Chapter 13
Thirteen
LEWIS
Well, that could have gone better. I didn’t know what I was expecting. But Callie spluttering “Nice to see you both” before hurrying back inside the bakery and locking the door behind her wasn’t it.
Was it foolish of me to hope that our night had meant something to her, too, and she was just scared to admit it?
Maybe I needed to give her time to adjust to the idea of me being back, but I was afraid if I left it too long, she’d fail to understand that she was the main reason I’d come home.
“Go and see her.”
I looked up from my coffee. Mum stood on the opposite side of the island, sipping tea, watching me carefully.
I’d come across from the annex for my morning coffee only to discover Dad was already up and out buying groceries.
Mum was dressed especially nice for the day.
I would have said as much, but she was studying me with a look I knew well.
Ever since she came into our lives, she’d always seemed to understand what Eilidh and I were thinking.
“She ran away,” I reminded her.
“It’s big news for her.” Mum leaned on her elbows, expression sympathetic.
“Before she left for Paris, Callie did a good impression of being fine on the surface, but I know from Sloane that it was far from the truth. Now, we’ve tried not to bug you two about what happened all those years ago—as much as it kills us not to know—but Sloane said Callie lost something that day.
The sparkle in her eyes. And you did too.
” She reached over to touch my hand. “You didn’t come back only to be with us …
so don’t overthink things. Go after what you came home for. ”
“What did you come home for?”
The question came from behind. We both turned to watch my wee sister Morwenna descend the stairs.
Our home hadn’t changed much over the years.
Designed by my father, it was a timeless piece of architecture that I’d only begun to appreciate as I got older.
What a privilege it was to grow up in a house that had been built to capture the ocean views while withstanding life on the coast. It was open-plan living so that light spilled in from the glass walls facing out toward the water.
Morwenna was the spitting image of our mum with her copper-red hair, chestnut-brown eyes, and dimples.
Her coloring was so different from mine and Eilidh’s it was the only giveaway we had different birth mothers.
Sometimes it was difficult for me to reconcile the tall teenager in front of me with the wee girl who’d asked for constant piggyback rides when I was a teenager.
“All of you,” I answered her question.
Sliding onto the stool next to me, she gave me a far-too-knowing smirk. “So not Callie, then?”
“What do you know about it?”
“I was seven when you left for uni, Lew, not a fetus.” She shrugged. “Callie stopped coming around after you left. Suddenly, she’s back from Paris and now you’re here. It doesn’t take a genius to work out.” After that dry and correct supposition, she turned to Mum. “Do I have to go today?”
Mum pursed her lips. “Yes, you do.”
“But it’s a baby’s birthday party.”
“What’s this?”
Morwenna sighed. “Mum is making me go to Rose’s fourth birthday party, even though I’m in the middle of the best book ever.”
“All your cousins will be there.”
“Under duress. Like me.”
“Actually, unlike you, they enjoy spending time with their family.”
“Forgive me if I prefer the company of faeries.”
At that, I looked at Mum and mouthed Faeries?
But she was too busy glowering at my sister. “What is so wrong with your family, young lady? You have a wonderful family, and you should not take them for granted.”
“I see them all the time!” Morwenna slipped off the stool. “I don’t want to go.”
“You’re going and you’re wearing the dress I put out for you.”
“I don’t want to wear a dress!”
My eyebrows shot up. Somehow, I’d missed Morwenna hitting the crabby teenager age. Eilidh went through hers around the same time, whereas I was a year or two older before it hit. Dating Callie had pulled my broody head out of my arse, though.
As it would again.
Hopefully.
Mum sighed heavily. “I’m asking you to attend this party because Sarah would do it for you.”
“Sarah?” I asked.
“Cavendish,” Mum explained. She was a famous local author who married an English film writer and producer.
They were in my parents’ friend circle and close to Callie’s family because Sarah was Callie’s Aunt Ally’s cousin-in-law.
“Their daughter Rose is four. They bought one of the houses Allegra built so they could spend their summers here instead of in London. We’re going there today if you’d like to join us. ”
I thought of Callie. “Will she be there?”
Mum knew whom I meant. “Sloane said no.”
“Perfect opportunity to go see her, then, while everyone is out.”
She gave me a knowing smile. “Very true.”
“Oh, so Lewis doesn’t have to go but I do?” Morwenna threw her arms up before crossing them over her chest. “That’s so unfair.”
“Lewis is a grown-up, but when he was your age, he attended all our family events without complaint because he understands the importance of family.”
Morwenna scoffed. “Then why has he been gone for seven years! Eilidh too! They left and now I have to put up with you smothering me because of it!”
“Morwenna,” I clipped out, sounding so much like my father, I pinched my lips shut in surprise.
My sister’s face crumpled at my angry tone. “I’m not going!” She turned and hurried upstairs.
I looked wide-eyed back at Mum. “What was that?”
She heaved a beleaguered sigh. “I’m hoping just hormones.
She says it’s nothing else. We’ve checked in at school and she seems fine there.
She has friends. So I’ve attempted to reassure your father that it is stupid, horrible, teenage hormones.
I’d forgotten what it was like to be thirteen and a girl. ”
I’d only been home a few days, but since my return, Mor had been fairly quiet and spent a lot of time in her room reading. “You said she has friends?”
Mum nodded. “Sometimes she’s happy to spend time with them, but other times she wants to be alone to read.
I’m worried about her, but Ery and the others have assured me it’s a phase.
And when I give her a gentle prod to be social when she’s not in the mood …
” She gestured toward the stairs. “This happens. So I don’t know. ”
“Want me to talk to her?” I blanched, remembering her gripe about my absence. “Or maybe not.”
“She’s not angry at you.” Mum rounded the island.
“She’s mad at the world because all these hormones are flying around in her body, confusing her, but she doesn’t understand why she’s mad at the world, which is incredibly scary and lonely, and I hate it, but all she can do is go through it.
All we can do is remind her we’re here. And while I understand that reading is an escape from it, I don’t want her to shut everyone out.
Family or friends. So I need to push a bit, I think. ”
I stared upstairs, hating that my sister was feeling that way. “I’ve thought over the years that being a girl is shit sometimes, but never more so than now.”
“Wait until you have a daughter of your own. They’re so cute for the first eleven years.” She teased and patted my shoulder. “Now, off you go. Go see the girl you came here for.”
At the weariness in the back of Mum’s eyes, I took her hand from my shoulder and pressed a kiss to the top of it. “Always remember, you are the best mother a child could ask for. Mor is lucky to have you. We’re all lucky to have you.”
Tears brightened her eyes. “I’m so glad you’re home, sweetie.”
“Me too.”
As I drew my motorbike to a stop outside Callie’s front door, my stomach dropped. The Volvo SUV in the driveway was her stepfather’s. There was no sign of any other vehicle.
But he’d have heard me pull up because now that I was back in the Highlands, I was riding my Harley-Davidson Fat Boy. It was my pride and joy with its sharkskin blue and chrome detailing, and its 114 engine that rumbled like only a Harley could.
That rumble, however, was my undoing as I saw Walker appear in the large front window of their bungalow.
Switching off the engine, I removed my helmet and left it on the bike. Very few people would dare to steal from me, especially outside Walker Ironside’s house.
Feeling like a boy of sixteen all over again, I ignored the sudden nervous gut churning and strode up the front walk. The door opened before I even reached it and Walker stepped out.
It shocked me to realize he didn’t seem so big and broad as I remembered, now that I’d caught up to him in height. Back in London, I’d taught tae kwon do classes and worked out every week at the gym. I’d filled out since Walker had last seen me.
But he was still an inch or so taller and the most intimidating bastard I’d ever met in my life.
And you want this guy to be your father-in-law one day?
Walker did not look like he wanted me to be his son-in-law. He looked like he wanted me anywhere but on his front stoop.
“She’s not here,” he said without preamble, slowly crossing his arms over his chest. His biceps flexed with the move, reminding me of his physical prowess. And I was certain it was deliberate.
“Nice to see you, too, Walker,” I dared.
His expression never changed. “I think that’s still Mr. Ironside to you.”
Right.
Trying to cover my agitation, I asked, “Do you know where Callie is?”
“I’m sure if she wanted you to know, you’d know.”
“Right. Well, thanks, anyway.” For nothing. I turned to go, but he spoke again.
“I don’t know what happened between you two all those years ago.”
I looked back over my shoulder.
Walker scowled. “I do know that if you’ve come back to Ardnoch to hurt my daughter again, I will end your life slowly and painfully. I don’t care who your family is, Adair.” Walker took a step toward me. “They can’t protect you from me if you hurt my family.”
Sensing the absolute honesty in his threat, I faced him again.
Fuck it.
“I love Callie. I loved her then and I love her now. And I came back for her. To stay. To win her back. And you can hate me and mistrust me all you want. You can threaten me with bodily harm and attempt to stand in my way. But it won’t stop me from trying to remind Callie that she and I belong together.
And if by some miracle she decides to give me another chance, I will never leave her again. ”
Callie’s stepdad studied me with that intimidating blank expression.
Then after what felt like an age of inspection, he merely nodded. “She’s at Fyfe’s this morning. He invited her over for breakfast.”
Fyfe’s?
Why didn’t my friend tell me?
Jealousy I knew I shouldn’t feel, but couldn’t help, coursed through me at this information.
“Thanks.”
Walker nodded again. “Oh, and if by some miracle you do convince Callie … if I see her on the back of that bike going at anything above forty … I’ll kill you.
Make that a blanket statement—if you hurt her physically or emotionally or put her in harm’s way physically or emotionally, I will end you.
” With that, he stepped inside, closing the door on me without another word.
His threat wasn’t unexpected, and he’d said similar on multiple occasions when I was a teenager. It had terrified me then, just not enough to stop dating Callie. Now? Well, since he hadn’t killed me yet, I wasn’t too concerned.
I did feel dejected, and a bit pissed off at Fyfe (which I knew wasn’t fair), as I strode toward my bike. However, as I was throwing my leg over it, my phone buzzed in my pocket. Slipping it out, I relaxed at the name on the text.
Fyfe:
She’ll probably kill me for this, but Callie’s here with Carianne. You should stop by.
Grinning, all resentment disappeared. Everyone should have a friend like Fyfe Moray.
The mention of Carianne, Callie’s old friend and Fyfe’s ex from when we were kids, barely registered.
All I could think about was seeing Callie.
Since our night together, the memory of it had tortured me.
The thought of never being able to experience being with her again was an agony I couldn’t shake.
I was determined that this year would end with Callie Ironside in my bed for the rest of fucking eternity.