London
Present day
Isle of Glenvulin, Scotland
Birdy’s mellifluous voice filled my ears as I wiped down the quartz countertops in the B and B’s kitchen.
My earbuds were open so I could still hear what was going on around me, but I enjoyed listening to music while I prepped and cooked.
Breakfast was over for another morning at the Leth Sholas Guest House, and I was wiping down the beautifully renovated kitchen, making sure everything was prepped for tomorrow’s early start.
“Spoon,” a voice cut through my music.
Glancing over my shoulder, I found my best friend and employer, Tierney, leaning into the room, one hand wrapped around the doorjamb. “Just four covers for breakfast tomorrow. A guest called in a last-minute cancellation.”
“That’s fine.” I frowned. “Did they hassle you for keeping their deposit?”
Nee wrinkled her nose. “You know it. I handled it. It’s fine.”
April in Leth Sholas, the small harbor village on the north coast of the Isle of Glenvulin, an island off the west coast of Scotland, was entering its tourist season.
Although ferries ran year-round to the mainland for those who lived here but worked on the mainland, the heavy tourist traffic we saw during the summer months disappeared over winter.
It meant Tierney, who owned the guest house, relied on being near to fully booked April through September to balance out the slow winter months.
There were some days this past winter she didn’t have a single guest. As her chef, it left both of us twiddling our thumbs.
Breakfast started at 7 a.m., but I began work at 5 a.m. and finished at noon, leaving the running of the guest house to Nee and the seasonal managers she hired.
To give me a break so I wasn’t working seven days a week, breakfast on Mondays and Tuesdays was continental style.
I made pastries to go along with the offering of yogurt and cereal.
That gave me some off-time and Ramsay had finally convinced Nee she needed downtime too. Therefore, she’d started hiring seasonal managers to live in the guest house. However, not having a permanent full-time manager was also stressful for her.
Knowing she had me gave her some security.
Which was why I felt so guilty for feeling trapped and confined by the job.
The problem was I didn’t know what else I wanted to do with my life, so there was no point grumbling about feeling stuck.
I’d never leave Nee in the lurch after everything she’d done for me.
Moreover, there was no guarantee my visa would be extended, and it wouldn’t be if I didn’t have a job.
The thought of leaving Leth Sholas always filled me with panic, so I immediately stopped myself from dwelling on it.
“When does Emmy start today?” I asked, referring to the Canadian postgrad who had started last week as Nee’s seasonal manager for four months.
“Soon.” Nee glanced at her watch and frowned. “Your shift ended twenty minutes ago.” She looked up and lowered her voice. “I thought you had a late lunch date in Oban today?”
It was not common knowledge that I’d finally ventured back into the dating game.
I didn’t want anyone in my business about it, considering how vulnerable the whole situation made me.
I’d never been the casual dating type, so I refused to go on dates with any islanders.
Gossip here traveled faster than email; therefore, I’d only gone on dates with strangers from the mainland.
We usually met in Oban for coffee or lunch.
It was a long way to go for a date, but it was the only way I was comfortable doing it.
I was proud I’d finally gotten to the point where I felt strong enough to look for a meaningful relationship.
However, it wasn’t exactly going to plan.
I hadn’t had one single second date because there had been no spark with anyone. Zero. Zip. Nada.
Honestly, I wondered if it was my fault. Maybe I still had a guard up, not allowing myself to feel anything. Maybe it was still too soon. Maybe I’d forced myself to do this as if to prove that Nick hadn’t completely derailed my life.
“I canceled it.”
“Why?” Nee stepped farther into the kitchen, her wedding and engagement rings sparkling as she crossed her arms over her chest. Tierney and her husband Ramsay had gotten married a month ago.
It was a very small affair on Ramsay’s island, Stòr, which could be accessed by a causeway between it and Glenvulin, but only when the tide was out.
Ramsay had been one of the main contractors who renovated Nee’s guest house.
They’d started a casual affair until Halston Cole came after my best friend and Ramsay felt more than a little compelled to protect her.
I had my suspicions about his background.
Nee said he was ex-military. I think it went a little deeper than that, considering he’d come all the way to New York to find Nee and immediately stepped in to help get me away from Nick.
He’d threatened Nick, and whatever he’d said, it worked.
The next thing I knew, it was in the paper that the FBI had arrested my ex for insider trading.
It would seem Ramsay had friends in high places too.
Anyway, I thought the big, gruff Scot was wonderful and exactly what my best friend needed. And vice versa. I was over the moon for them.
“London?”
Nee’s inquisitive tone about me canceling my upcoming date made me wrinkle my nose. “I wasn’t feeling it. I … the last few dates have been a waste of time and the thought of getting a ferry over there in this weather only for the date to stink … I’m just not into it.”
“But what if the date didn’t stink?”
It would. It absolutely would. The guy I was supposed to be meeting seemed nice enough.
He was a high school teacher, divorced, very polite, had a nice face.
But I knew before I even met him that I’d spend the whole date looking for signs that beneath his gentlemanly facade there was a narcissistic sociopath just waiting to come out and destroy my life.
I knew that because it’s what I’d done on all my dates so far.
Whatever my friend saw in my expression had her reaching out to squeeze my arm. “Hey, if you’re still not ready to put yourself out there, you know that’s okay, right?”
Was it, though?
I gave her a tired smile. “I’m just … it’s this dreary winter weather. It’s exhausting. Isn’t it supposed to be spring?”
Nee didn’t look convinced, but she let it go. “Ramsay said the weather forecast predicts sun next week. I’m keeping all my fingers crossed. I love this place, but the wind and rain can get you down after a while.”
Not enough to send either of us packing, though.
We both felt safe here.
But only one of us never had to worry about being booted back to the US.