My smile was soft, affectionate. “We wouldn’t think that. We’d be happy to see you safe.”
“Well, that’s how I feel about you. I can’t leave. Not until I know Lachlan and you all will be okay.”
“I think Lachlan is more than okay.” Eredine shot me a big, mischievous smile.
I felt my cheeks heat. “Please stop.”
“I can’t. I have been dying to get away from the estate so I could ask you what is going on. I’ve never seen him like this. He called you his girlfriend.”
I glanced from her to Lucy who looked just as curious.
“We’re …” I tried to sound more casual and less giddy than I actually felt. “We’re giving it a real shot.”
Eredine shook her head in amazement. “If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t believe it?”
Laughing, I replied, “No need to sound so surprised.”
“It’s not a surprise he wants you,” she hurried to reassure me, glancing at Lucy for help, who was contemplating me with an unreadable expression. “But Lucy and I have known him awhile, and he has always been about the casual.”
“He has his reasons for that.”
“They are?” Lucy asked.
“His reasons,” I said gently but firmly, and she pressed her lips together, looking a little displeased by my refusal to share. “But we both agree there’s something more between us, so he said he wants to try.” I bit my lip to halt my smile.
“Oh my God.” Eredine looked happier than I’d ever seen her. “I wasn’t sure if he was kidding about the whole girlfriend thing so this is amazing news. Does that mean you’re staying in Ardnoch?”
“We’ll see. We don’t want to pressure each other.” My eyes moved to Lucy who still seemed to be processing what I’d relayed. Suspicion crept in. “You’re okay about this, right?”
She cocked her head, brows together, a soft smile on her lips. “Of course, I am. I’m … I am so thrilled Lachlan has pulled his head out of his ass …”
“But?”
Lucy grimaced. “I care deeply for you, Robyn. I’m just worried about you.”
Understanding, I nodded. “I know where I stand with him. And I know there are no guarantees. But … he’s worth the risk.”
She considered this and then shot me that charismatic grin. “Then I’m happy for you both. If you weren’t driving, I’d suggest a toast.”
“We can toast coffees,” Eredine said.
The three of us leaned in, holding up our mugs, and Lucy announced, “To Robyn and Lachlan. May our action hero be worthy of our real-life heroine.”
I chuckled while Eredine awwed and we clinked our mugs together.
Discussion spiraled from there into girl talk, and we shared stories about past relationships. I say “we,” but it was me and Lucy. As ever, Eredine was closemouthed about her past, and Lucy didn’t broach the subject. Following suit, I left well enough alone. It was the first time in a while I’d seen either woman so relaxed, and I wouldn’t ruin it by asking questions Eredine wasn’t comfortable answering.
“Oh shit!” Lucy exclaimed as her eyes caught the clock on Eredine’s kitchen wall. She shot to her feet. “I completely forgot I have a video meeting with a director in half an hour. Oh shit, shit, shit. Do you think they can get me back to the castle in time?”
“Of course.” I hurried to my feet, grabbing the sloshing cup of coffee out of Lucy’s hand. “It’ll be cool.”
“I’m interested in this part,” she explained as she slipped back into her boots. “It’s the first in ages that’s sparked something in me.”
“It’ll be fine,” I reassured her. “Go, go.”
“What about you?”
“I’ve got my car.”
“Maybe you should follow us back?”
In all honesty, it was nice to be off the estate. I was enjoying Eredine’s company, and I still wanted to visit the fairy glen nearby. I said so to Lucy.
Her eyes darted to the clock, and she frowned in thought. “Promise me you won’t go to the glen later than six?”
“It doesn’t get dark for hours yet.” This far up, the sun didn’t start to set until around eight thirty at this time of year.
“I know how lost you get in your work. Just promise.”
“I already promised Lachlan I’d be back at the castle for dinner at seven. I plan to keep that promise.”
“Good.” She hurried over to give me a distracted kiss on the cheek, treated Eredine to the same, and then fled the cabin hilariously fast.
I flopped down on the sofa. “She’s a complex lady, that one.”
“How so?”
“I don’t know. It’s like she’s two people. The woman who loves acting, loves the fame … but then there’s this other part of her that seems to crave the idea of home, family. I think that’s why she spends so much time here.”
Eredine gave me a sad smile. “Yeah. I think you’re right. Sometimes she has these moods. She gets melancholy, and maybe it’s because she doesn’t know what she wants.”
I’d never been subjected to Lucy’s melancholy moods and was a little surprised to hear she suffered from them. “I wonder if what she wants is here in Ardnoch, not in Hollywood, and she’s just in denial about it.”
“By what she wants, do you mean someone in particular?”
Thinking of Thane, I shrugged. “Maybe someone here might have caught her eye, yeah.”
Eredine considered this. “That would be nice. For her to stay, permanently.”
The urge to pepper the young woman with questions about her own reasons for choosing Ardnoch was strong. “You like it here, don’t you?” I said inanely.
“Of course. It’s my home.”
“But that accent tells me somewhere else was home first.”
She smirked at my stealthy attempt to unearth her history. “Nowhere has been home until here. But I am originally from Chicago, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“How did you meet Lachlan?”
“In LA.” Eredine stood. “Another coffee?”
Her tone said, “Don’t ask me anything else.” Like I said, I didn’t push people. “Sure.”
A knock at the door stopped her midway, and I
