A knock sounded on the front door.
“Must be Tom,” I said as I stood. Elias and Aggie followed hesitantly behind.
Part of the reason Tom had been busy the day and night before was that his aunt had taken ill and he and his father, Artair, had gone with the elderly woman to the hospital. We’d spoken only briefly, because he’d been pulled away by some doctors who’d come into his aunt’s room.
We’d ended the call with a “maybe” we’d see each other later, but I hadn’t heard from him again until now. As I opened the door and saw his disheveled state, my priorities realigned.
“How’s your aunt?” I said.
“No worse. I’m sorry about the article,” he said. “I didn’t know…”
“It’s okay. Whatever it is, it’s okay,” I said. I looked back at my landlords and then at Tom again.
“Come through here,” Aggie said. “Go tae yer hoose, Delaney. Ye need some privacy.”
Tom and I hurried through the McKennas’ cottage and to mine, which was on the other side of a shared deck. As we closed the door to my cottage, I said, “Really, how is your aunt?”
“She’s stable. Along with her dementia, she now has a heart condition, but she’s being well taken care of. I’m sorry I didn’t call or come over last night; Da and I were at the hospital all night. I grabbed a copy of the paper as I went out to the vending machine for some coffee. I’m … I didn’t think Bridget would take what I said tae her and twist it so.”
He hadn’t brushed his curly hair except with his hands, his dark beard was a touch beyond stubble, and his cobalt eyes were shiny from lack of sleep and stress.
“It’s okay. Really, I’m sure. Come on, let’s get some coffee and toast.” I led us into my kitchen.
The air was too charged with emotion. Moving into roles we’d never defined out loud but had become familiar with, Tom made the coffee and I put bread in the toaster and gathered toppings. The familiar activities gave us the time we needed to find our centers again. Before long, we were at the table.
“Okay, me first,” I said as Tom ignored his toast but lifted his coffee mug. “I talked to Bridget briefly, as I said. The article wasn’t incorrect, but it was misleading. When I talked to her, it was mostly me telling her I didn’t want to talk to her. She expounded, and technically much of what she said is true. It’s the tone that isn’t.”
“I suspected as much when she came into the pub tae talk tae me. Yesterday again. I didn’t even think tae tell you she came back. I tried tae say the same, however,” he smiled ruefully. “I’m a wee bit protective, and I didn’t like her accusations when she told me she’d seen and suspected you. I told her you hadn’t killed anyone. She wasn’t happy the shop was closed. She was … she was her normal self, and I wasn’t as kind as I should have been.”
“Before you go on, just so you know, I love that you’re protective, and so far you’ve not said anything to upset me.” I smiled.
It was clear we were both feeling better.
Tom relaxed and continued, “It was when she asked about Edwin … She said something about him being mysterious and asked why he would hire someone from America if he didn’t want tae make sure his newest employee was kept in the dark about his past.”
“I see.”
“Aye. Then I defended you and Edwin a wee bit too much. She asked if you and I were dating.”
“And she was jealous that we were.”
“I’m not sure ‘jealous’ is the word…”
“I am.”
“Anyway, it was when I told her how long we’d been together that I think she became determined tae put you in a bad light.”
“Your relationship with her didn’t last long?”
“Just a few weeks, and then … I’m not proud of the way I handled it, but she caught me out with someone else.”
“Ouch. Well, that would not be good. I’d have to be on her side on that one.”
“Aye. I wish I had a good excuse. I apologized tae her back then, but it wasn’t enough. If I’d just ignored her when she came into the pub again yesterday…”
“She still would have written something. The shop was closed and Edwin had said he would talk to her. She’d found a good story, made it better, maybe. It’s too bad she jumped the gun on the details. She might be able to make something of what it’s actually going to become.”
“Aye?”
“Well, it’s a big story, for sure. All the media are covering it; she’s just trying to gain an edge, but she might be digging her own grave. I guess we’ll see.”
“I don’t know,” Tom said. He pushed back his messy hair, and my heart, still beating quickly from the adrenaline, seemed to sigh and beat even more quickly for another reason.
I smiled.
He blinked at me, perplexed by my expression, probably. “I’m sorry if I contributed in any way tae any trouble for you or for Edwin,” he continued. “I’ll ring him later this morning.”
“I’m sure he would appreciate that.” I put my hand over his around the coffee mug.
My phone buzzed and I looked at the caller ID.
“It looks like you can tell him over the phone if you want. It’s Edwin,” I said.
It had been a long time—since my first day in the shop, in Edinburgh, in fact—that I’d been so scared to talk to my boss. But I had to answer.
THIRTEEN
“Delaney?” someone said as I stepped off the bus.
I jumped in my skin as I searched for the person attached to the voice coming from my left.
Rena walked purposefully toward me, a copy of this morning’s Renegade Scot clutched in her hand. For a smallish paper, a
