He thinks for a moment before asking, “Want to check out the attic?”
“This is goingto take way longer than I assumed,” I choke out while coughing as we stand in a crowded, very dusty attic. Even with it being the entire top floor of the Hall, it is crammed full of boxes, old furniture, and junk.
“Whoa.” Lachlan peers around the cluttered mess. “Your family dinna get rid of anything, do they?”
He’s not wrong. Floor to ceiling, wall-to-wall, it’s completely covered.
“We don’t even know what we’re looking for. This is going to take forever,” I whine.
“It won’t be too bad. What if we find treasure?” Lachlan raises his eyebrow and rubs his hands together.
His question makes me giggle. When we were little, we would scour the creek bed next to the faerie tree for shards of glass we pretended to be gemstones. It didn’t matter how often we looked, we always found treasure there.
I exhale. “Ugh, I hope you’re right. How do you want to do this? You take the left, I take the right, or I start here and you go to the other side, and we meet in the middle?”
Lachlan shrugs. “I guess I’ll take the left, and ye can take the right; that way, I’m close by if ye need some muscle.” He flexes his arms, and I giggle again while rolling my eyes.
He’s trying his hardest to keep the mood light, and I really appreciate his effort. It used to be the opposite between us; he was the gloomy one, and I would go out of my way to cheer him up. Now the tables have turned, and I don’t take for granted having him by my side.
The time passes quickly, and we each stick to our sides, opening and browsing boxes before coming up empty-handed and closing them back up. Periodically, we’d find something interesting that warranted walking to the other side and showing off our treasure. Lachlan ends up finding more interesting things, but we spend the entire time talking and laughing. Adoration settles deeper into the marrow of my bones.
I try to pay attention to the boxes before me, but occasionally, Lach will catch my eye, and I’ll admire the way his muscles flex through his long-sleeved shirt or the way his hair falls forward when he moves certain ways; it frames his strong jaw.
He’s so beautiful it’s hard not to stare. My fascination with him is not new. I feel like I searched for him in all the boys I had casual dalliances with. But no one ever compared to the one I had stuck on a pedestal. Lachlan had a few romances throughout the years, and it did sting. But I didn’t ever have a claim on him. We saw each other sporadically throughout our lives, and even though we were as thick as thieves when we were together, we were apart for much longer.
At the back of my mind, though, I had always hoped we would end up together.
Images of a future with him begin to build as I daydream about a life together, at the Hall where we share so many memories. Lachlan would be closer to the estates he manages, and with my trust fund, maybe I could go to a university. I’ve always been fascinated by history. Some of my favorite memories are listening to my parents talk about the great lives of historical figures like Cleopatra or Sappho. Or maybe we could travel together. One of Lachlan’s great loves was traveling, and it would be wonderful to experience that with him. I wouldn’t mind having a nomadic lifestyle again if it were with him.
But if I’m being honest, I’ve always been too afraid to put myself out there.
Especially with Lachlan.
That’s a rejection that would cut deeper than any other relationship ever has. Not that I have a ton of experience with relationships, but what little I do have has always felt like I was biding my time for something bigger,for him.
Lachlan catches me staring and quirks his head to the side. “Where’d ye go?”
My blush crawls up my cheeks, and I wipe my forehead with the back of my hand.
“Do you—never mind.” I shake my head and bend down to rifle through the box at my feet.
“Oh no, ye don’t,” he grins broadly. “What?”
I stare down at the box in front of me, not really seeing the contents, and trying to work up the courage to ask him out. But I fail miserably; my confidence is sorely lacking. “Do you ever go to any of the pubs around here?”
Lachlan chuckles. “Of course, I go out with the crew and a few friends all the time. Why? Do ye want to come with us?”
I roll my eyes. Of course, he would have no shortage of friends. He has roots here and is the charismatic one out of the two of us now.
I pull out an ancient leather sandal that has long straps before tossing it back in the box.
“I don’t want to invite myself out with you guys,” I mumble.
“Key,” he drawls, his voice causing my blood to heat. “You’re welcome to go with me anywhere, anytime. I’ve actually got to run up to Orkney next Friday, and I’ll be gone for the weekend.” Lachlan casually throws my way.
My stomach sinks, but I try to play it off. “Oh? What for?” I ask, trying to make my tone nonchalant.
“Well, I’ve been living out of a suitcase for the past month and need to switch some things out and check on my place,” he responds, sliding a box that has a large “B” on the side in front of him.
