The next day…
I barely have time for breakfast and a hot bath to soothe my very sore lower half before I hear Kenna’s voice.
“Mrs. MacTavish, are ya decent?” she shouts. “We’re takin’ ya out for a girl’s day.”
Looking in the bathroom mirror, I groan. I have bruises in the shape of Kai’s teeth on both breasts and an unmistakable stubble rash on my neck and chest. Even with a turtleneck, I’m not going to be decent.
Limping out to the bedroom door, I shout, “Give me a minute!”
“I have some concealer foundation in my bag if ya need it!” Catriona, of course.
Doing what I can to not look like the post-sex Jezebel that I am, I pull on some jeans and a blouse that I button up to the top. Kenna, Sloan, and Catriona are lounging in the living room.
“Kind of a warm day for that blouse all buttoned up like you’re a Victorian maid, aye?” Kenna smiles at me sweetly.
“Did we have this scheduled?” I ask crossly. “I don’t believe I saw it on my social calendar.”
They all burst into laughter. “Honey, we’re rescuing you from the Lady Elspeth’s plans for you. She’s the matriarch of the clan, and once she sets thing in motion, there is no going back,” Sloan says, leading me out to one of the ubiquitous black SUVs this family seems to like. There are two cars in front of us and two behind.
“The sudden surge in security seems a little over the top,” I say. “Is that because there are four of us?”
Catriona shakes her head, pulling up an app on her phone. “See that? We also have two drones shadowing us. One is loaded up with the same fiery shite you saw blow up that car full of shooters two weeks ago. Each car has five armed men and is equipped with bulletproof glass and doors, along with self-inflating tyres.” She drops her phone in her lap. “Everyone’s busy today, handling this mess. But since myparticulartalents aren’t needed, I get to do the girly shite with ya.”
“Well, since your particular talents saved my life on that island, I am grateful for them.” We’re heading into an area of Glasgow I haven’t seen before. “Where are we going?”
“Buchanan Street, to start,” Kenna says. “We have appointments at two bridal shops. If ya dinna like anything they have, we’ll move on to the Style Mile area.”
“Really, it doesn’t have to be this big deal,” I say, picturing the cost of what they’d deem acceptable. “Couldn’t I just wear the dress I had for the civil ceremony?”
They all look at each other before bursting into laughter. “Remember I mentioned the Lady Elspeth?” Catriona says.
“Uh, yeah. She’s your grandmother, right?”
“Yes, she is. And a truly alarming force of nature,” Sloan says. “She has many hobbies, including expensive footwear andterrifying everyone within a mile radius of her. But her best thing? She can put on a full wedding with two hundred guests in less than twelve hours.”
“Aye, my mum’s told me stories,” Catriona laughs. “Da flew into town with Mum and announced at midnight that they’d gotten engaged on his jet. By the next afternoon, the entire estate was fully decorated, caterers set, musicians tuned up… she did give Mum a chance to pick her own wedding gown. From the eight dresses the Lady Elspeth had already selected.”
A big wedding is sounding less and less appealing. “You know, Kai and I are already married,” I say, my voice pitched just under a whine. “Maybe we could just skip the whole thing?”
I will never admit, even under threat of torture, that I have sixteen Pinterest boards full of wedding ideas because those were just fantasy. I never expected to be confronted with the reality of a wildly extravagant spectacle of a wedding.
“I hate to break it to ya, but you’re a MacTavish now,” Kenna says. “I can sweeten the pot for ya, though.”
“How so?” I ask, still trapped in the existential horror of a society wedding.
“We know how important the charitable side is to ya,” Kenna explains. “MacTavish International has an enormous philanthropy fund, and they always need smart people to oversee new projects. How about we take you to the office and show ya around a little?”
“Not today,” Sloan breaks in. “We’ve got a lot of ground to cover.”
“I must admit, that was really fun. Thank you!”
It’s possible we might all be a bit buzzed because shopping for dresses included champagne - which I thought they only did in the movies - and then lunch with mimosas. By the time we’d ordered every dessert on the menu and shared them, it was nearly dusk.
Sloan’s phone buzzed, and her eyes widened as she read the message. “Crap, is it really that late? I have to go. I was supposed to meet Ethan for a date.”
“Is that what we’re calling whips and chains these days?” Cat really has no filter.
“Shut up!” Sloan blushes violently as I realize she clearly has an ‘intense’ married life.
