Chapter 18
WESTON
“Craft ales? Bleck!”
“What’s wrong with a proper pint of good Scottish ale, eh?” Tam said, getting to his feet, riling up half the committee.
I rubbed my eyes as the voices in the room started to converge into one grating drone.
I considered myself somewhat of an expert in dealing with competing personalities.
Put me in a boardroom, and I’d tame even the most stubborn of opponents.
But leave it to the committee for this bloody summer festival to be my undoing.
It’s a wonder Grandad ever got this thing off the ground.
He truly was a special person, herding these feral cats single-handedly in the years after Gran passed.
“We don’t want any of that fruity shite at the festival!” Tam continued.
Cheers of agreement sounded.
“Sorry to interrupt, Tam! Highland’s Best Brews just confirmed,” Lena announced as she stared down at her phone, thankfully derailing the complaints about the quality of alcohol in the beer tent. “That brings our official vendor count to twenty-seven.”
“Go us!” Isla said, fist-pumping the air.
“We’ll need a booth for them,” Lena continued. “Aiden, can you add that to your list to set up?” He nodded. “And Isla, can you update our socials?”
“On it!” she chirped.
Tam cleared his throat loudly. “Back to what I was saying, I don’t know why we can’t just go with a classic Tennent’s Lager?”
“Because some of us don’t want to drink pish,” Mrs. Crawford said, getting to her feet.
Jo huffed, rolling her eyes. “Sit down, Miriam.”
“I will personally make sure you get your Tennent’s, Tam,” I called, heading off further arguments. The meeting wound down, but the grumbling disagreements continued as the group relocated to the side of the room for drinks and snacks.
“Thank God a quality coffee shop confirmed,” I muttered, releasing a sigh of relief as Lena pressed against my shoulder. I let her flowery scent distract me, calming my frustration. It was the same scent that lingered everywhere recently.
On my pillow.
On the sheets.
On my dress shirt after I’d snuck my arms around her.
Every time I breathed it in, a knot of tension unwound, and I was reminded again how lucky I was to have her by my side, helping me keep not only my life on track but Braeburn as well.
It was all running to schedule thanks to Lena’s hard work, despite me doing my damnedest to distract her these past few days.
“Something tells me we’re gonna need the caffeine on festival day with this bunch,” she agreed. Her smile was soft, though. Easy. She was enjoying herself. The last of my frustration faded as I watched her catch her lip between her teeth, excitedly scanning her clipboard.
“How’re we doing with the rest of the vendor list?” I asked.
“We have four nos, three maybes, and seven vendors I haven’t heard back from yet. I’m gonna send an email to nudge them after this meeting, but I think it’ll be a good turnout even if no one else confirms,” she said, her eyes widening slightly as an email pinged into her inbox.
“What is it?”
She snapped her head up, shooting me a silly grin before flipping her phone around for me to read. “Guess who just confirmed the cover band?”
“Really?” I snorted as I skimmed the message, my eyes snagging on the band’s name. “The Midge Bites?”
“Isla and I listened to their demo. Local kids. They’re actually pretty good.” She squeezed my elbow, and a thrill of sensation shot up my arm. “We promised they could close out the festival.”
My lips twitched. “If they’re awful, I’m never going to hear the end of it from this lot,” I whispered, leaning in to buzz my lips against the side of her jaw. Her cheeks flushed a pretty pink.
“You’re supporting youth and the arts,” she replied. “It’s a good look.”
I arched my eyebrow. “You’re a good look.”
“Lame.” She rolled her eyes even as her blush deepened. “We can push the arts angle with PR. Kincaid Energy needs all the boosts it can get. Cynthia will love it.”
I hummed. “Well, just so you know, I’ll expect you to make it up to me when Tam turns the pub against me.”
“I doubt that. It might be hard to believe with all their bickering and complaining, but I think this crowd has actually warmed up to you quite well.” Her voice dropped even lower. “Some might even say they like you.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” I teased. “I think the craft ales are Tam’s last straw. So you should probably start thinking about how you’re going to make it up to me.”
Lena’s breath caught, but her eyes flashed with something cheeky. “Careful what you wish for, my liege.”
My grin twisted into a smirk. “I think I can handle it.”
“Oh, can you?” she said, eyebrows raised, a challenge in her voice.
My pulse throbbed in my chest. I was very eager to rise to that challenge and show her just how much I could handle.
“Hey,” Isla said, hurrying up with her phone in hand. “Can I steal you two for a moment?”
Lena’s face pinched, and I could tell Isla’s tone had concerned her. “What is it?”
Isla inclined her head away from the crowd, and we followed her across the hall. She looked sheepish as she handed over her phone. “I posted this on the festival Instagram earlier.”
It was a reel showing Gran and Grandad before flashing to an image of Lena and me. Isla had caught a candid photo of us—it was an impressive shot. The way we were looking at each other made us look hopelessly smitten.
“The response was…” Isla trailed off. “Umm…scroll down and see for yourself.”
Lena tapped a finger against her lips as she read through the comments. I glanced over her shoulder, my gaze catching on Narissa’s account name. Shite.
Love birds, really? Narissa’s comment said. More like sham birds. Their entire relationship is a lie and they should be ashamed of themselves.
Pain shot through my jaw from how hard I was clenching it.
In another comment, she went on to say that we were scamming the entire town, pretending to be the perfect couple when that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Goddammit, Narissa! Lena reached out, catching my hand, as if sensing I needed to be brought back down to earth before I hit the roof about it.
“I didn’t mean to start anything,” Isla said awkwardly, looking between us. “I don’t even know who—”
Lena gave her phone back and rubbed her arm gently. “No, of course not. This isn’t your fault. Don’t worry about it.”
“Narissa is my ex,” I explained, trying to deal with my frustration before it got the better of me. “And she’s not handling the fact that I’ve moved on very well.”
“Ah,” Isla said. “That explains a lot.” She laughed uncomfortably. “Well, I apologize for apparently setting her off.”
Lena forced a smile.
“Personally,” Isla continued. “I think she comes off sounding a bit like a conspiracy theorist.”
Isla wasn’t wrong. And maybe that worked to our advantage. Honestly, I wasn’t all that worried about anyone here taking Narissa’s ranting seriously. Lena and I hadn’t given them any reason to doubt the strength of our relationship, and if anything, we’d only grown closer since being in town.
But it was still bloody annoying that Narissa couldn’t let this go. The woman needed to stop stalking me on socials and move on already.
“I’m going to delete her comments, obviously,” Isla said. “And block her. I just thought you two should know what she’s saying.”
“Thank you,” Lena said. “We appreciate that.”
Isla lifted her shoulder. “For what it’s worth, I think you two suit each other perfectly.” Someone called her name, and she headed back off into the crowd.
I gave a sharp exhale. “Has to ruin everything, doesn’t she?”
“I’ll get PR on it,” Lena said, her tone telling me she was in fix-it mode as her fingers started flying across the keyboard of her own phone.
A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth as I wrapped my arm around her waist. “I know you’ll get it under control.”
“Why don’t you go get us a drink and I’ll finish reaching out to Cynthia?”
I looked up, spotting Tam at the refreshment table. “Sending me into the lion’s den, eh?”
“Well, I’m dealing with Narissa,” she countered. “So who’s really in the lion’s den?”
“Fair play,” I said. I headed across the room, getting caught up in a debate over the lineup for the judging panel for the haggis competition.
We’d already had this conversation several times.
By the time I’d escaped, the coffee in my cup had gone cold.
I abandoned it back on the table, turning around to find Lena standing there, holding out a bag from Hamish’s bakery.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“Thought you could use a little treat for the way home,” she said.
Her words warmed my chest, chasing away the irritation that still lingered from Narissa’s constant efforts to upend my life.
For the most part, her attempts were an inconvenience, and we’d been able to explain it away, but eventually, the wrong person might pay more attention, and by wrong, I meant the board and any investors.
I took the bag and peered inside to find my favorite millionaire’s shortbread.
I smiled, fondness swelling inside me, knowing I could always trust her to know exactly what I needed.
Suddenly, I was overwhelmed with the desire to be exactly what she needed as well. I took her hand, entwining our fingers. “You ready to go?” I asked, eager to get her home and have her all to myself.
“Yeah,” she said. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Milo!” I shouted, climbing out of the car after we’d parked in front of the house. The dog went shooting off through the gardens after Bonnie. There was a jangling noise from Bonnie, thanks to her new halter. “Damn pony.”
Lena chuckled, stepping out behind me. “I think her ability to infiltrate the property should be studied. Armies could learn a thing or two from her.”
“Oi, Milo heel!” The dog froze in place, turning to look at me, tongue lolling, tail wagging. “Stop being a menace.” I released him with another command, but Bonnie returned, running circles around him, and Milo darted off through the hedges in pursuit. “I’m concerned about this partnership.”
“Better that she’s bothering Milo instead of me,” Lena said.
“She’s teaching him bad habits,” I grumbled. I’d bought her the halter to make it easier to grab hold of her when she turned up on the property, but what it really did was drive home that all along, she’d been everywhere. The damn thing tinkled like Santa’s sleigh.
“Hold this, please,” I requested of Lena, handing her my bakery bag as I rolled up my sleeves.
Lena hummed appreciatively. “Showing off for me?”
I flexed my forearms, backing toward the pony. “Is this what gets you going?”
“Why don’t you roll those sleeves a little higher and I’ll let you know,” she called.
I did, indulging her, liking the way she eyed me up, catching her lip between her teeth. Then I turned and set my sights on Bonnie. I surged after her, catching her by the halter just as she darted through a hedge.
“I’m trying to get shagged, you wee monster,” I muttered, holding firm. “Stop being a nuisance.”
Bonnie looked up at me, curled her lips back, and whinnied in indignation.