“I’m trying not to lose my mind. Give me a second.”
His concern warmed me. “I’m okay.”
“They’re threatening you over a fictional fucking character, Eilidh. That’s insane.”
“I am aware. That’s why I handed it over so I don’t have to see it or deal with it.”
“It was the right decision.” I heard his heavy sigh. “Please tell me you’re safe.”
“Aye. I’m safe.”
“Does your family know?”
“After we reported the comments, we switched them off. I haven’t heard from my family, so I doubt it. Please don’t tell them. They don’t need to worry any more than they already do.”
“Maybe if you started talking to them about all of this, you’d feel better. They know something is up with you, Eils.”
I winced because it was true. There was an emotional wall between me and my family. I wasn’t quite sure how it had sprung up between us or how I could pull it down. “I need to figure some things out first. Once I do, I’ll be more open with them.”
“Well, at least keep talking to me.”
“Of course.” I smiled, wishing he were here with me. “How has your day been? Why were you in the city?”
“Uh … just … you know.”
My stomach dropped. “I didn’t interrupt a date, did I?”
“Aye, and thankfully. I wasn’t in the mood.”
Ignoring the jealous churning in my gut, I forced out, “Why? Has something happened?”
Fyfe was quiet for a moment and then, “If I tell you, will you keep it between us?”
“You know I will.” It seemed to be all we did these days. We were each other’s confidants. Being the person Fyfe could talk to made me feel more special than any award or accolade ever could.
“Innes, my mother … she showed up at my house this morning.”
Hearing the seething anger in his voice, I braced myself. “What happened?”
“She changed her name, has been sober for six years, lives in the Lowlands, and is married to a woman who has a daughter from a previous marriage.”
What the heck? “Fyfe …”
“She wants the house. Her mum’s house.”
Fury lashed through me in an instant, my cheeks turning hot with it. “What?”
“Says they’re having financial problems and she wants to give her stepdaughter a good life. Wanted the house so she could sell it for the money, I suppose.”
“That bitch!” I shot up off my couch. All the hurt and pain she’d inflicted on Fyfe as a boy … I’d seen him the day she’d abandoned him for good. Seen something shatter in him. And she came back for the house instead of him?
I wanted to kill her. Pacing the room, I shook with the rage I couldn’t expel. “I’m going to hunt that cow down and eviscerate her. She thinks she has financial problems now? Wait until I get my hands on her. She’ll have to swim out of the fucking shipwreck of her life when I’m done with her! Fuck!”
A few seconds after the last expletive left my mouth, I was shocked by the sound of Fyfe’s laughter.
I froze mid pacing. “Fyfe?”
His amusement petered off. “Thank you.”
