Windmouth Castle + Cream Tea
“You probably haven’t been to Kirkmuir in a few years, have you? So much has changed, it’s pretty amazing. I bet Roy would love to catch up with you, too.”
“Would we have to stay overnight?” I hesitated, thinking about the added hotel costs.
“Not necessarily, no. It’s about an hour and a half one way, but if you want, yeah.” He shrugged. “I mean, I could also pay for that. Food and lodgings are part of my salary, and I’m only ever at the estate. I never get a chance to spend my money on anything. It would be pretty cool to take a room in Pear Mill, go out in the evening, you know?”
A room? Excuse me, did you say A ROOM?
“That sounds really nice, but I don’t think I’d feel good letting you pay for a trip we’d be taking so I can document it for social media. If you have a hotel in mind, I can try to get a sponsored deal with them.”
“Famous Noah Bright,” Lew said with no heat behind his words.
“Famous enough maybe.” I shrugged. An influencer past his prime who hates pretty much everything about his life, that’s what I was.
“It’s really cool what you’ve built. I’m sure we can get your income back up again soon.”
We?
“Thank you, Lew. I really appreciate your help,” I told him seriously.
“My pleasure.” A soft smile played on his lips. “There’s Kincardie Christmas market, and Lone Fox’s, too. My family doesn’t celebrate Christmas so I’m not expected anywhere. There’s Diwali, though, at the end of this month. Hey, maybe we could time our Kirkmuir stay with that? We could celebrate at that Bengali restaurant near Kat and Roy’s place. That could be fun.”
His enthusiasm overwhelmed me, but it was adorable how invested he was.
And he wants to spend the most important holiday with me?
“That sounds pretty amazing, yeah,” I mumbled, then added his suggestions to the list.
Diwali (Kirkmuir)
Christmas markets
“There are a couple of cute cafés around, and uh, okay this is going to sound weird.” Lew rasped his palm over his neck. “Would you go shopping with me?”
“Shopping?”
“I always wear the same, boring outfit, jeans and something on top. How you threw that capsule wardrobe together earlier was super impressive. I like your style.” His embarrassed grin melted me into a puddle.
This is all fake, Lew, stop being this cute!
“Sure, I’d love to go shopping with you. Do you have anywhere in mind?”
“Well, yeah, we could do that in Kirkmuir. I mean, APEX has a pop-up shop in Inverness for Scotland Fabric this year, but the city’s going to be packed with people and, yeah.”
“Hard pass?” I supplied. “I’m not a fan of crowds, either.”
