‘This place has so much history,’ she remarked as they both took in the display. ‘I love seeing all these old photographs and looking at the fashion and the furniture.’
‘Aye, me too. Speaking of which.’ Jamie spotted something truly extraordinary. A familiar group of faces in a photograph, the backdrop and their clothing extremely dated. ‘Check this out. It’s my family from back in the day.’
Alicia leaned into him as he pointed to the photograph. ‘That’s all of us in the library here. I must have been about fifteen. Cal would’ve been seventeen. This would be the last time we came up here as a full family. Look at us! I’m surprised no one got arrested by the fashion police.’
‘Tell me who everyone is,’ said Alicia. ‘I want to know.’
Jamie inched a little closer to her and named each of his siblings and his parents.
She peered up at him, a tender smile glimmering on her lips.
‘What?’
‘Nothing. You sound so animated naming your family. It’s adorable.’
‘Ha. I’m not adorable.’
‘Ah, but you are.’ Alicia winked – a shot of adrenaline to his heart – then turned back to the photo. ‘I can conclude that you are the most handsome, but none of you fell off the ugly tree, did you? Your sisters are so pretty.’
‘They’ll be delighted to hear that.’
‘And this, here, this is your dad?’ Alicia pointed at the dignified and imposing figure of a young Jimmy Butler. ‘You are so alike.’
Jamie stilled and examined the photo, head tilted. He and Jimmy Butler were obviously related but he’d never had the likeness pointed out to him so vehemently before. He tried to see the photo the way Alicia saw it.
‘What?’ she asked.
‘Well, technically, my dad is my uncle, so I was thinking about how much you say I resemble him.’
‘Oh. Have I touched on a sore point?’
‘Not at all. My actual dad was an arse. My mum and dad – the one in this photo – were in love for years, but she’d married his vile brother. Long story short, she eventually left him when I was a kid and raised us with my Uncle Jimmy – my now dad.’
‘I see. How old were you?’
‘Two and a half. Only me, Cal and Niall were born. Sean is my mum and dad’s son together, and Nate, Eilidh and Cara are adopted triplets.’
‘Wow!’ Alicia gazed some more at the photo. ‘That is a wicked family dynamic you got going on there.’
Jamie seemed pleased at this comment. ‘No one’s ever called our family dynamic wicked before – I think some folk in the village would use a different term – but I like it.’
‘Your parents sound incredible. And I don’t know why anyone would think that is anything but awesome.’
Jamie was lost in thought for a moment: cast back years to memories of the night everything changed, the night he remembered mere fragments of – flames, sirens, the warmth of his uncle’s arms –the rest outlined by Cal over the years, possibly even creating memories he’d been too young torecall. Nonetheless, sometimes he forgot how unique his family was. The fortitude of his dad.
‘Aye,’ he said. ‘They are. I can’t even begin to show my gratitude for what they’ve given us.’ A swathe of guilt consumed him for indulging in passion with Alicia when he’d come here to sort out the business for his father. The least Jimmy Butler deserved was to bow out of the distillery before he was at death’s door, confident that his son had the house in order. Jamie would never forgive himself if he didn’t carry out his promise to solidify a strategy.After everything he’s done for you, the least you can do is follow through on your word to him.
‘Are you okay?’ Alicia asked.
‘Aye. It’s just brought up some hardcore emotions. Not least around my taste in clothes. That jacket could fit another me inside it. What was I thinking?’
She squeezed into him, seeming to understand his humour was laced with pathos.
‘Family always does bring up emotions,’ she said. ‘Mine drive me crazy but I miss them too. And I think you look cute in the blazer, even if it is a little outsized.’
Alicia was right about family, and Jamie was hit then with a hard truth. He would have to let her go. His family was here and hers were in LA, and what was more important than family? They had five more days together and that was it. He couldn’t not be with her, especially when they were snowed in, but this photo was a stark reminder that their time together could only be temporary and his priority during the week would be to find some focus and stop being so bloody self-involved.
Chapter 21
