
“Mermaids,” she said, showing me the page in her coloring book. “Auntie Isla says she has to finish a check-in, then we can do nails.” She gestured to an uncolored page. “You can start that picture. Don’t get any colors on my side, though.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” I picked up a blue marker. Aisling immediately stopped me, giving me a dubious look. She handed me a pink marker instead and prodded the mermaid tail.
I tried not to laugh. She was already becoming a mini-Lena.
While we completed the very important task of coloring mermaids, I watched Isla work.
It was incredible how many things the woman could do in fifteen minutes: greet guests, answer the phone, book reservations, dart upstairs to strip a bed, start the laundry, get someone a cup of tea, check on Aisling, call for a delivery. She was a whirlwind. She was amazing.
“Oh, Maisie,” Isla called, catching her assistant on her way up the stairs. “I just threw the sheets from room five into the wash. Could you toss them into the dryer when they’re finished?”
Maisie nodded. “Sure thing. I also took a reservation while Weston and Lena were dropping off Aisling. Looks like we’re all booked up for next weekend.” Isla smiled at the news, looking pleased.
Ranger padded through the lobby, coming over to give me a sniff. His tail wagged, flicking markers from the coffee table.
“Ranger!” Aisling said, laughing. “Silly boy.” She ditched her coloring in favor of throwing her arms around the dog’s neck. “We should have brought Milo so they could play.”
“I’m not sure the inn is big enough for two dogs of that size,” I pointed out.
“Yes, it is,” Aisling argued. “Ranger fits here, see!” She directed the dog onto the sofa between us, and suddenly I had giant paws in my lap and a scruffy tail in my face.
“Ranger,” I complained.
“There’s room for Milo right there,” Aisling was saying.
“Where, on Uncle Locke’s head?” Isla teased, coming over.
Aisling giggled.
“I heard Uncle Locke was going to make an appearance today,” Isla said to me. “Aren’t we lucky?”
“I just had to reschedule some work meetings first,” I said. “Check-ins go okay?”
Isla lifted her shoulder. “Five-star service all around.”
“That’s all?” I said. “Pretty sure I had six-star service.”
Her cheeks turned bright pink, but she rolled her eyes at me. “Well, you’re just in time for manicures.”
“Yay!” Aisling cheered.
“Or,” I said, waggling my eyebrows at Aisling. “We could go on an adventure for ice cream!”
“Before lunch?” she cried, jumping to her feet and rushing for the door. “I want bubblegum dream! Come on, Ranger. We can get you a pup cup!”
Ranger barked, launching himself off the sofa. I groaned as he trod on my knee.
Isla shook her head, amused. “I see you’ve taken to drastic measures to avoid your manicure.”
“I’ve been informed there’s glitter nail polish, which is terrifying.”
“Wait until I add the flowers,” she joked, going to the desk for Ranger’s leash. Once the dog was secure and Isla had her camera, we headed outside, making our way down the high street toward Hamish’s Pie Shop. The bakery kept a small ice cream cooler in the summer.
A week of staged hand-holding later, it was starting to feel less like a performance and more like muscle memory.
Aisling insisted on walking Ranger, so I spent most of the time making sure the girl didn’t get tugged off her feet while Isla chuckled and snapped photos.
“Sometimes I think about getting a little sled for the winter,” she said, catching the door as Aisling raced into Hamish’s.
“So Ranger can play as a sled dog?” I said, taking the door from her.
“Exactly.” She passed under my arm, so close I could have counted her eyelashes. “It would be cute.”
“Sounds dangerous.”
“We’ll get a little helmet.”
“For the dog?”
“Of course for the dog, who else would we be talking about?”
She grinned up at me, and my eyes dropped to her lips. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, my pulse thundering at the base of my throat.
“We should probably put on a little bit of a show while we’re in town together,” she whispered. “Now that Dad has agreed to defer to the council’s decision, we need to start winning everyone over. Everyone will like you more if they know you have my stamp of approval.”
I wiggled my eyebrows. “Ham it up for the crowds, you mean?”
“Come on, you guys!” Aisling called, plastering herself to the front of the ice cream display. “Before the ice cream melts!”
I took Isla by the hand and tugged her close, warmth spreading through me as I led her and Ranger into Hamish’s. “It’s not going to melt,” I told Aisling.
“You don’t know that.” She jumped up and down as the woman behind the counter came to take our order. “A bubblegum cone, please!” Her eyes lit up as the woman gave her a massive scoop.
“That’s the kid size?” I murmured. “She’s going to be bouncing off the walls.”
Isla hummed in agreement. “Maybe we should take her and Ranger to the green after. They can run off their energy together.”
“And what about you?” I asked. “Which flavor?”
Isla inspected her choices. “Usually I’m a chocolate person, but I’m feeling cherry ripple today for some reason.”
“That’s what I would have chosen,” I told her.