“Aunt Arro!” Eilidh and Lewis clambered off the sofa and dashed across the room to meet their aunt as she strode into the room with Mac at her back. She beamed and dropped to her knees to pull them in for a hug, but as soon as they couldn’t see her, her expression filled with anguish. She looked up at Thane as she hugged them, and her brother approached to squeeze her shoulder in reassurance.
“Food,” Mac said, his own countenance grim as he placed bags of takeout on the island. To my shock, my belly rumbled. I didn’t think I’d be able to eat so soon after what happened. Mac’s eyes caught mine and zeroed in on my cheek. “You all right?” He came to me, and before I could answer, he pulled me into his powerful, comforting embrace.
And that was how we got through the next few hours.
The family closed ranks.
They distracted the kids, making them laugh when I didn’t think they could laugh so soon after, and they fed us. I was more grateful for them than I could say, especially when two police officers knocked on the door around an hour after their arrival.
To my gratitude, Thane wanted me with him in his office to speak with them. Lachlan was present too.
“We’re sorry to interrupt your evening after a day like today, Mr. Adair,” the constable who’d introduced herself as PC Diana Kerr said. “We just wanted to update you on the situation with Mr. Sean McClintock, the man who attempted to kidnap your daughter this afternoon.”
Thane nodded impatiently.
The male officer, PC Brian Shanks, had been staring at Lachlan in awe the whole time. Now that I knew him, and because people in Ardnoch were so used to him, I forgot Lachlan was famous. The officer finally dragged his attention away from Lachlan at the silence and found his colleague subtly glaring at him. The officer whipped his head to us, his expression a little sheepish. “Uh … do you know Mr. McClintock?”
I wanted to reach for Thane’s hand. Instead I placed it more subtly on his back to remind him I was there for him. He was tense and hot beneath my touch, but he also leaned into it.
“He was a colleague of my late wife’s.”
The officers nodded and PC Kerr said, “Did you know that Mr. McClintock’s wife and daughter were killed two months ago in a car crash? Mr. McClintock, it seems, was driving the vehicle in question and survived, while his wife and child did not.”
Oh my God. I shared a disbelieving look with Lachlan, and he scrubbed a hand down his face, visibly distraught.
Thane bowed his head and exhaled a curse before replying gruffly, “No, no, I didn’t know.”
That was why he’d shown up at Thane’s work too.
“Mr. McClintock is being detained while the charges are brought against him for attempted kidnapping.”
“What if I don’t want to press charges?” Thane shocked me by asking.
PC Kerr gave him a compassionate but tight smile. “I’m afraid we have enough evidence from witnesses, Mr. Adair, to proceed with charges regardless. If you have concerns, you’re free to contact the procurator fiscal as the case goes forward.”
Thane nodded. “Okay. Thank you, Officers.”
At the door, PC Shanks gave Lachlan a somewhat embarrassed look. “I hope you don’t mind me saying, considering the circumstances, but I’m a big fan of your films.”
Lachlan gave him a tight-lipped smile. “That’s very kind, thank you.”
“I’m sorry for your troubles today.” The officer gave us a sympathetic nod and followed his colleague out to the patrol car.
“I swear, if he asked you for a selfie, I was going to hit him,” Thane growled, his frustration palpable. And we both knew it wasn’t about the starstruck police officer.
I turned to Lachlan. “Can you give us a minute?”
Lachlan studied us, then gave me an abrupt nod before he left us alone.
I took hold of a somewhat dazed Thane’s hand and led him back into his office, closing the door to give us privacy.
“Fuck.” He shrugged in disbelief.
I pulled him into my arms like I’d wanted to all night, pressing kisses to his cheeks, across his bearded jawline, my fingers digging into his shoulders. “It’s okay,” I murmured over and over as his arms banded around me.
He buried his face in my throat with a groan and breathed me in. I sighed at the touch of his lips near my pulse.
We stood like that for a while.
Holding on to each other.
Finally, Thane exhaled a heavy sigh and straightened. Studying my face with those beautiful, soulful eyes, he brushed my hair gently from my cheeks, his thumb tracing the outer edges of where Sean had hit me. When our eyes met, he looked at me with such tenderness, my lips parted in surprise.
Could he … did he feel—
A knock on the office door jolted us apart seconds before Arro stuck her head in. “Food is getting cold and the kids are asking for you.”
Thane nodded, not meeting his sister’s gaze as he pulled the door open. “Right, coming.”
She watched him march away and then turned to me with a frown. “You okay?”
I nodded because there was nothing else to do.
“You need more ice on that cheek.” Arro grabbed my hand to lead me back into the kitchen where she proceeded to mother hen me almost as much as Robyn did.
I didn’t mind. Not in the least.
And I thanked God for all of them as we congregated on the huge sectional after dinner, a movie playing for Eilidh and Lewis while the adults talked about anything but what had happened.
Everyone left before nine o’clock so we could put Eils and Lew to bed. Robyn and Lachlan were the last to go, and my sister was so reluctant to leave me, Lachlan had to manhandle her out of the house.
The only reason she allowed him to was because of Thane.
“I don’t want you sleeping in that annex alone tonight. You’ll stay with us,” Robyn had commanded.
“She’s staying here,” Thane replied. “In the guest room. I think the kids will appreciate her being close tonight.”
Robyn couldn’t argue with that. She kissed my good cheek, hugged me tight while I ignored the new aches in my upper back and right side, and took Lachlan’s hand as he led her out.
Once everyone had gone, Thane and I ushered the children upstairs to bed, but Eilidh and Lewis grew subdued again. We took turns tucking them in—me with Eilidh first while Thane was with Lewis, and then we swapped.
“And you’ll be just down the hall?” Lewis asked for the second time as I got up to leave.
Bending over, I kissed his forehead and promised him once more I would be.
Meeting Thane outside their rooms, he shook his head and whispered wearily, “I just lied to my children.”
“They asked who he was?” I guessed, wondering when one or both of them would. To be honest, I thought they’d shown immense restraint to not ask again sooner. They’d asked at the school, but I’d avoided answering in all the chaos.
Thane nodded grimly. “I told them he was just a man who had lost his family and was in pain. That the pain made him confused about who Eilidh was.” He looked away.
I cupped his cheek, bringing his focus back to me. “They don’t need to know anything else.”
“What if they do?”