29. London
Nee convinced me to finish up early at the B and B and return to the house to rest after the panic attack.
Truthfully, I didn’t want to rest, but I did have the urge to lose myself in playing piano.
I’d stopped in at Pages & Perks for a to-go cup of coffee, and three separate islanders complained about my honesty box being empty that morning.
I’d been stunned at first.
Because I’d forgotten.
I’d been so caught up with Kelly and Murray and Nick … I’d forgotten to bake yesterday.
Feeling guilty that I’d disappointed them, I promised them there would be treats in the honesty box tomorrow and to spread the word. My next stop was to buy ingredients from the store before heading back to the house.
As expected, no one was home when I returned.
Striding into the kitchen, I dumped the ingredients on the island and then wandered next door to put on some music.
Connecting my phone to Murray’s sound system, I found a Rhodes playlist on a streaming app.
With one last longing glance at the piano, I sauntered into the kitchen to get busy baking.
The pastries wouldn’t make it into tomorrow’s box since they took three days to make, but I decided to prep them so I could fill the honesty box at the weekend to make up for forgetting, so I worked on those first. Murray’s kitchen might lack personality, but it did not lack equipment, for which I was grateful.
A couple of hours must have passed because the next thing I knew, I was startled by the sound of Kelly announcing, “It smells amazing in here!”
Glancing up from where I was decanting hazelnut chocolate swirl muffins onto a rack to cool, I found Kelly standing in her school uniform, Murray with her, both looking around in amazement. Every inch of the kitchen was covered in baked goods in different stages of progress.
Murray strode into the music room to lower the volume on the mixed playlist I’d moved onto. He returned, his expression intense.
I shrugged sheepishly. “Sorry. I, uh, totally forgot to put stuff in the honesty box this morning and people were kind of pissed, so I promised to put stuff in there tomorrow morning.”
“People were pissed?” Murray’s tone was slightly dangerous.
“Drunk?” Kelly wrinkled her nose.
The corner of her dad’s mouth lifted. “No, m’eudail. We say pissed off, Americans say pissed.”
“Oh.” Kelly leaned into him to whisper comically, “Does London know it means drunk here?”
“I do, but I keep forgetting.” I moved the racks of muffins to the side before turning to check on the millionaire’s shortbread I had cooling in the fridge.
I’d fallen in love with millionaire’s shortbread when I moved here and developed my own salted caramel version.
It was usually the first product to be bought out in the honesty box.
“What are those?” Kelly’s voice sounded right at my ear, causing me to jump and almost drop the tray of shortbread. “Oops, sorry.”
Pulling back, I realized she was gesturing to the trays of butter. “Those are the butter blocks for the croissants.” I gestured with the tray to the row of dough that was resting on the far counter. “Croissants take days and I forgot to prep them, so these are for Saturday.”
“I didn’t know they took that long.” I could feel father and daughter watching me as I broke up chocolate into a bowl atop a pot on the hob. Looking over my shoulder at them, I grimaced, “Sorry if I’m in the way.”
“You’re not,” Murray said at the same time Kelly replied, “No way, this is cool. It smells so good.”
She eyed the cooling muffins.
“Do you want one?”
Kelly grinned, and it was so lovely seeing her face light up like that. “May I?”
“Grab one for your dad too. They’re still a little warm.”
“Even better.” Kelly moved around the kitchen to grab a couple of plates as I stirred the melting chocolate.
The hair on the nape of my neck rose as Murray neared. Then, even over the heady smells of my baking, I inhaled his familiar scent. A shiver prickled down my spine at the touch of his large hand on my lower back as he leaned into murmur in my ear, “We need to talk after.”
My breath caught, hyperawareness flushing through me as I turned my head ever so slightly to meet his gaze. An inappropriately timed throb between my thighs made my cheeks heat. “O-okay?”
Murray’s beautiful eyes washed over my face. “You feeling all right?”
I’d considered not telling him about Nick, but I didn’t want to stay on this merry-go-round of secret guardedness with him. Even if we weren’t in a relationship, we were supposed to be friends. “I have to tell you something.”
“Ramsay told me. I tried to get over to check on you, but …” Murray pulled back, looking away.
“What are you guys whispering about?” Kelly asked loudly. “Is it about me?”
My lips twitched and Murray saw my amusement. His own glimmered as he pulled back and wandered over to Kelly. “I was just telling London that she can’t keep tempting us with all this sugar.”
“Why not? I’m fine with it.”
Even though I was a little thrown that Murray already knew about my panic attack, I couldn’t help but giggle at Kelly’s response.
Murray chuckled. “Noted.”
Kelly’s answer was a muffled gargle. As I took the chocolate off the heat to pour over the caramel and shortbread, I saw her chewing on the muffin, rolling her eyes as if she was in ecstasy. Murray heard my laugh and his expression warmed with tenderness.
“Dad … oh my God, you need to try it. London, if you weren’t already married to my dad, I’d be proposing right now.”
That made me giggle harder, even though there was a part of me that wanted to cry with joy too. Because I was getting to see the funny girl Kelly was before her mum hurt her beyond imagining. “I appreciate that. Thank you.”
I think she’d replied something along the lines of “No, thank you.” But it was hard to tell around another mouthful of baked goods.
Murray leaned over the island and bit into his muffin. As I put the tray of shortbread back in the fridge, he shot me a confusingly heated glance as he wiped chocolate hazelnut sauce off his mouth.
“Well?” Kelly demanded.
Her dad’s hot gaze remained on me. “Aye. Delicious.”
The way his voice rumbled around that word and zinged off all my erogenous zones, he might as well have said something sexual.
I flushed, breaking our locked eyes to cool myself in the refrigerator.
“Something wrong?” Murray asked, a tinge of laughter in his words.
“Nope.” I squeaked and then cleared my throat. “Just checking the … stuff.”
Nice. Good save. Not.
Rolling my eyes, I closed the fridge and set about clearing what I could from the island to the counters over by the window.
The whole time Kelly and Murray chatted away.
I asked how her first three days of school went and it seemed to have been an overall positive experience, which would also account for her good mood.
It was a lovely moment, really. I felt included, and more than that, I felt wanted.
But there was something about Murray’s demeanor that seemed different.
I didn’t know what was going on, but there was a change in the air for sure.
Not long later, Murray started dinner and suggested Kelly do her homework since she had a ton to catch up on.
“Okay, fine.” Kelly pushed off one of the stools at the island. “Just don’t talk about anything interesting when I’m gone.”
Murray leaned over and kissed her temple. “Good girl.”
I sucked in a sharp breath, and Murray shot me a quizzical look as Kelly left the room.
Trying to purge those words from my mind, I offered to cook.
Murray shook his head. “I’ll cook. Will you sit and talk with me instead?”
Honestly, I liked watching him cook. It was hot.
He’d brought home fresh salmon from the smokehouse, and I forced myself not to ask him about the owner Shona and if she still had a crush on him.
Since the salmon didn’t take long, Murray worked on cutting up potatoes into chips and preparing fresh veg.
As he moved around, he spoke. “So, Nick texted you and you had a panic attack.”
Not really wanting to think too much on what Nick said in case it brought on another, I opened the text chain without looking at it and slid the phone over the worktop to him.
Murray frowned as he leaned to read the screen, and his expression tightened and tightened. He lingered over it, rereading the texts. For so long, in fact, I grew uncomfortable and reached for the phone. “I want to delete them, but Ramsay said we should hold on to them just in case.”
“He called you a good girl.”
Nausea roiled in my gut as I lifted my gaze to meet his worried one. “Y-yes.”
“It upsets you when you hear it.”
Feeling vulnerable, I nodded slowly. “E-every time he said it was after he was abusive in some way. When I complied, he’d call me his good girl. It makes me sick to my stomach.”
Something like wrath flashed quickly over Murray’s face before he controlled it. “I won’t ever say it again.”
“You shouldn’t have to do that. You said it to Kelly, not me.”
“I’m not going to say it again.” Murray gave me a reassuring nod. “Are you okay now? After that …” He spat the word that as he gestured to my phone. “I could kill him.”
The corner of my mouth lifted as warmth eased across my chest. There was something different about Murray today. “Get in line. But Ramsay said his whole family is going down. I don’t know the details yet.”
“So, we don’t need to worry about him?”
“Not according to Ramsay. I’m sorry that he threatened you and Kelly.” Shame agitated my nerve endings, making my hands clench into fists.
“You have nothing to apologize for.” Murray sighed, shaking his head. “And anyway, Nick’s threat isn’t the one I’m worried about.” He shot a glance toward the door.
A sense of unease caused an unpleasant swoop in my belly. Hopping off the stool, I crossed the kitchen to look out into the hall. “She’s definitely out of earshot.” Returning to him, but this time to his side, I asked, “What’s going on?”
Grim-faced, entire body tense with what I’d soon realize was stress and anxiety, Murray confided about the Walsh brothers.
It seemed impossible that he had been pulled into something this dark and that they’d gone so far as to infiltrate his ex-wife’s life.
Then he relayed the police detectives’ entrapment plan.
“The police have assured me they’re just a small organization and this operation will take them out for good, but I didn’t want to keep this from you.”
“Murray.” I squeezed his arm in comfort. “I’m so sorry you’ve been carrying this on top of everything else.”
His expression twisted. “There’s more. I … I would do anything to protect my family, but I also need to protect the people who work for me.”
My heart thudded harder and I suddenly knew. “Oh God, you’re going to do it. Aren’t you? You’re going on that boat.”
Murray shrugged helplessly, and I hated seeing him in turmoil. “I can’t ask one of my employees to take on this risk. I can’t. Fraser and I are trained fishermen. The Walshes will understand why we want to be on the boat, and they’ll believe the police officers are real crew.”
Fear chilled my blood. “And if something happens to you?”
He suddenly cupped my face in his big palm, his skin rough from years of physical labor. As he swiped his thumb across my cheekbone, my knees trembled.
Holy fuck.
There was nothing but him, his eyes, his touch as he bent his head to mine and vowed, “I will do everything in my power to stay safe. For Kelly. For you.”
What … what did that mean? The last part. What did that mean?
“Murray—”
“Dad!” Kelly’s yell broke us apart. She burst into the kitchen, waving her phone, voice vibrating with excitement. “Can I come?”
Discombobulated by the sudden interruption to what felt like a moment, I had no idea what she was referring to and clearly neither did Murray.
“Come to what?”
“Open mic night tomorrow.” She scowled. “You didn’t tell me you were playing.”
“I’m not.”
“Then why are you listed on the Lantern’s website?”
“Let me see.” I leaned in to look at her phone. Sure enough, Murray’s name was on a list of only three people performing at open mic tomorrow night. “You didn’t tell me you signed up.”
“I didn’t.” Murray took the phone to peer at it. Then realization dawned on his face. “Taran.”
Despite the seriousness of our previous conversation and the confusing mixed signals this man was sending my way, a giggle escaped my lips before I could stop it.
Kelly seemed confused. “What does Ms. Macbeth have to do with it?”
“I have a feeling she went behind your dad’s back and signed him up.”
“Oh. Well, you still have to do it, Dad.”
“M’eudail, you can’t come. It starts after 8 p.m.”
“Ugh, I wish Mr. Macduff would change that stupid rule.” Kelly crossed her arms over her chest, chin lifted defiantly. “Well, you still have to do it. And London, you need to record it so I feel like I’m there.”
I looked to Murray.
He let out a huff and rolled his eyes. “Fine.”
Kelly raised her hand palm up to me and I laughed as we high-fived.