“You don’t sound too happy about that?”
“She’s a pain in the arse. And her being here … I just … he doesn’t need that right now, you know.”
Lucy patted his chest. “Lachlan, maybe she’s exactly what he needs right now. Don’t you want Mac to spend time with his daughter, finally? I know if it were me and I had a chance to work things out with my dad, I’d want to.”
That surprised him. Lucy came from a crappy home life. Her father had abandoned her when she was a kid, leaving her with a selfish mother and a stepfather Lucy wouldn’t even talk about, she hated him that much.
“So you’re saying I should just let them get on with it.”
She grinned. “I know your need to manage people comes from a good place. I’ve never met anyone as protective as you. But yeah … you need to let them get on with it without any interference.”
Lachlan thought about Robyn’s tears when Mac opened his eyes yesterday morning.
Those were genuine.
As much as she grated, she might actually want to have a relationship with Mac. He sighed. “Fine.”
“Good chat.” Lucy laughed as she walked past him. “I’ll let you know if I need a car for Inverness later.”
“Sure.” He continued to his room, but just before he could swipe his key card over it, the door opened and Sarah McCulloch appeared.
“Oh.” She blushed beetroot. “I’m sorry, sir, I was just … tidying up.”
He narrowed his eyes. “All housekeeping duties should be done by now.”
Lachlan had been wary of hiring Sarah McCulloch as a housekeeper because her grandfather hated him. He thought it was a deliberate attempt to spy on Ardnoch. Thane said he was being paranoid, that Sarah just needed a job, and everyone knew Lachlan paid his staff above-average wages. Considering she’d worked at the castle for a year without incident, Thane had been right.
Yet Lachlan felt her eyes on him now and then, and she blushed and stammered around him until even he was uncomfortable.
Her crush was obvious.
Lachlan could put up with it.
But not with her in his rooms when she shouldn’t be there.
Cheeks hot red, Sarah couldn’t meet his eyes as she bent to collect a bundle of sheets.
He hadn’t seen them.
Lachlan relaxed as she muttered, “Sorry, sir, we had to clean the guest rooms of those who left early, and we fell behind. Mrs. Hutchinson thought you wouldn’t mind if we left your suite until last.”
Mrs. Hutchinson—Agnes—his head housekeeper.
Feeling remorseful for snapping at her, he stepped aside. “Of course not, Sarah. My apologies. Do you need help with the sheets?”
“Oh no, Mr. Adair.” She looked horrified by the thought as she scurried by, her face almost hidden behind the bundle. “I’ve got them. I’ll just take them to the laundry chute.”
“Fine. Thank you.” He escaped into his room, away from her nervous energy, and closed the door behind him.
His rooms looked in order. Nothing seemed to be touched.
He was growing paranoid.
Or was he?
No, it couldn’t be Sarah. A man attacked Mac. Unless they were dealing with more than one person?
But little Sarah McCulloch? Lachlan couldn’t imagine her hurting a fly, let alone a doe and a grown man.
Head beginning to pound, Lachlan quickly changed his shirt and was about to leave when the phone in his room rang. Only staff members had his room number. He picked up. “Adair.”
“Sir.” It was Jock. “I’m sorry, but there’s been another incident.”
Lachlan felt adrenaline rush through him. “Who is it? What’s happened?”
“No one is hurt, sir. But Ms. Willows is pretty shaken up. Can you meet us at her studio?”
“I’ll be right there.”
* * *
Eredine Willows was his Pilates, yoga, and mindfulness instructor.
More than that, she was Lachlan’s friend.
Not in the same way as Lucy; he cared a great deal about Lucy.
But Eredine was different. Lachlan felt as protective of her as he did of Arrochar.
Knowing what he’d helped her escape from, Lachlan felt furious that someone used her to get to him in this way.
The studio was a modern building on the edge of a private loch on the estate. Loch Ardnoch was small and could be found by following a path that cut through the golf course from the castle, a mere ten-minute walk. The wall of the studio facing the loch was made entirely of glass, and Eredine led her classes from there so members had a view of Loch Ardnoch as they worked out or practiced mindfulness.
When Lachlan built the place, he didn’t have anyone in mind for it.
Then he met Eredine by chance in LA.
She was looking for a new start, preferably somewhere remote, and Lachlan offered her the position at Ardnoch. Knowing how private she was, he’d helped her find a cabin to rent north of the village, far from the estate, with no other neighbors around. You would have thought he’d handed her a million dollars, she loved that place so much.