CHAPTER SIX
Avonlea – Now
Idon’t know what I expected in seeing Jamie. And how could I, when I wasn’t prepared for this reunion?
The sheepish look on Angus’s face as Jamie leaves the kitchen should feel vindicating, but I’m too exhausted for anything besides dread.
“You have some explaining to do, sir,” I chastise, but it lacks any real heat.
What is it people say? You laugh to keep from crying?
Yeah, that’s about where I am right now.
Because even if there’s nothing this man could do that I wouldn’t forgive, he has not only thrust me into an awkward situation, but a potentially life-changing one.
“Who, me?” he says innocently before pushing to his feet. It’s clearly an effort and he uses his cane to support most of his weight. “Come here, lass. Let me get a proper look at you.”
I step closer, rolling my eyes. Goodness, he’s such a mother hen.
“You look good. You’re good, aren’t you?” He places one firm hand against my cheek and I smile at his concern. “And Lennox, he’s with your parents?”
“I thought it was best to let him finish the school year while I get settled. It’s only two months.” How many times will I tell myself this before I finally believe it? “Now, back to why you didn’t tell me Jamie was visiting.”
Angus darts his eyes away, looking every bit like I caught him with his hand in the biscuit tin. “He’s not,” he states.
“Excuse me… Care to repeat that? Because I’m pretty sure the man I just watched walk out of here”—I point toward the door—“was your grandson, Jameson Liam Murray? I thought it was your heart having problems, not your head.” I try to joke—that instinct feels easier than the alternative—and it appears to land with Angus because he barks out a laugh.
It’s infectious, pulling a matching one from me, and it feels good to laugh with this man who has been a mentor, a grandfather, a friend.
He settles himself back behind his desk, dabbing at the corners of his eyes, and indicates for me to sit across from him.
“Oh, my head is just fine, girl. Goodness, you still have sass.” He chuckles again. “I meant that Jamie’s not visiting. He’s staying for the time being. To help out around here. To help when I…” He trails off.
This is the first time I’ve seen a flicker of sadness in his features, and I wish we could go back to the jovialness of a moment ago. Underneath his casual facade, he’s hurting more than he’s letting on. But as his words sink in—all his words—I feel my stomach flip.
“He’s staying… here?” I whisper.
“Aye. He is.”
“For how long?”
“I’ve just about got him convinced to stay the year. Though if Aileen has anything to say about it, I’m sure she’ll push for longer.”
The year?
I swallow thickly. There will be no avoiding him for a year, and there definitely won’t be any hiding anything either… It won’t be possible.
“You knew this,” I question, “when you asked me to move up here early?”
“Aye.”
Of course he did. Meddlesome old man.
“But… why didn’t you tell me?” My voice rises to an uncomfortably high octave.
“Would you have come if I did?” he asks gently. Too gently.
I send him a glare because, no, I probably wouldn’t have.
I would have chickened out, no matter how much I want this job.
Because even though we talked about the possibility of Jamie someday, maybe, coming back to Scotland for a visit, it never occurred to me that it would happen so soon.
That I would have to confront the mess of it all the moment I walked in the door.
“I want you here, Avonlea.” Angus’s voice is as tender as his hand wrapping around mine. “I want Lennox here. I told you as much when I offered you this job. But I want Jamie here too. I want my family with me…” The words he leaves unspoken contain multitudes.
When I meet his grey eyes, I find a look that mimics the one from last year when I brought Lennox into this very inn for lunch…
The one that told me he knew. It was a few weeks later, when he called and offered me a job, that I told him everything.
Aside from my parents, he and Aileen are the only ones who know the truth, and they promised me they would respect my wishes.
And as far as I know, they have. But now…
“I know the position this puts you in, Avonlea.” He raises an eyebrow at me, and I press my lips into a firm line. “I just hope you’ll stay. I need you here. And we will follow your lead where Jamie is concerned, but—”
Before he can finish, the back door bangs open and a group of men walk in, tousled hair wet from the rain that started just after I arrived.
“Ah, perfect timing.” Angus stands again and pulls me over to the large kitchen island, my hand still in his. “Let me introduce you to your staff.”
My staff. This is my restaurant. That’s what I was promised in return for this move.
The T&T Pub is mine. I’m officially a head chef.
Of my very own restaurant. It’s what I’ve always wanted, what I’ve dreamt of since I was a little girl watching my parents run the Gables, watching Angus here, in this kitchen.
“Been a long time, lass,” Hamish says. I almost can’t believe he’s still here after all this time. He’s been Angus’s sous chef for as long as I can remember.
As my brain attempts to focus on committing the names and faces of the other men around me to memory, my heart feels miles away from this kitchen.
It’s pulling me toward the front desk and the man who was once a boy I loved with my whole heart. It’s also tugging me toward the city, where another boy, who now owns that heart, is going through his day—without a thought for the fact that his father is closer than he’s been his entire life.