“Now, lass, calmy doony.”
She slapped his supplicating hand aside. “Dinnae tell me to calm down. Ye lied right to my face. How could ye fuck with me like this? With Finn? Are ye mental? Do ye have any idea…?”
A sob tore through the words and she swallowed back the knot at the back of her throat. Gah, the bastard was a blur through the haze of unshed tears. He could be laughing at her for all she knew. Patting himself on the back for a job well done. She longed to lash out, pummel him with her fist as he’d battered her with his fool’s errand.
“Ye buggering jobby,” the words were nothing more than a hoarse whisper as the heat went out of her. “Why? Why would ye do that?”
“Aila.” A cool, soothing hand clasped hers. Another smoothed back her hair with a gentle sweep. “Dear girl, sit down.”
With a shake of her head, Aila swiped at her tears. “I want to go home, Vi, please. Can we go?”
Aila was aware of the way Violet looked to Donell with confusion, seeking an explanation. A reaction? “Of course, dear. Let me get my bag. Where is yours? Would you…er, like to change first?”
A nod jerked her chin and Aila spun on one heel, leaving Auld Donell behind without another word.
Leaving all of it behind her for good.
Then why did it feel so bad?
* * *
Donell leaned back in his chair, the wind taken right out of him. Leaning to the side, he picked up the device that had fallen to the floor and slipped it into his pocket. Despite the early hour, he pulled a flask from his pocket and took a deep swallow. “I’m getting too auld for this shite.”
Rab sat at his feet, head cocked to the side. “Och, that dinnae go as I’d thought, did it? Got her knickers in a bunch, she does.”
They both looked toward the door and back again. “Ye ken, it takes a spirited lass to best challenge a Scotsman. Alas, they’re an emotional lot, too, and as I said, the years upon me have taken their toll.” Donell reached out to ruffle the dog’s scruff. “I’ve lived a thousand lives working for a better future, lad. This is my last hope.”
The dog’s brows shifted as he glanced toward the door again.
“Aye, well, what are ye waiting for? We’re no’ finished yet. Git after her.”
Chapter 22
Present Day
Leith, Scotland
“Well, dear girl? I’ve given you two hours of silence to expend your anger upon dozens of innocent drivers on the roadway. You nearly gave me a heart attack a time or two along the way,” Violet said as she made her way from the foyer of the house she’d lived in her entire life to the living room while Aila carried in their overnight bags. Rab raced past them and proceeded to sniff everything before he bolted upstairs. “Would you like to talk about whatever it is that has you in such a tizzy?”
Denial pinged through Aila. Was this what Finn felt when she’d asked the same of him?
Finn. A far sharper pang suffused her. Talking about him was the last thing she wanted to do.
“I imagine you’d feel far better if we talked.”
I’ll never say that to another person as long as I live, Aila swore silently in response to Violet’s comment. For years, she’d had the question directed at her by counselors and therapists. People she’d gone to specifically to talk. To vent her worries and frustrations. She’d never realized how invasive a request it was when one wanted to deny their emotions.
Nevertheless, those years had also taught her the benefits of talking through her thoughts, no matter how much she didn’t want to. No matter how much it hurt.
“I’m willing to accept the presence of a dog in my home with only a vague explanation, however I’d appreciate a more detailed reason for your odd behavior. Come, I’ll pour us a glass of that nice Talisker 18 I’ve been saving and we’ll talk.”
It wasn’t a request this time.
Aila followed her into the kitchen. Under the bowed window that overlooked a garden filled with vivid flowers sat a bistro table where they’d shared dozens of conversations in the months since she’d come to live with Vi. And dozens of fingers of scotch. She’d never been one to turn down good drink and better company, however the idea of drinking whisky after days of sharing them with another was more than she could bear.
“Make it a glass of wine and ye have a deal.”
Violet raised a brow and clucked her tongue before she turned to the cupboard and removed a pair of glasses. “Wine? You must be more upset than I imagined.”
