Today wasn’t actually either of their birthdays. Lachlan was thirty-nine on Tuesday, and Thane’s thirty-eighth was the following Monday.
“Hi, all,” Thane greeted everyone. “Eilidh, go say an early happy birthday to Uncle Lachlan.” He lowered her to the floor.
Lachlan was sitting in the snuggle armchair with Robyn. It was cozy. Eilidh thought so too. She lunged at them like a bat and landed on her uncle’s chest.
“Oh, f—” He cut off the obvious curse word as he caught her, his eyes closed in pain.
“She hit the family jewels, huh?” Robyn teased, her lips twitching with the urge to laugh.
Amusement bubbled inside me as Lachlan’s eyes popped open and he glared at his fiancée. All the while he cuddled his niece. “Not funny,” he mouthed.
“Uncle Lachlan, I wore my unicorny dress for you,” Eilidh announced as she cupped his face in her hands.
His expression softened. “And you look beautiful, angel.”
“I thought you wore it for me?” her dad teased as he gestured for Lewis to follow him to the end of the sectional.
“I wore it for you, too, Daddy.” Eilidh looked worried he’d think otherwise.
Lewis didn’t let go of my hand.
Thane’s brow furrowed as he lounged down beside Eredine. “Come sit, buddy.”
Instead, Lew looked up at me. I flushed with the awkwardness. While Thane had been in a horrible mood with me all week, he’d been civil in front of the kids. If the kids were there, he at least talked to me. If the kids weren’t there, then I got monosyllabic grunts in lieu of conversation.
Lewis … it was like he sensed something was going on, and he’d gotten a little clingy lately.
“Go sit with your dad, honey.” I led him toward Thane, but he gripped my hand harder, and I stopped.
“Lewis?” Thane asked.
Everyone grew quiet, making it extra awkward.
“There’s no room for Ree-Ree.” Lewis glowered at his dad.
“Oh, I’ll move up.” Eredine smiled sweetly and moved closer to Arro and Mac on the couch.
Avoiding my sister’s questioning gaze, I sat, Lewis nestled between me and Thane. Eilidh became aware two of her favorite people were sitting together on the couch and launched herself off Lachlan and at Mac and Arro.
I turned to Eredine. “Hey, I haven’t seen you all week. How you doing?”
My friend shrugged. “It’s been really quiet at the estate. It usually is this time of year and then it picks up again around Christmas.”
That was not really what I asked, but I didn’t expect any other answer. While Eredine was sweet, and a fantastic listener, she was guarded and closed off and most definitely difficult to get to know. Outside of the Adairs, she didn’t seem to have any real friends here in Scotland. Eredine was a giant mystery. Even more so when I realized why she was so familiar.
When I was around seventeen, eighteen, I followed a lot of social media influencers. One of them was a freestyle dancer who posted videos of her solos and sometimes group dances. They did a lot of pop-up performances in public places. Her online name was Cadenza, and she had around two million followers. One day she just stopped posting, I stopped following, and I never thought much about it again.
However, Eredine Willows was Cadenza’s spitting image. I knew it was a coincidence because no one else noted it, and honestly, Eredine was nothing like Cadenza in personality. Cadenza had a cocky confidence that was extremely attractive; Eredine was the opposite. Shy, reserved.
Robyn told me Eredine was always guarded, but the Lucy situation had made her throw up barriers a mile high. I could see that. And I was patient. I was following Robyn’s footsteps and not bulldozing my way into her life. For Eredine, we had to be stealthy. Slow and steady would win that race.
We sat around chatting for a while and then seeing the kids were getting antsy, Arro clapped her hands and announced it was time to eat. Everyone offered to help her in the kitchen, but we waved the guys off since it was their birthdays. The women found themselves alone in the kitchen.
I noted the gender division. “Let’s not make a habit of this, or they might get ideas.”
Robyn snorted. “They know us well enough by now not to make us into the ‘little ladies.’ Lachlan wouldn’t want to, anyway. He likes me—”
“Stop.” Arro put a hand up near her face, and Eredine and I laughed at Robyn’s stunned look. “He is my brother, and as far as I’m concerned, my brothers are as chaste as monks.”
“I wasn’t going to say anything dirty.” Robyn raised an eyebrow as we followed Arro’s lead around the kitchen. “Unlike some people”—she shot me a look—“I am a lady.”
I guffawed. “What did I do?”
“You always provide too much information.”
“Ooh, about who?” Arro asked. “Do you have your eye on someone?”
I wanted to shoot my sister a killing look, but I knew that would be too obvious. “No. Robyn’s talking about past boyfriends.”
“Well, good luck here, anyway.” Arro made a face. “Living in a small village doesn’t exactly make it easy to meet someone. Look at me. Look at Thane.”
She didn’t say look at Eredine, but I knew we were all thinking it.
“Speaking of my brother,” Arro said to me as I followed her into the dining room with the huge bowl of roast potatoes, “is something wrong between you two? I sense a distinct chill.”
I shrugged off her comment like it was nonsense, giving her one of my breezy smiles. “Not at all. We’re great.”
She narrowed her eyes like she didn’t quite believe me. “Guess I was wrong, then.”
Deciding that a week was enough time for this nonsense between me and Thane to have gone on, I knew I’d have to chat with him and clear the air. To be honest, his behavior had put a damper on my feelings. It was illuminating to see how much of an asshole he could be. I was done trying to be understanding about his position in all this.
Despite Thane’s determination to treat me like I didn’t exist, dinner was great fun. Food was involved, so it meant Eilidh sat still throughout the whole thing and enjoyed being the center of attention. Lewis insisted on sitting next to me at the table, so I spent a good part of the meal talking with him about the video game he was playing with his friends online during the hours he was allowed. He was irritated because his friends’ parents let them play longer than he was permitted, and they kept wanting to play this particular game without him. To distract him from his irritation, I asked him to explain the entire game to me.
He did. In detail. And I loved him so I tried not to die of boredom.
At one point, I glanced up from our discussion to find Thane watching us with a furrow between his brows. He looked away as soon as our eyes met.
After dinner, it was gift-giving time, and I experienced a brief flutter of nervousness in my belly. I’d helped the kids pick out their gift to their dad, but I’d bought Thane something just from me a few weeks ago. When we were still friends. I wasn’t sure how I felt about giving it to him now.
Especially in front of everyone.
We settled in the living room, Eilidh tucked on Thane’s lap because she was a little sleepy after the food, and Lewis by my side. Lachlan opened his gifts first.