“Yeah,” I replied noncommittally, waved, and hurried back down the beach to the waiting trio.
“Who was that?” Lewis asked, his nose wrinkled.
“Jared McCulloch.” I handed over the ball.
“Collum’s grandson?” Thane asked.
Finally, I looked at him, still confused why he’d barked at me. “Yeah.”
“What did he want?” He sounded sullen and suspicious.
I shrugged. “Nothing. He just saved the ball.”
“He didn’t need to,” Lewis said, sounding as sullen as his father.
Confused by how the jovial atmosphere had turned, I took Eilidh’s hand and followed son and father up the beach. Without discussing it with anyone, Thane started packing up our things.
“We’re going?” Eilidh’s lower lip trembled into a pout. “I don’t wanna!”
“Anna has gone home. It’s time to go back to the house and get cleaned up for dinner at Uncle Lachlan’s,” her father said. “Eilidh, don’t start.” He preempted her tantrum.
“Hey.” I swung her into my arms, settling her weight on my hip. “I can do your hair all fancy for dinner tonight.”
“Yeah?” Her eyes grew big and excited.
“And I bet your dad will let you wear one of your nice dresses.”
Her gaze flew to her father. He gave her a smile and a nod and returned to collecting our gear. Tantrum averted.
Once the kids were settled in the back of the car, I helped Thane load the rear.
Out of nowhere, he said, his voice low, “Jared McCulloch is making a bit of a name for himself around the village.”
I pulled back from tucking the cooler into the back of the car and straightened to meet Thane’s eyes. He’d taken off his sunglasses, but I still couldn’t read his expression. “Name for himself?”
“As a ladies’ man. Made his way through the small pool of single women here and is now working his way through Inverness.”
Understanding dawned. “We were only talking.”
Thane shrugged, like it didn’t matter to him. “I know. I’m just saying.” He slammed the hatch down and I flinched from the almost aggressive action. However, he didn’t say another word, just rounded the car to the driver’s side.
I stared after him.
“Are you getting in or walking?” he called sarcastically back to me.
Without a word, I got into the passenger side and tried to figure out if Thane was jealous or if I was simply projecting how I wanted him to feel.
12
Thane
There was nothing worse than starting the day flustered, and that was exactly what Thane was doing. Eilidh had been sick through the night but was bright and bubbly this morning, confirming his suspicions that she’d eaten too much junk food. He’d finally wrangled the confession out of her that she’d snuck downstairs after he’d gone to bed to eat out of the bags of sweets he’d bought for the kids to take to the Halloween party at school the next night.
Her stomach only held it down for an hour before it wanted back out again.
And Thane was knackered. There was nothing worse than holding your wee girl in your arms while she cried and begged you to make her feel better. Thankfully, after throwing up a few more times, she fell asleep. She woke early and seemed as full of beans as ever.
While her father felt like he’d been dragged through a hedge backward.
The whole thing had thrown him off, and before he knew it, despite Regan being there to take care of everything else, he found himself running out the door, late for work.
After parking his car in the underground garage, Thane dashed into the lift that would take him up to the company’s floor. The building was new and modern, and it stood out in the small city center with its black tinted glass.
Pre-twentieth century architecture mostly made up the skyline of Inverness with an eclectic (and unsuccessful) mix of midcentury brutalism. Just a few minutes’ walk from the train station, right in the center of town, his architectural firm rented the eighth floor of the new building.
To his growing impatience, the lift stopped at reception to let more people on. One of those was Keelie Tanner. The attractive brunette smiled, her eyes lighting up at the sight of him as she practically pushed two men out of the way so she could stand next to Thane. He tried not to show his amusement.
“Keelie,” he greeted her.
“Good to see you. How are you?” She studied him as if he were the most fascinating man on earth.
And Thane wasn’t entirely immune to that. What man would be? It was flattering as hell. Keelie worked as a financial advisor on the floor above his. She’d started chatting one day in the elevator and sometimes she’d stop by his car when he was leaving at night to see how his day had gone. Through those small interludes, he’d learned a fair bit about her. She was a single mum after going through a divorce three years ago, and it was nice she understood the trials of single parenthood. And something he hadn’t really thought about but seemed to stick in his mind now as he looked at her, Keelie was his age—thirty-seven—though she’d just turned it in June, and his thirty-eighth was in two weeks. Lachlan’s birthday was a mere six days before his, so the family had planned a birthday dinner for them both next weekend.