There with You (Adair Family 2)

Thane frowned. “Like I said, Lucy was stalking you, not me.”

“There was something between you. She admitted to us she had genuine feelings for you.”

That low-level anger flamed brighter. “Is that woman capable of genuine feelings?”

“I don’t know. Fuck, I hope so.”

“Nothing happened between us,” Thane said, turning to Lachlan. He knew his brother suspected he and Lucy had slept together, but it had never gotten that far. “We kissed. Once. After the ceilidh last spring. That was it.”

“Did you have feelings for her?”

“Why are you asking this now?”

“Because I don’t want you stewing over this shit. I don’t want any of us stewing over this shit. The trial looms, and with it a media storm, and all that won’t die until the trial is over. I don’t want it consuming our lives until then. So, we get the poison she put in us out. Now. Before it goes any deeper.”

Marveling at the change that had come over his brother since Robyn’s arrival, Thane felt a prick of envy. That was what a good woman’s love could do. He knew it firsthand.

He also knew firsthand what her betrayal could do.

“Well … Lucy … did you have feelings for her?”

Thane smirked unhappily. “She was a knockout, charismatic Hollywood star. And I’m a mere mortal. What do you think?” Despite knowing she’d been in his brother’s bed, Thane had been extremely attracted to Lucy Wainwright. She was the kind of stunning that was almost untouchable, but she’d seemed so down-to-earth. The type of woman who knew how to make any man comfortable in her presence. Lucy had also always been sweet to his children.

While he’d been on dates since Fran’s death and had slept with other women, Lucy was the first woman he’d been more than just physically attracted to. Thankfully, his feelings hadn’t developed beyond affection.

The thought of what might have happened had he let her any deeper into his life enraged him.

“She fucked with your head,” Lachlan surmised.

“I let her near my kids,” Thane hissed. “That’s what fucks with my head the most. The time she spent with Eilidh. Filling her mind with who knows what. And then having to explain to them that Lucy won’t be around anymore because she tried to hurt their aunt and uncle … let’s just say that was a confusing mess of a conversation for us all. I didn’t know what I should tell them and it was … just … fuck, it was a mess.”

Silence fell between them, and Thane took an agitated pull of his beer.

“Regan’s not Lucy,” Lachlan suddenly said.

Thane’s head whipped toward his brother so fast, a burn of pain flared up the side of his neck. “What?”

He shrugged. “Just saying. In case that’s on your mind. She is a beautiful redhead.”

“Do you think I would have hired Regan to look after my children if that was what was going on in my mind?”

“’Course not. I just meant … I don’t know.” Lachlan sighed wearily. “I’m just worried about her. Robyn thinks if we all make Regan feel at home, feel embraced here, she might settle down.”

Thane snorted. “She’s living in my annex, looking after my kids. How much more do you want me to embrace her?”

His brother burst into laughter. “Fair enough.”

Grinning, Thane stared out at the water again. A door closing in the distance sounded, followed by the hum of music. Lachlan glanced over his shoulder, toward the side of the house. When he looked back, he wore a small, almost imperceptible smile. “Robyn’s working.”

His brother had built a separate building for Robyn’s photography business.

“I’m glad you found her,” Thane said. And he genuinely was. Lachlan deserved someone special like Robyn.

Lachlan looked somber of a sudden. “I love her so much, I can barely contain it. I don’t know how you did it, Thane. How you got up every day and kept going after you lost Fran. I’m humbled by you.”

Emotion burned in his throat. Thane reached out and patted Lachlan’s shoulder. He didn’t know how to tell his brother that in the end, he hadn’t had with Fran what Lachlan had with Robyn. There was no point. It didn’t change the fact that a woman he loved, the mother of his children, had died abruptly and he’d grieved over her deeply. Still grieved for her.

After a few moments of silence, Thane said, “You’re going to let Eilidh be a flower girl, aye? Until Regan showed up, it was all she talked about.”

“Of course.” Lachlan grinned the smile of a smitten uncle. “We’ll make sure she gets the dress she wants … Eils likes Regan, then?”

“Oh, aye.” Concern niggled in Thane’s gut. “So does Lewis. You know he doesn’t take to folks quickly, but I can tell he likes her. I explained to them that it’s just temporary, that Regan goes back to the States in six months, but I’m worried about how attached they already are to her, and it’s only been two days.”