I knew she was furious at Austin, but I was also afraid she was hiding how mad she was at me. She said his attack completely changed the profile she had on him. It took his threat level up a couple hundred notches.
Pulse racing, I stared back at Lachlan. “Oh. Okay.”
He nodded and looked at Lewis as he held out his car keys. “Lew, you want to open the Rover and get your sister buckled in?”
Lewis took the keys from his uncle and asked with a weary sigh, “When will she be old enough to buckle herself in?”
Eilidh wriggled out of Lachlan’s hold, her expression mulish. “I’ll buckle myself in now!”
Her brother hurried after her out the door. “You can’t, Eilidh. You won’t do it right!”
“I will too!”
“Will not!”
Their voices grew distant as they ran down onto the drive where I knew Lachlan’s security guys were already waiting to escort the kids to school.
All the while, Lachlan stared at me. I squirmed, knowing by the hard but tender glint in his eyes, much like his brother’s, that Robyn had talked to him. “She told you.”
He gave me a grim nod.
I shrugged, feeling vulnerable. “I’m fine. He didn’t rape me. Other people have had it way worse. Look at Robbie. She’s been shot three times, attacked, and almost murdered by a psycho.”
Lachlan didn’t smile at my nervous facetiousness. Instead, he took a step toward me, his voice low as he replied, “And yet, she handled all that like a pro but cried herself to sleep in my arms last night.”
Emotion choked me, tears flooding my eyes at the thought of my sister’s heart breaking over me. And suddenly, I knew why.
Yesterday, she wasn’t angry with me. She was angry with herself.
Damn it, Robyn!
It was not her job to protect me all the time. I shook my head. “She takes on too much.”
“It’s who she is. It’s why we love her. But—and I know I probably don’t need to ask this—I want you to do your best to convince her she didn’t fail you. Because right now, she’s next door kicking her own arse, and nothing I say seems to penetrate.”
Seeing his concern and frustration for her, I swiftly crossed the room and hugged him.
Lachlan seemed surprised at first, hesitant, and then he wrapped his arms around me and gave me a sweet kiss upon the head.
I smiled and whispered, “Thank you for loving her the way she deserves to be loved.”
His arms tightened just a fraction, and when I pulled away, I saw emotion brighten his eyes.
God, what a gift to be loved by an Adair man. They could be infuriating sometimes, but Lachlan with Robyn and Thane with Francine were proof that when they loved you, they loved you with everything they were.
I’d never been such a confusing mix of gloriously happy for my sister and so envious at the same time.
“I’ll talk to her,” I promised.
“Good.” He brushed my cheek affectionately, like a big brother might, and I decided it was really nice. “I better get the kids to school. You okay?”
I nodded. “I’m going to be fine. I promise.”
That promise didn’t seem to alleviate his concern, but he had to leave and I had to go see my sister.
I didn’t bother knocking. I strode into the house, calling Robyn’s name, and when she came hurrying downstairs, I didn’t let her speak. I rushed her, throwing my arms around her. “Robyn Penhaligon, what happened to me was not your fault. You didn’t fail me, and I won’t ever think that. Ever.”
“I know that,” she murmured, not letting me go.
We swayed a little in each other’s arms at the bottom of the stairs. “Then why did Lachlan tell me you cried last night?”
She stiffened and then sighed into me. “He is such a meddler.”
Grinning, I shook my head. “Well?”
Retreating, Robyn brushed my hair behind my ear. Turmoil roiled in her eyes, turning them a smoky gray. “I was so mad at you,” she whispered, remorse etched into every feature. “That entire time I was angry at you and judging you and feeling like I didn’t know you anymore … and all the time you needed me. You really needed me. And I should have tried harder to track you down. I should have known something wasn’t right.”
“No.” I grabbed her hands, squeezing them, my words fierce. “We will not do this. We will not go around and around about the past two years. We both did the best we could at that time. If we feel now like we can do better going forward, great. But we can’t go back, and I won’t let us self-flagellate over the mistakes. Not when we’re here, right here together, closer than ever, despite it all. It’s pointless, Robbie. It’s not worth it.”
She swiped at a wayward tear, shaking her head, something like awe in her eyes. “When did my little sister get so wise?”
“I learned from my big sister.”
“No, you’re outwisdoming your big sister right now.”
“Outwisdoming?” I teased, pulling her into the kitchen. “Come on, we need coffee.”
“I’ll make it. You sit.” Her tone turned serious again. “I have something I need to tell you.”
My stomach flipped again as I settled on a stool at the island. “Yeah, Lachlan said. Is it about Austin?”
Robyn glanced over as she switched on the coffee machine. “It is.”
“Is it bad?”
“Please don’t be angry with me.”
I tensed. “Okay …”
“I told Seth.”
“Dad?” Horror flooded me. “Why would you tell Dad?”
“Because …” Robyn squeezed her eyes closed. “The day after McClintock attempted to kidnap Eilidh, Seth tried to call you and couldn’t get you because of everything going on. So he called me instead. And he mentioned that a man named Austin Vale came to the house looking for you. Said he was a friend you went backpacking with, and he’d just gotten back to Boston and was looking you up.”
Nausea roiled in my gut.
Robyn’s eyes changed color, golden now with anger. “The fucker lied. Getting antsy waiting for you to come back to Boston. Thankfully, Seth is a paranoid cop and didn’t tell him where you were. But I had to explain to him who Austin is. He and Mom need to know that Austin is a danger to you. Seth said he’s going to look into the guy’s finances to make sure he isn’t in the position to come chasing you across the Atlantic.”
“Dad never mentioned it.” I’d spoken to him several times in the past few weeks. He and Mom were coming to Scotland for the Christmas holidays, courtesy of Lachlan. Dad was having trouble accepting that kind of generosity, but I told him it would be good for them to see how happy Robyn was here.
And our relationship with Mom wasn’t the best. We both still had unresolved issues there. I didn’t want that. I wanted us to move past them. Now all my worries about seeing Mom at Christmas paled compared to the news that Austin hadn’t let go of his obsession.
“His attack on you changes everything. I had to tell Seth, and he’s going to call you today. Be prepared because he’s going to ask you to press formal charges.”
I shook my head, anger and frustration bubbling inside me now. Thane had asked me to do the same thing, and I’d avoided responding. “You of all people know how hard it is to get those charges to stick under normal circumstances. Accusing him of attempted rape in a foreign country a year ago?” I glowered at her. “They’ll laugh at me.”