18. Locke
LOCKE
“Idon’t want you to go back to Edinburgh,” Aisling said, stomping her foot and pouting up at me.
We were standing in the front hall, where she’d cornered me as soon as I’d returned to Lochbrae with Isla.
Lena and Weston had arranged a dinner for us all since I was heading back in the morning.
It was a sweet gesture, though it also felt a bit silly.
I wasn’t marching off to war. “Have you been chatting with your Auntie?”
Isla gave me a flat look. “Could you just accept that people are going to miss you?”
“I want you to stay here!” Aisling continued.
I scooped her into my arms. “I promise I’ll see you really soon.”
She wound her arms around my neck, momentarily cutting off my air supply. “No!”
“How about we go eat dinner?” I suggested, giving her a little bounce, trying to get her to smile. She doubled down on the pout. “And then…” I added, “I’ll let you show me that sparkly nail polish.”
Those were the magic words because Aisling perked right up, beaming at me. “Manicures?” she said.
“Manicures,” I agreed.
Aisling wriggled out of my arms, shouting something about buffing and nail art as she rushed off.
“You have no idea what she’s talking about, do you?” Isla said, pressing into my side.
I wrapped my arm around her and sighed. “To think I almost made it my whole stay without having to succumb to the sparkly nail polish.”
“It’s when she wrinkles that little nose,” Isla said as we wandered through the estate. “It makes it impossible to say no.”
I hummed in agreement as we turned into the dining room.
“Ooo,” Isla groaned, pressing her hand to her belly as Weston pulled the lid off a casserole dish. “Whatever that is, I want two plates of it.”
“Agnes prepared her famous steak pie,” he said, shooting her a grin.
“Please tell me there’s a pot of gravy to drown it in?” Isla asked.
Lena walked in a moment later with said gravy, and I thought Isla was going to collapse from happiness.
It was adorable how dramatically specific foods could shift her mood.
I wasn’t sure if it was a pregnancy quirk or not, but I loved it.
I was starting to keep a list in case there was ever the need to surprise her with a takeaway while I was gone.
“Go ahead and sit down,” Lena said, waving Isla into a chair. I settled in next to her. “Aisling!” she called out the door. “Dinner!”
The girl rushed in a moment later. “I had to find my sparkly nail polish.” She climbed into her chair while Weston dished up her plate.
The rest of us passed pie and gravy and mash around, and the next forty minutes were filled with good food and good conversation, along with plenty of laughter.
By the time dinner was done, I was pleasantly full and Aisling was yawning.
“Do you want to say goodnight to Uncle Locke and Isla?” Lena asked.
“Wait.” Aisling pouted, rubbing her eye. “He said we’d do manicures.”
“I don’t know if there’s time for that tonight, sweetheart,” Weston said. “It’s already late.”
“But he promised,” she said, sounding on the verge of tears.
My heart lurched in my chest. “I did promise.”
“Maybe next time,” Lena said.
Aisling’s eyes went wide and round and glassy. Oh no.
“Hey!” Isla said, heading off a potential meltdown.
“I have something that might cheer you up.” She hurried out of the room, then returned a moment later with a photo album.
She handed it over to Weston and Lena. “I’m going to send you guys the file to go through, but I printed out what I thought were the best photos from the vow renewal. Just to give you a little taste.”
Lena gasped, holding her hand to her mouth. “Oh, Isla! These are so lovely.”
“I thought Aisling might want to look at them with you,” she suggested. “There’s plenty of photos of her pretty dress.”
Aisling slid from her chair, rushing around the table to climb into Weston’s lap. “Let me see!”
“How do we ask?” Lena reminded her.
“Please!” Aisling added, poring over the book with them. “There’s Kenna and Alistair!”
“I see Kenna got into the fondue fountain,” Weston laughed.
“Oh my God, is that Tess twerking on the ice sculpture?” Lena snapped a photo of the image with her phone. “I have to send this to her right now.”
“Ah, look at this,” Weston said, flipping the book in my direction. “Another one of Uncle Locke scowling at the camera.”
“You said these were the best photos!” I complained, nudging Isla.
She shot me a cheeky grin. “They are.”
Aisling flipped the page. “That’s me again!”
Weston kissed the crown of her head before looking over to Isla with a smile. “These are incredible,” he said. “Thank you.” He kept flipping. “Sometimes I wonder if artistic talent is inherited.”
Isla lifted her shoulder. “My mother wasn’t much for taking pictures—and in a million years, I could never draw or paint like she could.”
“But it seems to me that you’ve inherited your mother’s artistic eye.”
Isla beamed at that, and I could tell she was chuffed by the comparison.
“Either way, you have a real gift,” Lena said. She turned to Aisling. “Do you want to keep looking at the photos while I tuck you into bed?”
Aisling clutched the photo album to her chest. “Can Auntie Isla come too?”
“Of course I can,” Isla said, getting up to her feet to follow Lena and Aisling upstairs. When they’d gone, Milo rushed in, sniffing around under Isla’s chair for scraps.
“Get a dog to clean up after the baby in Edinburgh,” Weston said, pointing at him. “Highly recommend it.”
I laughed. “I’ll just borrow Ranger.”
Weston stood, collecting the plates together. “When do you think you’ll be back next?”
“Definitely for the festival,” I said. “I’ve promised Isla and the council. But likely before that too.” I rubbed my hand along my jaw, thinking through my to-do list. “I’ll have to come back to sort things for the property. I want to employ as many local tradespeople as possible.”
“Oh, that’s great,” Weston said. “Do you want me to send you the links to the contractors we used for the camp this summer?”
“Yeah, that’d be great.” I got to my feet. “Let me help with the cleanup.”
“Nah,” he said, “you’re our guest.”
“Hey now, I thought I was part of the family.” I laughed as I grabbed the empty casserole dish, stacked it with cutlery, and followed Weston back to the kitchen.
“You know you are. You’re always welcome here when you come back,” Weston said as we set everything down in the sink, “either for business or just a visit. But I’ll understand if you start to spend most of your time at the inn.”
My cheek twitched. “I suppose I’m going to have to start building the nursery and all that.”
Weston leaned against the counter, arms crossed, giving me a smug grin. “You can just admit that things are going well with you two.”
“Will you keep an eye on Isla for me while I’m away?” I asked. I’d miss her while we were apart, but it was a comfort to know that Weston and Lena were so close.
“Of course,” he said. “We’ll make sure that she and Little Locke have everything they need.”
“It might be a little Lockette,” I pointed out, and Weston snorted, shaking his head.
“That’s awful.”
“That’s what I said.” Isla appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. Lena walked up behind her.
“Aisling already asleep?” Weston asked.
“Out like a light,” Lena said. “She is clutching the photo album, though.”
“Great,” Weston teased, opening his arm to Lena. “When we get it back in the morning it’ll be covered in drool.”
“Ready to go?” I asked Isla as she hid a yawn behind her hand.
She nodded. “Thanks again for dinner. It was amazing.”
“Anytime,” Lena said, and I smiled, knowing she meant it. We said the rest of our good nights and headed back to the inn. The sky was dark but for a bit of pink lingering on the horizon.
“Gosh, that pie made me so sleepy,” Isla said, walking into the lobby of the Deerhound. The lights were low. Isla shuffled in the direction of her room, and I followed. We settled into our now-familiar bedtime routine, taking turns brushing our teeth and changing into pajamas.
Isla tugged on the drawstring of my pants, blinking sleepily and pouting. “I was planning to sex you up tonight. It was going to be my going away present.” She fought off a yawn. “Stupid pie. I’m sorry.”
I stroked her hair behind her ear. It was wavy from being twisted into a bun all evening. “You’re growing an entire person inside you. Being exhausted is understandable. Plus, I’m not leaving that early.” I kissed her forehead. “There’s always the morning.”
Isla pecked me on the lips. “You, me, and Willy tomorrow morning. It’s a date.”
I snorted so hard it hurt. “Please don’t call my dick Willy.”
“What would you prefer? Something grand like Amadeus?”
My shoulders shook with laughter. I was going to miss these quiet moments with just the two of us being goofy together. “I don’t think it needs a nickname.”
“Suit yourself.” She climbed into bed, leaned against her pillow, and applied her hand lotion. I climbed in next to her. “Can we check the pregnancy app on your phone tonight?” she asked. “I don’t want to touch my phone while my hands are slimy.”
I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and opened the app for our nightly ritual—we’d quickly gotten into the habit of reviewing it together right before bed.
A little explosion of confetti went off.
We’d apparently officially passed the two-and-a-half-month mark.
“It says you should be monitoring your hydration, diet, and exercise. And it has a pop-up reminder that we’ve got that appointment with the midwife booked for next week. ”
“Check,” Isla said, making a little tick-box motion with her hand as she leaned against my shoulder.
Thanks to the appointment, it really wouldn’t be that long before I saw her again. Sure, it would be a brief, fly-by visit before I had to take off again, but I’d still be there.
I scrolled the app. “It says we should be having our dating scan a few weeks after that. But I’m sure the midwife will explain everything when we see her.”