Chapter 20
Twenty
FYFE
Iwas shattered. The last few nights, Millie had kept me awake with her teething.
Before the teething ring arrived, I’d let her chew on my fingers because it was the only thing that seemed to stop her crying.
While the cold teething ring soothed her, as soon as she woke up, she started bawling again.
It broke my fucking heart. Callie told me it should only last a week or two before settling but that she’d have bouts of teething until she was two or three.
It didn’t surprise me the way my friends rallied around me.
What did surprise me was Eilidh’s support. She seemed to have put what was between us behind her to help out with Millie. Seeing her swoop in to rescue us … well, it was humbling. I already knew Eilidh Adair was a special person, but she was bloody extraordinary.
I’d had Millie for five days. The DNA results still weren’t in, but a contact had tracked Pamela’s vehicle.
She’d sold it to a garage in Edinburgh. From the car we had her last known address, but that was it.
He’d hacked the medical records at the hospital in Inverness to find out Millie’s date of birth as well as Pamela’s.
Millie was born last September, so she was nine months old.
Pamela had ghosted me around February of that year after we started hooking up at the end of December.
Pamela’s birth date allowed us to get more information about her. My guy was close to finding her.
I didn’t know how to feel about any of it.
My life and the life I thought I’d have had been thrown into a complete tailspin.
And yet … I’d bonded myself to this wee human.
Or she’d bonded herself to me. All I knew was that only my voice and Eilidh’s seemed to settle her, and when she cuddled into me at night, I felt like my heart might explode.
Like … maybe, finally, I belonged to someone who no one could take away from me.
And that was terrifying because … what if it turned out she wasn’t mine? Or what if she was and she actually could be taken from me?
I had a meeting with a potential client via Ardnoch Estate that morning and had just fed Millie when the doorbell rang.
I hurried toward it, Millie’s belligerent cries and baby words hit my back, words I interpreted as a complaint for leaving her side.
I threw open the door to Eilidh. “You know you can just come in without knocking,” I told her, fixing my tie as she followed me into the living space.
“Good morning to you too,” she teased.
Millie caught sight of Eilidh and broke into the most adorable smile I’d ever seen. She raised her arms toward Eils from her high chair, making happy baby sounds. I lifted her out to hand her over.
“Good morning, Millie Billie!” Eilidh beamed but before she could take her, Millie made a gurgling noise before she puked all over my shirt and neck. She then promptly burst into tears.
“It’s all right, wee yin.” I kissed her temple before Eilidh took her from me.
“Oh, Millie Billie.” Eilidh cuddled her close. “Are you not feeling well?”
“She just ate. I shouldn’t have picked her up like that.” I scowled at the little dress I’d put her in this morning and the vomit now all over it. “She needs cleaned and changed.”
“As do you.” Eilidh pressed a palm to Millie’s forehead. “She doesn’t feel warm, so that’s good. Maybe she just had too much to eat. I’ll keep an eye on her this morning.” She started toward the stairs. “You switch your shirt out. I’ll clean Millie up.”
“Thanks. It could be her teething. She’s not had a lot of sleep.”
“Aye, that might be it. Poor wee baby, ay, Millie Billie. Shall we have a long, lovely nap today?”
I tried not to ogle Eilidh’s arse as I followed her up but she wore a pair of cut-off denim shorts and a loose, slightly cropped tank top.
As she chatted animatedly to Millie, taking the stairs quickly, I could see straight up Eilidh’s top.
Her back was tan and smooth, her hips sloping gently toward her arse.
Groaning inwardly, I looked at my feet as Eilidh turned toward the bathroom and I walked in the opposite direction toward the primary suite.
I’d just shrugged out of my shirt when Eilidh burst into my room with Millie.
“Do you have baby shampoo? It somehow got in—oh!” She stumbled to a halt.
Her eyes drifted over my naked torso. “Oh. Sorry.” Something like pain tightened her features before she whirled herself and Millie around, giving me their backs.
Her words were strained. “I need Millie’s shampoo. ”
Ignoring whatever it was I heard in her voice (or I might just do something we’d both regret), I reached for a clean shirt in my built-in closet. “In the third cupboard above the sink.”
“Thanks.” She practically ran from the room.
With a sigh, I buttoned up the shirt and pulled on a new tie. Doing the tie up, I strolled into the bathroom to find Millie naked in a shallow bath. She was slapping her arms in the water, her wee girl giggles filling the air like popping bubbles filled with joy.
Please let her be mine.
I looked at Eilidh to distract myself from the thought. She was bent over the tub, washing Millie gently. The tank top now rode up her slim back. Swallowing hard, I returned my attention to Millie.
“I decided to give her a bath. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all. I need to go. Are you good?” We already had a bit of a routine down. I still didn’t understand why Eilidh was helping us, but if it somehow brought us back together as friends, I wouldn’t question it.
“Aye.” Eilidh shot me a quick smile. “We’ll call if we need you.”
Nodding, I stepped into the room to bend down to kiss Millie’s head and Eilidh leaned away so I didn’t touch her. Frowning, I kissed Millie. “Bye, wee yin. See you soon.”
“Bah ga bye!” Millie slapped the water, giggling up at me.
I’d just straightened, but I froze. “Did she … did she say bye?”
Eilidh’s laughter warmed me right through. “I think it only sounded like that.”
I cupped the back of Millie’s damp head. “Did you just say bye? Bye, Millie.”
“Goh ka!” She giggled, splashing water at me.
“Bye-bye, Millie.”
She made a little hiccupping sound and reached for one of her bath toys.
Eilidh chuckled. “A fluke. But she’s around the age babies start saying one or two words.”
“Aye? How do you know that?”
“I’ve been reading that stack of baby books you ordered.”
I frowned. “You’ve been reading the baby books?”
She nodded, kneeling to wash Millie.
Something like pining wrapped itself around me, holding me frozen.
“Aren’t you going to be late?” Eilidh asked, tickling Millie with a bath toy.
“Right. Right.” I kissed Millie again. “See you both later.”
A director at Ardnoch Estate also happened to be on the board of an extremely popular British online retailer.
They were the target of weekly hacks and the last one managed to get hundreds of thousands of customer details.
Thankfully no bank details, but the company was on edge because of the incident.
I’d agreed to analyze their current cybersecurity and see how we could tighten it.
It would be a headache on top of looking after Millie right now, but well worth the paycheck.
Walker, Callie’s stepfather, accompanied me to the staff car park after the meeting. “Thanks for setting this up.”
“No problem. You all right?”
Walker Ironside was a man of few words, but he didn’t need them.
I could tell by the speculative expression Callie had told him about Millie.
Thankfully, I knew Walker kept shit to himself.
I didn’t want anyone knowing about Millie until I knew for certain if she was mine.
If she was, I’d have to set her up with a doctor and a nanny or daycare.
As soon as that happened, the cat would be out of the bag.
Ardnoch was too small for people not to find out as soon as I stepped into the village with a baby in tow.
“I will be once I know she’s mine.”
“Aye, I get that.” He nodded. “And I know you’ve got your hands full, so don’t worry about this business with Eilidh. I’ve got someone trying to track who purchased the cameras through the serial numbers.”
Confused, I shook my head. “What are you talking about?”
Walker’s brows drew together. “Eilidh didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
“Maybe you should ask her.”
Walker was trying to trace someone through camera serial numbers. Realization scored through me and with it, a flash of fury. “Did someone plant a camera on Eilidh?”
He nodded grimly. “Her flat in London. Her landlord called because they were doing an annual check on the smoke alarms. They found cameras in them.”
Fuck. Was she never to get any peace? “Has anyone contacted Eilidh with footage? Have you found any online?”
“Already got someone checking the dark web. Nothing on there. No one has reached out or blackmailed or threatened her.”
“Email me the serial numbers.”
“I can deal with it. You’ve got enough on your plate.”
The thought of someone violating Eilidh’s privacy made me want to punch a fist through my car window. “Send me those serial numbers, Walker. This is Eilidh.”
He clapped me on the back. “I’ll email them over now.”
As I got in the car, instead of driving toward Ardnoch for coffee like I’d planned, I headed home. The thought of some unknown person owning private, intimate footage of Eilidh was more than I could stand. Hadn’t she been through enough? And why hadn’t she told me?
I intended to find out.
Storming into the house, I found Eilidh on the couch watching morning television at a low volume. Millie was in her cot. I glanced in it as I passed, relieved to find her sleeping peacefully.
“What are you doing back?” Eilidh whispered.
Instead of answering, I placed the baby monitor by Millie’s cot and then gestured toward the stairs. “We need to talk,” I whispered back. “I have a monitor in my room.”
Eyes wide, she nodded and followed me.
I waited until we reached my bedroom, and I closed the door, my body vibrating with tension.
“What’s going on?” Eilidh crossed her arms over her chest.
“Were you ever going to tell me about the cameras someone planted in your flat?”
Her brows drew together. “Walker?”
“Aye, he thought I knew.”
“You had enough on your plate.” She gestured to the baby monitor.
“Or you didn’t tell me because of … because of e-everything,” I sputtered angrily. “But this is bigger than that, Eilidh. This is your safety we’re talking about and my area of fucking expertise.”
“Don’t swear at me.” She strode past with a huff and reached for the bedroom door.
I wrapped a hand around her biceps, hauling her closer. “I’m going to find out who did this.”
Eilidh licked her lips as she searched my face. “Walker is on it. You just focus on Millie.”
My grip on her tightened as she attempted to pull away. “Stop acting like this isn’t a big deal. Someone violated your private space.”
“I know,” she hissed, yanking out of my hold. “I am well aware of that fact.”
“Talk to me, Eilidh. I don’t want you dealing with this alone.”
“I’m not.” Her expression closed. “My parents know. Lewis and Callie know. Walker knows. I have support.”
“I want to support you too.” My tone was almost pleading. After everything she’d done for me …
Eilidh backed up toward the door. “I don’t need that kind of support from you.”
Wow.
That fucking hurt more than I could say.
“Eilidh—” But my phone buzzed in my pocket, cutting me off. Cursing under my breath I pulled it out just as Eilidh opened the door to escape. The notification on the screen had me cursing out loud.
Whatever she heard in my voice stopped her in her tracks. “What is it?”
I tapped on the email.
About five gazillion emotions hit me at once as I read it.
“Fyfe … Fyfe, what is it?” Eilidh’s concerned question penetrated those five gazillion emotions.
“She’s mine,” I wheezed, my knees giving out as I stumbled onto my arse on the bed. “Millie’s my daughter.” Tears clouded my vision and I covered my face, trying to mask the magnitude of my reaction.
The bed depressed and I felt Eilidh’s leg nudge mine, her arm sliding across my back. A sob rattled in my chest as I attempted to hold it inside.
“And … you don’t want her?” Eilidh whispered.
I made an angry noise of denial.
She pressed closer. “You’re relieved?”
I nodded.
Eilidh pulled my head to her chest. “I understand,” she whispered tearfully. “It’s okay, Fyfe. It’s okay. She’s yours. No one can take her from you. She belongs to you. Always.”