There with You (Adair Family 2)

Instantly intrigued, I leaned against the doorjamb. “Mac? What about her and Mac?”

Robyn waved me off. “This weekend. When we have time to really talk. Okay?”

“Okay.” I nodded. “Will you be all right alone? Where’s Lachlan?”

“He’s working late tonight. There was a plumbing issue in one of the guest suites at the castle.”

“Oh. He plumbs?”

She snorted. “No. He oversees.”

“Ah. Yeah, that makes more sense.” That afternoon, Lachlan had done as promised and given me a tour of the entire castle and estate. In addition to an impressive suite of reception rooms, the castle held many bedrooms and an entire staff quarters on the other side of the first floor where the kitchens, mews, and security department were located. We then took a golf cart to the separate gym and members’ homes dotted around the huge estate. I could tell by the way Lachlan talked about the place that it was his pride and joy and that he had his finger firmly on the pulse of everyday life here.

“I will be fine.” She ignored my teasing. “You better go if Thane is expecting you.”

* * *

THANE

Regan Penhaligon stood in the dusky light of the evening sunset. On his doorstep. With luggage at her side.

Fifteen minutes ago, he’d only just gotten Eilidh and Lewis to sleep, so the sound of his doorbell ringing at nine o’clock did not amuse him. As he tried to work out why she was on his doorstep, he listened for the sounds of waking children.

“Regan?” Thane was pretty sure he was scowling at her.

Her eyebrows shot up, confirming it. “Bad time?”

“Well, nine o’clock at night is generally a bad time to ring anyone’s doorbell.”

“Oh.” She winced. “We’re used to fairly long days in the summer in Boston, but nothing like this. I keep forgetting how late it is since it’s still daylight out. I mean, it only just gets dark at eleven o’clock. That’s wild.”

He waited for her to stop rambling and explain her presence.

Regan’s smile wobbled at his stony nonresponse, making him feel like an utter arse.

“Sorry.” He shrugged apologetically. “What brings you next door?”

Her brows pulled together. “I start tomorrow.”

“Yes …”

“Well … don’t you want me to move into the guest house tonight?”

Now it was Thane’s eyebrows that almost hit his hairline. He’d assumed because Regan was living next door that she wouldn’t want to move into the annex. “There’s really no need.”

Disappointment flooded her expression. Another surprise. “Oh.”

“You want to live in the annex? While it’s fairly comfortable in there, it’s not a luxury guest suite with incredible views of the Ardnoch Firth.”

“I just thought it would make things easier for the job and …” She glanced over her shoulder at his brother’s home. “I don’t want to cramp their style.” Regan looked back with a little shrug. “They don’t need me sharing their space for six months. They just got engaged. I thought if I lived in the guest house, we’d all have our space.”

Her consideration toward Robyn and Lachlan was nice to see. He stepped back to allow her inside. “Come on in, but be quiet. The kids just went down.”

She nodded and walked past him, suitcase rolling at her side. Thane reached for it, brushing her hand away from the handle. Regan seemed perturbed by the gesture, but realizing he was taking the luggage from her, she gave him a grateful, dimpled smile.

Thane nodded and followed her as they moved through the house. When they reached the main living area, she waited for him as he pulled open a drawer in the kitchen and grabbed the spare key to the annex with a key and fob to the main house. “Yours,” he murmured, presenting it to her. “This way.”

He led her down the narrow corridor behind the main staircase, the one that led to a tiny sitting room with an enormous picture window they called “the snug,” a downstairs restroom, and the utility room. A side exit door led out from the utility room. Smirking, Thane said quietly, “You’ll soon be well acquainted with this room.”

Regan threw him a grin as she took in the piles of laundry waiting to be done. “Good thing you pay so well.”

Chuckling, Thane opened the side entrance and hauled the suitcase down a paved path toward the annex. He and Fran built the guest suite with her parents in mind. She wanted them to have a separate place they could live when they made the long drive from the Borders to the Highlands to visit. Tragically, Fran’s dad, Heath, died of cancer only months after Fran’s death, and her mum, Liz, of a heart attack three weeks after her husband passed. Thane knew Liz’s heart just couldn’t take the stress of losing her husband and only daughter within months of each other.

Thane had talked about redecorating the annex, hoping it would suppress some of those sad memories. But he’d never had time. Not with working from home while also caring for Eilidh and Lewis.