‘Why would you think that?’ Smile, Dylan. Don’t be the asshole she can sense you are.
‘She was in an awful state after her last trip back to that place, not to mention—’ Whatever she was about to say is forced back by pursed lips. ‘Aye, well, least said soonest mended is all I’ll say about that. I’ll no’ have anyone upset her again. Not in her con—’
‘Current state of mind!’ the beard cuts in.
‘Yes, her current state of... of mind,’ she repeats, her gaze seeming to weigh me.
I frown, trying to make sense of what the hell’s going on here before pushing it away. We’re going around in circles. I’ll be here for a fortnight at this rate.
‘She’ll want to see me, I swear.’ Maybe not initially. Maybe not at all—not when she hears what I have to say. But it’s better than her seeing me—lots of me and lots of her—onDynamic Entertainment’ssiteor Porn Hamster.Fuck, please don’t let it come to that. I don’t want to be the cause of her hurt again.
‘If I learn otherwise. .. ’ Along with one pointed finger, the implied threat lingers in the air. She reminds me of my own granny quite suddenly. I feel guilt I haven’t thought of her in a while. They don’t look remotely alike—Nonna was round, not like the frail wee thing standing before me—but she was fierce when she had need. Grandmothers come in all shapes and sizes; some might be made from rosewater and cannoli and from twinsets and pearl, but they all seem to have a steel rod for a backbone when it comes to those they love.
‘Please.’ If I sound desperate, it’s because I am. ‘I just need to see her.’
She regards me for a few seconds more, seconds that draw out into an age, even as the hairy barber nods his encouragement. Her hands slip under the counter, returning with a card pressed between fingers and thumb. It looks like an invitation as she passes it into my hands. An invitation with a stag’s head embossed in gold on the front of the thick card.
Suddenly, she snatches it back. ‘That’s mine, y’ken?’
‘But Ivy—I can find her here?’
She peers at me for a moment longer, her thin lips firm. ‘Weel, I suppose I can always take you along as my plus one.’
Until that moment, I hadn’t realised I was holding in a breath. ‘You will? Thank you. Thank you so much.’
‘But you’ll have to be prepared to bide there a while, and you’ll have a car?’
Was that a question? Maybe? ‘Yeah, I have a car.’ I raise my eyes from the card open in her thin hand. From what I could gather during my brief look, it’s a hotel opening.
‘Or you can go later; watch the tide times. I can make my own way there.’ Tide times? We’re going on a ferry or causeway? I shake my head at the suggestion because any kind of time is something I don’t have. ‘So long as you also know you’ll have to mind the tide times.’
Definitely a water crossing of some kind, but I don’t answer her. At least, not verbally as I lean over the high counter and plant a smacking kiss on her cheek. ‘When do we go?’ Because I’ll swim there if I have to.
She turns a pink sort of flustered, her hand touching a pink powdered cheek. ‘I’ll go get my coat. You’ll bring the car to the door? These old legs aren’t so good.’
‘Sure. Car. I’ll go get it now.’
‘What a gent,’ crows the beard as I turn. Pulling on the door handle, I anticipate the quaint jingling sound, my heart light for the first time since I’d stepped off the plane.
‘What d’you suppose all that means?’ the beard all but screeches as I step outside.
‘That she’s a lucky girl,’ answers the granny. ‘I saw a video of him, and that man’s boabie is like a baby’s arm.’
Surely... Nah. I couldn’t have understood that right.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Ivy
The room isnothing short of beautiful. In fact, the whole room is beyond swanky, and to think Fin had a hand in the design of the place after some sort of trouble with the interior designer. I’m not surprised she has an eye for this sort of stuff; she’s always been super stylish and amazingly clever. For sure that girl isn’t only a pretty face. She’s more—more than even a beautiful face. She has a beautiful heart to match. A heart big enough to forgive my mistakes. God, I feel humbled... is that the right word? I’m not sure, but I definitely feel something. Something that leaves me feeling lighter and grateful, pushing away the film of guilt. Thankful with a twinge of discomfort, maybe, every time I look at him? Not that I see him often, but it’s there, even now as I look at the mirror image of him, standing at the front of the room in the form of his twin brother, Kit.
Is it any wonder I feel so awful?
Especially with Fin by my side staring, absolutely besotted by the sight of him.
‘You okay?’ In the periphery of my vision, I see Fin’s question accompanied by the cock of a quizzical head.
‘I didn’t say anything,’
