14. Locke
LOCKE
I’d never seen Isla look so pale, and for a moment it terrified me, my pulse skipping a beat. “Isla,” I whispered again.
Was she about to be sick? Was something wrong with the baby? What could have set her off like that?
She lowered her hand, shaking her head. “M’okay,” she whispered before I could launch to my feet and sweep her out of the room.
“You’re sure?”
She nodded. She was still pale, but there was enough strength in her touch as she squeezed my hand to keep me in my seat.
Her eyes flickered to the council, and I turned back to the stage, giving my attention to the representative from Sargentis Industries.
I looked him up and down, assessing—the way I always did when I was put face-to-face with my competition.
He looked to be in his early twenties, but he was well dressed, giving the illusion of luxury…
of wealth…of promise. He had a dimple in his cheek and a charming smile, and I could tell just from his swagger that he was confident in his ability to work the room.
Looking around, though, I was surprised to see that a lot of the council was already frowning at him.
No, not just frowning. In Jo’s case, she was downright glowering, clutching that clipboard in front of her so tightly the backs of her knuckles turned white.
Confusion filled me, which only grew when he opened by giving his name—Declan Cartwright—but then said that he knew he didn’t really need to introduce himself, because he was already acquainted with nearly everyone there.
Was he from Braeburn? If so, it was smart of Sargentis to send him.
Hometown advantage could mean a lot in cases like this.
Except…maybe not in this case, if the glares were any indication.
He went on for the next quarter of an hour, laying out all that the factory would do for the town.
He spoke well, but his speech wasn’t well received.
His wide smile started looking a little tight at the edges about three minutes in when he realized no one was smiling back.
At all. Still, he plowed on, waxing rhapsodic about new jobs and increased prosperity.
The longer Declan went on, the more people fidgeted, whispering behind their hands, eyes narrowed. This should have had me elated, especially in comparison to how everyone had acted while I was speaking. From the looks of things, everyone was on my side and very much not on Declan’s.
But it was hard to feel any joy or satisfaction when Isla looked so pale and anxious next to me. The rest of the town was frowning at Declan, clearly annoyed by him. But Isla? She looked hurt—like seeing him poked at an old wound that still hadn’t healed. What the hell had he done?
“Thank you for that invigorating presentation, Declan,” Jo said, the words ground out between her teeth.
I’d never seen her behave so frostily to anyone.
Not even toward Weston’s arse of a cousin at last year’s summer festival.
“You’ve given Braeburn a lot to consider.
” She glanced down the table at her fellow council members.
“And we don’t make this decision lightly. You can take your seat.”
Declan nodded, still maintaining his smile even if it now looked uncomfortably strained as he made his way back down the aisle to his chair.
My heart crashed against my ribcage as Patrick rose to his feet. “We’ve heard two proposals,” he said. “Now it’s time to help Mr. MacRae choose the way forward for Braeburn. All in favor of the factory proposal given by Sargentis Industries?”
Isla latched onto my hand, squeezing hard enough to make the bones grind together.
Was she anxious because she was hopeful for me?
Or was her distress all to do with Declan after all?
This vote was what I’d waited for, worked for, but now that the moment had come, the only thing on my mind was the woman by my side.
“Do you need to get out of here?” I whispered in her ear, but she shook her head hard.
“I’m not going anywhere until we know for sure that you’ve won,” she insisted.
Looking around, I noticed only a small scattering of hands raised around the room.
Jo counted off the votes, making note of it.
“And now,” Patrick said. “All in favor of the hotel proposal given by Fraser Developments?”
More hands went up. A lot more hands. Isla and Weston and Mel. She took baby Lucy’s hand and raised that too, drawing some chuckles from the crowd. I turned around, watching the hands fly up around me. Dougal watched, too, his eyebrow arched to his hairline.
Isla shook my hand, a laugh tumbling free as she twisted and turned.
Jo’s hand was up. Patrick’s hand was up.
Even old Tam’s. Maisie had popped in from the inn to vote, and so had Weston’s groundskeeper, Callum.
Agnes and her knitting circle were back there, hands up, nodding as they murmured to each other.
It was obvious that my proposal had won by a large margin. I didn’t bother trying to hold back a smug smile. I’d had my share of victories over the years, but really, winning never got old.
“And there we have it!” Jo said. “Congratulations, Mr. Fraser.”
“The town wants the hotel!” Isla squealed under her breath, looking at me with a huge grin that lit up her face. She was still a little paler than I’d like, but how could I fuss when she looked so happy?
She leaned into my shoulder, and I pressed a kiss to her temple. We’d bloody well done it. We’d won the popular vote. Now all we needed was for Dougal to actually keep his word and make the sale.
He rose to his feet. “Thank you everyone for coming out and voting,” Dougal said. “I appreciate your input.”
“And that closes out our meeting,” Patrick announced.
The room broke into a flurry of chaos as everyone fell into chattering while they got up and gathered their things. Greetings sounded. People gushed over Agnes’s scones and tittered over the vote. Weston clapped my shoulder, pulling me out of all the chaos as he congratulated me.
“The hard part’s over,” he said.
“Looks that way, but I’m not counting my chickens before they’re hatched,” I reminded him. The last big deal I’d arranged had fallen apart at the finish line. Until Dougal had signed his name on that contract and handed me the deed to the property, I wasn’t letting myself get carried away.
But still, it was definitely a moment to enjoy.
“I’m gonna go let Lena know,” Weston said. “See you at Lochbrae.”
I lifted my hand in goodbye. “I’ll be around later.”
Isla pressed herself against my side, and my hand automatically wound around her waist.
“Guess congratulations are in order.”
I glanced over my shoulder to find Declan standing there. He’d finally dropped the smile, and his earlier swagger was gone.
Isla frowned, her eyebrows knitted together. “What do you want, Declan?”
He clapped in her face. “Easy to see who won the breakup as far as the town is concerned. Never really stood a chance, did I? Not when everyone’s little princess was sitting in the front row, pouting.”
“I’m not responsible for the mess you made of your reputation in this town,” Isla said, her jaw clenched tight.
Declan took a step toward her, and anger shot through me. Like hell was I letting any man get close to her with that kind of ugly sneer on his face. I stepped forward, putting myself between them. “Walk away,” I said. “The town has made it pretty clear that no one wants you here.”
He sneered at me. “So Mr. Bigshot Hotel Developer is your bodyguard now?”
“She doesn’t need a bodyguard,” I said, my fingers coiled into a fist. I wasn’t going to hit the kid, but I might take him by the back of the collar and toss him out on his arse if he didn’t back off soon.
“She can handle herself. But in case you’re wondering, yes.
I have been known to take the rubbish out when necessary.
Why don’t you save me the trouble? I’m sure your boss is waiting to hear all about how you cocked this up for him. ”
I gave him my best, most infuriating smirk. Go on, take a swing, I silently dared him. See where that gets you. I let my eyes flash dangerously, and Declan backed off, shaking his head as he stalked away, muttering under his breath.
I kept my eyes on him, not letting my guard down until he’d fully exited the building. Isla took my hand, bringing me back to reality. “I think he’s well and truly got his tail between his legs.”
I turned to her. “Are you going to tell me what that was about?” I asked. “I get that he’s not happy he lost, but he seemed to blame you in particular.”
She winced, curling in on herself a little. “Do you remember at the cat café, when Jo said I’d chosen someone better this time around?”
“Wait, so he’s the loser you picked before?” I said, unable to keep the judgment out of my voice. Isla gave me a flat look, and I apologized. “But seriously, that guy?”
“He put on the full charm offensive, so it took me a while to realize how truly terrible he was,” Isla admitted.
“When I first got back to Scotland, he started dating me pretty ardently. I was still processing the move and losing my mom, and I just…” She shrugged, embarrassed.
“I wanted to feel good, to have something I could get excited about. He was cute, and fun, and he seemed really into me. So I got a little swept off my feet.”
“Then what happened?” I asked.
“I found out he was using me because he wanted money. He tried to get me to sell my mom’s artwork to bankroll some business venture.”
“Oh, Isla,” I said. Having to deal with that off the back of losing her mother was horrible. “You didn’t?”
“No,” she hurried to say. “My mom’s work means way too much to me.
Even suggesting that I sell it all right away while ‘interest was still hot’ was enough to stop me in my tracks.
When I made it clear that was never going to happen, he dumped me hard and fast. Word got out around town, as it does.
Everyone took my side, and he got shunned pretty badly. It wasn’t long before he moved away.”
“And linked up with Sargentis Industries, apparently,” I muttered.
“Anyway,” Isla said, wrapping her hand around my forearm. “He’s a slimy arse, and I could have handled him.”
I flash her a smile. “I know.”
“But thank you for stepping in, and for the things you said. It was sweet.” She pressed up on her toes then, leaving a soft kiss on my lips. She hovered there a moment, waiting for me to respond. When I did, she tilted her head, and I immediately knew there was something different about this kiss.
It wasn’t some little peck for the crowds. It wasn’t pretend.
It was for us—only us.
And I wanted it more than I knew how to admit.