I squeezed the bridge of my nose at his smug know-it-all expression. “That’s the point. I’m just Fyfe Moray. Some big shot from the estate could come sweeping in and turn her head and whisk her away to live on some exotic island and that would make sense. But I’d be left behind.”
“If that was going to happen, it would have happened. Eilidh’s had more than enough opportunities for the celebrity life and celebrity relationships. She doesn’t want it. She wants you. She wantsreal. My wee sister decided a long time ago you were the one for her.”
I forced myself to meet my best friend’s gaze, my voice filled with apology. “I can’t give her that.”
He sighed wearily. “I know you actually believe that.”
“So … what now?”
Lewis’s features hardened ever so slightly. “You stay away from Eilidh.”
Pain ricocheted through me. “Lew?—”
“If you are stubbornly refusing to be with her … then she needs space to get over you, okay. I mean it. You stay away from Eilidh, and you and I will be fine.”
Even as it hurt to do it, I nodded in agreement.
I had justenough time to make breakfast (something I actually could eat now that some things had been resolved between me and Lewis) and dress properly for work.
I gathered from the lack of fathers and uncles banging on my door that neither Lewis nor Eilidh had told anyone what had happened between us. Therefore, I could head into my meeting at Ardnoch Estate today without worrying one of the elder Adairs was waiting to bash my face in.
As I drove up my driveway, an object sitting outside my front door drew my attention. The hair on my nape rose the closer I got. The security system app on my phone hadn’t gone off to alert me to someone being at the house … Fuck. I’d left my phone in the car while I was talking to Lewis.
Was that …
Was that … no … it couldn’t be.
Braking hard, I shut off the engine and lunged from the vehicle, hurrying toward the front door.
Yes, it was.
A baby in a pink cardigan with a hood, bundled inside a blanket inside a car seat looked up at me and promptly burst into shrieking tears.
“What the …” I gaped, looking up.
There was no one there.
Just my car in the drive.
I brought my phone up and tapped on my security system. There were the alerts I missed. Opening them, I saw that approximately twenty minutes ago, an old Vauxhall drove up and a brunette got out of the driver’s seat. I zoomed in again and let out another curse.
I knew that brunette.
Pamela. We’d had a casual fling for about six weeks. Almost two years ago. It was during the time Eilidh disappeared from my life after she overheard me telling Lewis our friendship didn’t mean anything.
My gaze moved from the video feed to the baby as Pamela took the car seat out of the back of the Vauxhall and left it at the door. She didn’t even glance back. Merely hurried into the vehicle and sped off.
She’d left a baby outside on a cold spring morning.
“Fuck.” I picked up the carrier. “Hey, cutie,” I shushed the crying baby as I pulled out my house keys and opened the door to bring her inside. “It’s all right, wee yin. We’ll get this figured out.”
A note tucked inside the baby’s blanket caught my eye as I carried her into the living space and set her on my dining table.
“Let’s have a look, eh, and see what this madness is all about.” My soft words seemed to quiet her, and she watched me curiously as I opened the note. “Eh, what does your mummy have to say?” Seeing my voice had calmed her, I read the note out loud, “Fyfe, she’s yours—” My heart jolted. “Her name is Millie. I tried to take care of her by myself, but I can’t. She’s better off with you. You can give her a comfortable, safe life. Sorry for doing it this way. Take good care of her—Pamela.” The note tumbled from my hand as I looked at the baby girl whose face crumpled as if she sensed my emotions. She opened her tiny mouth and extremely loud noises squealed out of it. Millie sobbed like she was dying.
Oh fuck.
That’s when I smelled it.
