“No,” I say flatly. I only have a few days left with Summer. I’m not wasting one of them in Inverness.
“I’m sorry. This is the last thing I want, but I don’t know how else to handle it. I’ll be afield all day, making sure we get all thelivestock sheltered and everything is secure. This weather came out of nowhere.” He sucks in a deep breath. “We have to get the delivery made, and I—I can’t have you driving in the storm. Leaving before it hits is the only option I see. It’s not set to hit Inverness. You’ll be safe down there.”
Shit. I want to argue, but I don’t see a way around it. Judging by Cameron’s sour expression, he’s not happy about it either.
“Fine,” I grit out. “Okay.” I drag up a chair and plop onto it heavily. “How did the call with your lawyer go? You make the council see sense?”
A muscle tics in Alec’s jaw. “No. And they also informed me they’re cutting all agricultural stipends starting next month.”
I let loose a stream of very off-colour words. For God’s sake, why can’t things ever just beeasy?“We should tell the village. We need people to kick up a fuss. Petitions, whatever. This is going too far.”
Alec shakes his head. “I have a handle on it.”
“You know peoplewantto help, right?” I snarl. “The locals don’t want a tourism lodge up here any more than you do. This goes beyond you.”
“I have a handle on it,” he repeats stubbornly.
I sit back in my chair, rubbing my aching chest. The sad, grey feeling in me is filling me up like cement.
“You look like crap,” Cameron says suddenly. “You feeling okay?”
“I’m fine,” I say shortly.
“Did you not sleep?”
“Slept fine.”
Cameron studies me for a few seconds. “He needs a break,” he tells Alec. “He’s not right.”
I roll my eyes, but Alec nods. “You’re not yourself today,” he agrees, tapping at his laptop. “When you get back tomorrow, you can take the rest of the week off?—”
I slam my hand on the table. “For God’s sake, I’mfine. Will you stop fussing and focus on making a plan?”
“A plan?”
“Aye. How are we gonna ask Summer to stay?”
Alec freezes. “What?”
“We need a good way to ask her,” I insist. “Make it special.” I tug a hand through my hair. “But first, we should work out how we’re gonna handle the long-distance stuff. We need to be on the same page. I don’t want her feeling unsure about anything, you know?”
Both men just stare at me.
“What?” Cameron says.
“I guess she’ll probably want to go back to London, at least for events. We could split time, maybe? I mean, there are three of us. If she wants to do stints in the city, one of us could go with her.” I hate London, but I’d go anywhere for her.
Alec sits back in his chair. “Fraser, what are you talking about?”
I stare at him. “Summer,” I say slowly. “We need to work out how to ask her if she wants to stay with us.”
“Staywith us?” he repeats. “But…she’s going back to London.”
“Aye, and we can’t let that happen. So we need to ask her to move in.”
His lips part. “Move in?”
“We have to ask her to be our girlfriend.”
