“Matty Danner, actually. Gaines was my married name.”
“And? Will that turret room help erase the trauma of being lost in the Cairngorms for two days?”
“I guess we’ll see. It is a very nice room though.”
Craig’s smile faltered, then recovered. “And we’ve fed her, o’course. A supper of our famous meat pies and such. Cannae send her home a stone lighter than she brought with her, aye?”
Ah. So there was a reason for the meal.
I smiled toward the light. “And don’t forget the wonderful gift basket and the bottle of whisky.” I gave Craig a pointed lookthat said that was all the glory he was going to get from me on camera.
“Weel, Aviemore Hospitality and all that.” He waved a hand. “Let’s let our guest of honor find her seat and catch her breath. Maybe she’ll tell her story later on, aye?”
I angled my face away from the camera. “Maybe,” I said, just to him.
He nodded toward Nick, who hovered at his other shoulder now, but I shook my head.
“Weel, ye did fine, lass. None can fault ye fer bein’ weary.” He led me through the crowd and stopped in front of a red wing-backed chair.
With so many people watching my every move, I closed my eyes before I rolled them. And instead of making a scene, I turned around and sat.
Craig leaned down to say, “If ye’re still here ‘round half eight, she’ll come lookin’ for yer harrowing tale.”
“If I’m still here.”
He gave me a genuine smile then. “Ye’ve never seen a hoolie like an Aviemore hoolie, Matty dear. If ye’re not still here at nine, I’ll eat my flashes.”
I laughed. “What are flashes?”
He took a step back, hiked up his kilt, and put out a foot before turning his calf to show me a little flag hanging from the top of his thick knitted stockings. “That, m’ dear, is a flash.” He made sure others were listening. “And truth be told, in all m’ days, I’ve only eaten them twice—but rest easy, these arenae the originals!”
His audience howled with laughter. Some exchanged glances that said they’d heard that joke a few times before. But looking around me, I realized these people were determined to have a really good time, no matter what.
And if I could keep my mind off Cian MacInnis, I might just stick around until nine just to give my pillow more time to dry beforeIstarted raining again.
CHAPTER 24
It soon made sense why the officers thought it was important that I stay at a venue with plenty of room. The hoolie began with a reception line. Strangers waited for the manager to desert me, then formed a loose line and ambled past my chair. It was comical, really. They all acted like they hadn’t intended to bother me, but since we happened to be in the same vicinity, they might as well wish me well.
They’d introduce themselves, say they were glad I survived or something similar, then they’d give a little nod and wander away. The braver ones would say something personal and hope I would elaborate, like, a pity ye didnae take a friend along. Then they’d cock their heads and wait for something juicy.
If they said something too intrusive, the people waiting behind them would mock them or call them out on it, only to turn around and ask nearly the same question. They were looking for gossip, and if I didn’t offer any, they’d smile and walk away, usually in the direction of laughter.
A lot of elderly folks came through leaning on canes. One man with a walker, and a woman in a wheelchair. Through the big windows facing the street, I saw sporadic groups of people scurry across the road, coming from the train station, dressed upand ready to party. Thankfully, not everyone felt the need to seek me out, or I’d have been shaking hands until midnight.
I didn’t have that big of a turnout for my own wedding.
Each time someone asked me point blank how I survived, I said I wasn’t ready to talk about it yet—mostly because I hadn’t had a chance to find the Martin kids and compare notes.
I spotted Nick and Tara standing beside a tall table, watching it all and talking quietly. If things had been different, I would have run down the staircase to hug her to me. I could have even hugged Nick and played nice. I might have been grateful he’d come. I might have hoped that this little scare might have changed his mind…
But if things had been different, if Tara had just lied to me and met me at the airport, I wouldn’t have gotten lost in that storm, all alone, in the first place. I also would never have met Cian MacInnis…
When there was a break in the crowd, the two of them left their drinks and headed my way. Nick reached for Tara’s hand, but she shook him off. And I suddenly caught on to what Reid and Fletcher had been trying to tell me.
They gave your husband your room, they said. Your husband and a woman.
Nick and Tara are together. I’d been so stupid! They’d probably been together for a long time and I never suspected a thing! And my brain chose that moment, with them coming closer, to lay out all the proof that had been in front of my face.
