He waved me off. “It’s fine. Honestly, I’ll handle whatever happens to the company. It’s Kelly who’s breaking me.”
“What’s happening with Kel?”
“Jill called me up two days ago and told me I needed to come get Kelly sooner for her summer visit with me and that I needed to keep her for three weeks, not two. I jumped on the chance, but then she texted me this morning to tell me she won’t be back until the end of summer. Kelly is begging me to find a way so she can stay with me permanently. She says Jill leaves her on her own at night, she’s dating all those different men, she forgets when Kelly needs something for school, and worse, she’s always on Kelly’s back. She resents our daughter, Quinn. What kind of mother resents their daughter and only wants full custody to claim the child support?”
Sorrow darkened his light eyes. “It’s fucking brutal knowing your kid would be safer and happier with you and you’re stuck because of a shitty legal system that favors the mother over the father. All I can do is keep track of everything, talk to the school in Edinburgh, and take it all to my lawyer so we can eventually appeal the custody rights. But that takes time, and in the meantime, I’m worried sick whenever my daughter is not here with me. And she’s looking to me to fix it and—” He cut off, letting out a ragged sigh. “Sorry, mate. I’m just ranting at you. I’m sorry.”
My gut churned for my friend. I couldn’t imagine having such a toxic relationship with my ex that it affected my relationship with Heather and Angus. “Don’t be sorry. I’m here anytime youneed to chat or even for war counsel. Jill is so selfish, sheisgoing to give you everything you need to go to war and win.” I’d never liked my friend’s wife, which was a terrible thing to admit, but she’d treated Murray like a cash machine. We’d all suspected that her trips off island involved infidelity. Murray cursed himself for not gathering evidence to prove it because it would have rendered their marriage contract null and void.
“Thanks.” He gave me a gruff nod. “Anyway, I better get to the butcher. I promised Kelly steak pie tonight.”
“Where is she now?”
“At her pal’s house. She misses them too.”
“Divorce is shite.”
“Aye, it is that.” He patted me on the shoulder as he moved to head back to the butcher. “See you at band practice tomorrow.”
“See you then.”
I exhaled slowly, feeling the weight of Murray’s worries on top of the news that Eoghan McCall had returned to Glenvulin. The part of me that couldn’t deal with any more stress wanted to believe it didn’t mean anything. But the knot in my gut told me differently. As if I could feel the specter of the past watching me, the hair on the back of my neck prickled.
I rubbed at my nape before hurrying toward my truck.
18.Taran
It shouldn’t have surprised me how quickly Aodhan got things moving on the charity store front. He’d popped into Pages & Perks yesterday to request a meeting the next day to go over the details he needed to submit to the planners.
Usually, it would take months to get plans through, but Aodhan had winked cheekily at me and said he could pull a few strings to get the process moving immediately.
That morning, before he was due into the store for our meeting, I’d gone through a few résumés with Ewan and Martha. Ewan would take over as full-time manager, but Martha could still only work part time because she also cared for an elderly parent, so we needed another full-time staff member.
Ewan and I got into our first quibble ever. He wanted to hire his friend, Una, who had retired to the island three years ago but was now looking for something to fill her time. I wanted to hire Paisley Macduff, Aodhan’s granddaughter. She was eighteen, straight out of high school, and instead of venturing off, she wanted to remain on the island. Considering the islands were struggling because our young people kept leaving and we were desperately trying to find ways to encourage them to stay, it was a no-brainer for me. Ewan thought that “terribly hypocritical” ofme and said she was too young and inexperienced. I reminded him he was once too young and inexperienced, but someone had given him a break.
I started to get the impression he might have already promised the job to Una. He could unpromise it. I’d ended the conversation by declaring Paisley was hired and he could lump it or leave it.
He’d been huffy with me since, and I refused to pander to huffy people, so we weren’t really on speaking terms at the moment.
When Aodhan walked into the shop, it was almost a relief. I must have greeted him with a bit more enthusiasm than usual because he chuckled as he slumped into one of the chairs I’d reserved. “Too much coffee this morning, Taran?”
I snorted and settled into the seat opposite him. “No, you’re just saving me from a disgruntled employee.”
Aodhan’s eyes twinkled with mischief. “What did you do?”
“I’m hiring your granddaughter to work here over the person Ewan wanted to hire.”
He raised his eyebrows as his grin widened. “Good for you. And thank you, lass. Paisley will be chuffed. She’s barely been able to sleep since she applied. The girl is book daft. And anything that keeps her here on the island makes her mother happy. If she didn’t get this job, I’d have found her something to do, but I’m glad she’s going to work somewhere she’ll enjoy. As long as Ewan treats her right, that is.”
Aodhan’s daughter worked at the distillery and had been a single mum since Paisley was ten. I knew from village gossip that Aodhan had stepped into the father figure role.
“He will. He’s just in a snit with me.”
“Ach, it won’t last long. No one could stay mad at you, lass.”
“You auld flatterer, you. Okay. Where are the plans?”
Aodhan’s eyes gleamed. “They’re on their way.” The bell above the door rang, and we both looked up to see Quinn stride in. “And look … perfect timing. They’ve just arrived.”
