Cal
With his vision on the darkening road to Edinburgh and Bea in the passenger seat beside him, Cal was thinking hard. But however he contemplated this situation, he couldn’t justify what he wanted to do without sounding like he might be coming on too strong.
He wanted to ask Bea to his father’s party.
Not only did he want to make the most of every moment with her, he wanted to make his father proud. To show him he could make a success of things, women being one. Despite Jimmy Butler going through the wringer for many years before getting together with Cal’s mother, Cal was sure that his dad wondered why Cal was thirty-four and still hadn’t met the right woman – one who didn’t bring shame on the family name. Jimmy had never said as much but Cal owed it to his dad now to make him proud, no arguments.
He knew his parents would be proud of Bea. He was proud of her, wanted to show her off – show that an incrediblewoman wanted to spend time with him – leaving out the short-term fling bit; that didn’t matter.
Before Cal knew it, the words were filling the space between him and Bea.
‘Bea, I’d love if you would come with me to my family’s celebration next week.’
As soon as he said it, Cal knew he sounded like a boyfriend waiting in the wings. It wasn’t wrong to like her company, was it? They were getting on well, so why not spend some time together? Also, it could be useful for her writing.
‘I’m sure you’d find it fun and it’s a way for you to see the real Scotland,’ he added. ‘Meet a real Scottish family.’ That was it. Make it sound like his chief objective was to help Bea with her novels. ‘We’ll stop off at places on the journey you might find inspiring for your books. There’s some stunning scenery on the journey to Kintyre.’
Cal hadn’t a clue what Bea was thinking, and a knot formed in his stomach as she took forever to respond. Because he was driving, he could only take the occasional glance at her. He tightened his grip on the steering wheel, then it went a little clammy, so he reached for the radio to add an upbeat soundtrack to what was becoming an awkward scene. But as his fingers reached the dial, Bea spoke.
‘Are you sure your family won’t mind me coming? I wouldn’t be intruding, would I?’
Cal breathed out relief he hadn’t realised he’d been holding in.
‘Are you kidding? They’ll be delighted to have you there. They should be grateful, in fact. And my brothers will probably hit on you cause they’re idiots.’
‘Charming.’
‘Oh, no. That came out wrong.’ Cal was a teenager again, blundering through communication with girls. ‘I meant because they’d be hitting on someone who’s with their brother, not because of anything to do with you. It’ll shock me if they don’t hit on you, to be honest. Any sane man would.’
‘You recovered well from that.’ Bea took on the deadpan style normally the reserve of Cal. He glanced at her and saw a twitch of a joy at the edge of her lips. Thank goodness.
‘So.’ He reached out to touch her leg, hoping it wasn’t too much after their earlier rift. ‘You haven’t said if you’re coming or not.’
‘I wasn’t sure if you’d finished selling it to me.’ The warm breeze Cal loved about Bea’s voice was back.
‘That wasn’t a sales pitch, but to sway you, there will be a truckload of food and your own personal guide for the duration of your stay, views to die for, a beach on the doorstep, copious surfing and whisky, and sex on tap. It’ll be the perfect inspiration for your writing. Well, maybe not the sex bit – probably best not to write about that – but the rest.’
Bea laughed. ‘Well, in that case, sign me up for the full package.’
Cal looked at her for as long as he could before it got dangerous. ‘Really? Are you sure?’
‘Yes, really and I’m sure. You had me at sex on tap.’
‘Wait, that was the last thing I mentioned.’
‘Well, the other stuff sounds wonderful, but that was what sold it to me.’ Tenderly she squeezed his knee and Cal caught a little wink from her. His heart somersaulted. She had him. She well and truly had him. How had that happened? And how was he going to put all the pieces of the puzzle together when they didn’t quite fit?
Chapter 41
Bea
At 8 a.m. the following Friday, Bea was adding the finishing touches to her make-up. Lipstick in hand, she checked out of the flat window to see if Cal’s car had arrived. All was quiet. Good, because she wasn’t quite ready.
Minutes later, after a subtle swipe of Autumn Rose lip gloss, a spray of face mist and a few dabs of perfume on her pulse points, Bea was set for the mystery Scottish road trip Cal had insisted they go on, en route to his family’s party. All she needed now was for the man himself to arrive. Bea imagined sitting in the passenger seat next to Cal, watching his hair caught by the sun. Then she remembered she wasn’t in the States and that there would be no top-down in the crisp Scottish fall. She’d have to settle instead for the heat of his company.
As she was pacing around the flat, waiting for Cal, Bea’s phone rang. It was Amira.
‘Hey, babe,’ she said. ‘What’s up?’ It was the middle of the night in New York. Why would Amira be calling now, unless something was wrong?
