Page 41 of Scotlander

She glanced up at him and smiled, grateful for the awkward-silence intervention and, curiously, for the physical reassurance of his presence.

Gabe nodded at Finn, then shifted his gaze back to Willa. ‘Maybe we should talk alone?’

‘Finn’s about to be my husband,’ she said slightly too defensively. ‘We do everything together.’

She felt Finn’s eyes land on her but wasn’t going to risk catching the horror undoubtedly flaring in them. Two rounds of rejection today just might finish her.

‘Okay. Good. Umm . . .’ Gabe began, then faltered, scrubbing a hand across his face.

It was weird seeing him so unsettled. So . . . human.

A line from Val’s final wishes came to her. Sometimes you have to step outside of yourself to become the person you want to be.

What wasn’t mentioned, was that the process of shedding one skin would, in turn, expose a fresh, unweathered one. Soft and vulnerable in a world full of jagged edges.

‘I’m guessing you and Lachlan are previously acquainted?’ Willa prompted.

‘Yes.’ Gabe’s eyes flooded with emotion. ‘We, uhhh . . . Lachlan and I—’

‘We met a long time ago,’ Lachlan said, stepping back and sliding his arm around Gabe’s shoulders in such a comfortable move it was as if he’d been doing it for years.

‘How?’ Willa asked.

‘He was an exchange student,’ Gabe said to Lachlan, whose eyes he couldn’t seem to stop staring into. With a hand pressed to Lachlan’s heart, he turned to Willa and, between them, they told her everything.

Lachlan was from Edinburgh. He’d always known he was gay and came from a family who had been incredibly supportive of him and his sexuality. When he’d been placed at Gabe’s high school in Texas, his family had questioned whether or not he’d feel safe, but he’d said he didn’t want to be frightened being who he was. And when he’d gone to his first class, the two had met and fallen instantly and completely in love. Their romance was strong, but they kept it out of the public eye. Everything had gone well until Gabe’s father had found out. He’d been horrified and refused to believe he had a gay son. Things came to a head at Valentina’s fifteenth birthday. The family was throwing a huge party. All the siblings were bringing their partners. Gabe wanted to bring Lachlan, who was days away from returning to Scotland. His father refused. Gabe gave him an ultimatum, accept us both, or he would walk away.

‘I suppose you can figure out the rest,’ he said with another scrub of his perfect jawline.

Yeah. She could. He ran away, made an incredible success of himself by helping people out who’d needed guidance after a fall from grace.

‘Did you go with him?’ she asked Lachlan.

He shook his head. ‘To my shame, no. I returned home. But he’s always lived here.’ Lachlan placed his hand over Gabe’s, which was still resting on his heart. ‘And now, thanks to his sister, he’s actually here. Two whole weeks to catch up.’ Unexpectedly, he laughed. ‘Who knows? We might not even like each other any more, but . . .’

In tandem the pair said, ‘First impressions speak volumes.’

If ever there was a moment to throw up in her mouth a little, this was it. But, despite the blow to her ego, she could see that these two had needed to meet again, even if to close a door on a chapter written long ago.

‘Did you . . .’ she began tentatively, and then, in a rush asked, ‘Did Valentina tell you this was going to happen?’

‘Not specifically.’

‘So . . . you read her letter.’

Gabe nodded.

She was desperate to ask him what was in it, but the distinctive screech of bagpipes cut through the air before she could.

She threw Finn a questioning look.

‘That’ll be our cue to head to the altar,’ he said.

She looked over at Gabe and Lachlan only to find them caught in a dreamy-eyed staring contest.

Feeling desperately awkward in the glow of such intimacy, she cleared her throat, hooked her arm in Finn’s and said, ‘I guess we’d best get down to the stables and get ourselves hitched.’

Chapter Fifteen