“Why does he think he has to take care of you? You’re grown men.” She wraps her hand around my arm. “Verygrown men.”
I flex for her, watching her eyes light up. “You notice Cameron limps?” She nods. “He injured his knee here on the farm. Five or so years ago, and it never properly healed. Alec blames himself, which Cameron isn’t a fan of.”
To put it mildly. There have been times I thought Cameron might actually kill him.
Worry thrums in me as I hear more arguing. I should really go and defuse. I don’t want it to get out of hand. Alec might say something that crosses the line. Cameron might decide to leave.
God, I’m so tired of this.
“Hmm.” Summer’s fingers curl in my chest hair. “And you?”
I meet her sweet brown eyes. “What about me, sweetheart?”
“Why does he think he has to look after you?”
I blink. “Oh, I had a wee…wobble back when I was in uni. When Alec found out, he brought me back to Lochview. And now I suppose he reckons he has to keep an eye on me.” I give her a grin. “What I’m saying is…don’t take it personal. This isn’t about you. It’s about him.”
Before Summer can ask more, her phone starts to ring with an alarm. I pass it to her to silence. “Anyway. What are you up to today?”
She frowns at her screen. “Work. I think I’ll take some more pictures, if that’s okay? And I have calls with a couple of brands,a ton of contracts to go through, some story posts to make, an analytics meeting with Lulu… Oh, hey, do you know if there’s a nearby shelter I can donate my extra PR stuff to?”
“Aye, there’s one a few towns down we donate our extra veg and eggs to every week. They take clothes and stuff as well.” I watch her. “You usually do that? We really don’t mind keeping the boxes at the farm ’til you go, Alec was just being a twat.”
She’s scrolling through her email now. She has more new messages than I’ve ever received in my life. “Yeah,” she says, sounding distracted. “I donate most of my PR, apart from the makeup I have to open on camera to swatch. No one needs that much stuff. I’d feel awful keeping it all.”
“Leave whatever you want to give away by the front door, I’ll drive ’em down after lunch.”
She looks at me gratefully. “Thank you! I should really get to work. I skived off last night.”
“You usually work evenings?”
“Yep!” she says, like it’s totally normal.
I don’t like that she’s working so hard. Especially when her so-called fans are treating her so badly. I reckon she needs a break, but I can’t tell her that straight up. “Fair enough. Hey, can you do me a favour?”
“Of course.”
“I checked in on your lamb last night?—”
“Crumpet,” she corrects me.
“Aye, how could I forget? Her mum’s not feeding her, so she’s still on the bottle. She’s all weak and sad, poor wee thing.”
Summer looks devastated. “Ohno.”
I nod, stroking my thumb over her hip. “But she was real excited to meet you. If you have time to give her a visit, can you play with her a bit? Give her some cuddles?”
“You really thinkIcan help her?”
“Aye,” I say honestly. “I do.”
“Of course I’ll go see her,” she says determinedly, and I have to hide my smile. Being around the animals will do her a world of good. I’ve found that playing with newborn lambs can fix most problems.
There’s another shout from the kitchen, and I sigh. “All right. I’d better go.” I kiss her soft cheek. “I’ll make you a coffee, yeah?”
She beams at me. “Thank youuu!”
When I step into the cold kitchen, Alec and Cameron are in the middle of an argument.
