“Aye, ah ken. Still in Seattle?”
“Aye. Last I heard, ya were in Canada?”
He laughed. “Aye. Newfoundland, but I’m scunnert, want a change o’ scenery.”
“Yer always welcome here anytime ya visit, ya ken.” I didn’t even have to think about making an offer. I loved my family, but Duncan and I had no friction or responsibility between us, which made for a different sort of friendship.
“Aye, but I’m thinkin’ somethin’ a wee bit more…permanent. Ah been savin’ for a move. Open up a brewery. Buy a bar.”
“Yer off yer heid. Givin’ up the family business?” I couldn’t imagine him doing anything else. He’d started working in his family’s merchant fishing business when he was thirteen. Him taking over after his da died hadn’t even been a question. Him moving to Newfoundland had almost caused a breach in the family.
“Aye. The cousins want tae buy me oot.”
“Gregor and Malcolm?” I vaguely remembered them. A few years younger than us, they’d been nuisances, trailing along after us constantly.
“Aye. Good lads. They’ll do the family name proud, ya ken.”
A suspicion formed in my mind. “Yer not just calling to tell me yer headin’ my way.”
“I was wonderin’ if ya’d be willin’ tae sponsor me. Yer a citizen, right?”
“Aye. I have dual citizenship, like Da.” My other siblings who’d been born in Scotland had chosen to give up their Scottish citizenship when they’d been naturalized, but with MIRI still having a headquarters back home, it had made more sense for Da and me to have both. “I dinnae ken if that means I cannae sponsor you, but if I cannae, Brody will. Matter of fact, he’s into brewing as well.”
Brody and Duncan hadn’t been close friends, but they’d gotten along well enough for Brody to know that Duncan was trustworthy. I’d look into the law of the matter and reach out to my brother if necessary.
“Pure dead brilliant. Ah kent ah could count on the McCraes.”
“Aye. Always.” I paused, glancing at the clock. My next appointment wasn’t due for a while yet. “Now that we’ve got that done, I’d like to hear more about this bar of yers…”
Thirteen
I’d spoken too soonabout Keli’s reaction to our night together after her showcase. Again. I’d thought she’d settled into a casual pattern that would be acceptable to both of us. While she no longer inundated me with messages and calls, the content of her communication had shifted.
Not long after I’d ended the call with Duncan, I’d received a text from her stating that she had planned something for us to do the following evening. It hadn’t been a “are you interested in” type of message either, but rather one that had assumed the two of us would spend that time together.
Even after I’d explained an increase in my workload due to one of my best employees, Miranda Newton, suddenly needing to move out of state to take care of her ailing father, Keli had continued with her attempts to insert herself into my life on a more regular basis.
Her persistence reminded me why I had never been interested in traditional dating. I enjoyed sex, as well as periodic accompaniment at business events, but this need to be together, to plan around each other’s schedules, I had yet to meet the person for whom I’d be willing to do that. Casual sex, where I rarely slept with the same partner on multiple occasions, suited both my personality and my needs.
Conveying that to Keli, however, had become a challenge.
While I didn’t want to hurt her, that wasn’t the biggest problem I faced when it came to ending things with her. If she was the vindictive type, breaking things off with her could cause her to go to the media and trash not only my name, but my family’s name, and that wasn’t something I could allow.
Perhaps I was using this as an excuse to avoid a direct confrontation with her, but it was a reasonable one. Also, I didn’t think it made me a bad guy to not want to hurt her. Having a consequence that benefitted me was simply a side effect.
My plan was simple. I used Miranda’s leaving to create legitimate work for myself, making honest reasons to decline her invitations and delay communication. Eventually, she’d grow tired of asking, and if she didn’t want a relationship on my terms, she’d be the one to end things.
True, it wouldn’t be pleasant for either of us, but her being upset with me for working too much and her having to make the decision to break up would be far better for her than the alternative. Anger was preferable to heartbreak.
None of these things made me feel like less of a selfish coward, though.
Neither did the fact that I’d actually been relieved when Miranda had come to me with an urgent need to leave. No two-week notice. No one-day notice. I would have responded to her the same way had circumstances with Keli been different. I would have written the same severance check and still told her to let me know if she needed any job references. I also would have said that if she came back to Seattle, I would find a place for her at MIRI, regardless of whether or not I’d found someone to fill her position.
All of that would have remained the same.
Only my relief would have been different.
I felt guilty about that too. Almost as if I was grateful that Miranda’s father had had a stroke. I wasn’t, of course, but that had been the reason she’d had to leave, and for that excuse…I couldn’t deny that I was thankful.
