“Ach, it’s a bad business, right enough,” McTavish says once we’re back on the road to Heather Bay and I’ve finished reading Scarlett’s article aloud to him. “Scarlett shouldnae be spreading gossip like that. It isnae exactly news, is it?”
“It isn’t exactly ‘gossip’ either,” I say glumly, unwrapping the sausage roll and taking a bite. It’s actually quite good. “Jett’s not my boyfriend, McTavish. And he probablyisstill in love with his ex.”
I think about how much time Jett spends on his phone, and remember what Scarlett’s anonymous “source” said about how he’d been messaging someone else the entire time we’d supposedly been together.
“He’sdefinitelystill in love with his ex,” I correct myself. “He’s sure as hell not in love with me, that’s for sure.”
If I had to come clean to anyone I know, I’m glad it was McTavish. Anyone else might have yelled at me for lying to them, or refused to speak to me for the rest of the journey. McTavish, on the other hand, just keeps on driving, and although his knuckles tighten slightly on the steering wheel, his eyes remain firmly on the road.
Well, he always was a very safe driver, I suppose.
“I have to hand it to ye, Lexie,” he says at last, his tone light. “There’s never a dull moment wi’ ye, is there?”
“Not really,” I admit, shamefacedly. “I wish there was. I didn’t do it to try to trick anyone,” I tell him hurriedly. “It was a business arrangement, really. I did it because I wanted to help him. I really want him to get that role, McTavish. He deserves it. He should get it.”
“Aw the same,” says McTavish firmly, “Scarlett still shouldnae be writing stuff like that about ye. It’s nobody’s business but yer ain.”
“I think she might be softening towards me, actually,” I tell him, scanning the article yet again. “At least she didn’t lie about my age this time. And she called me a ‘distillery heiress’ rather than just an ‘admin assistant’ like last time. Oh, and a “beauty” too. That was… nice of her. I guess.”
“A distillery heiress?” McTavish glances over at me, his eyebrows raised.
“I’d rather focus on the ‘Heather Bay beauty’ bit, to be honest, but yeah, that’s what she said. And, I mean, she’s notwrong, is she? I amtechnicallyan heiress, in that I’ll inherit the distillery from Mum one day. It’s just… What? What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?”
McTavish has a strange look on his face. At first I think he’s just looking at the remains of the Greggs sausage roll, which I’ve wolfed down without even realizing I was doing it, but then he turns red and looks back at the road, and I get a strong sense that he knows something.
“Okay, out with it, McTavish,” I sigh, scrunching the paper bag I’m holding into a ball. “You obviously know something I don’t, so you might as well tell me. It’s not like my life can get any worse right now, is it?”
It’s true. The entire time we’ve been in the car, my body’s gone rigid every time I’ve heard a plane flying overhead. The chances of me spotting the one that’s taking Jett away from me are slim to none, obviously, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s happening. Right now, he’s getting into a plane — or maybe he’s already in it — and leaving me. And he’s never coming back.
“Just tell me,” I mutter, digging my fingernails into my palms to stop myself from bursting into tears again. “At least it’ll distract me from… you know.This.”
I gesture vaguely around me, hoping McTavish gets the gist.
“I think ye should speak to yer mam, Lexie,” he says gently. “It isnae ma place.”
“Oh, don’t worry, I’ll be speaking to her alright,” I reply bitterly. “Just as soon as I can track her down. I’ll be asking her why she told Scarlett about me and Jett, for one thing. Although I very much doubt she’ll have an answer good enough for me.”
“Yer mam knew? And she told Scarlett, ye think?”
“She must have done. It’s the only explanation. I’m sure she heard me and Jett talking last night — and she was definitely talking to Scarlett this morning.”
I frown, confused. I know that’s what must have happened, but it wouldn’t have given Mum much time to pass on the news, and even less for Scarlett to write up her article and get it onto the website. Not that it would’ve taken long to write that trash, mind you.
But then, how did Mum know about Jett talking to Violet? I didn’t even know that myself?
I shake my head to try to clear it. The details aren’t important. I know Mum did this. She’s the one who’s ruined my chances with Jett, and worst of all, she’s done it by making him think he couldn’t trust me — that I’d let him down.
I will never, ever forgive her for that.
“Aye, ye could be right,” McTavish is saying. “She’s a wild card, is Samantha. There’s one thing ye’re wrong about, though. Or as far as I can tell, anyway.”
“Oh? And what’s that?”
“Ye’re wrong tae say he doesnae love ye.”
It’s strange to hear McTavish, of all people, talking about love, but his tone is matter-of-fact, with no hint of embarrassment.
“I’ve seen the way he looks at ye,” he goes on. “And the way ye look at him, for that matter. That’s no’ the way folk look at each other when they just have a — what did ye call it? A business arrangement? Dinnae get me started.”
