Lia
Next time I woke, it was to Max kissing my shoulder. I blinked in the faint dawn light of the bedroom then found his lips with mine, instantly needing that connection.
It didn’t even seem strange waking with him beside me. The other morning when he’d stayed over after my nightmare, it had felt all too comfortable and right for him to be here.
Max nuzzled me. “No bad dreams.”
“I’ve only had one since arriving here.”
“What do ye dream about?”
“Losing my father. Either to a murderer, or literally just finding him gone and never seeing him again. I’ve always had them.”
“But less here.”
“Yes. Coming here changed everything.”
I lifted to peer at the cot, and Max did the same.
“Asleep, still,” he mouthed.
That was unusual, too. Our beautiful Evie, with her little rosebud mouth open and her curls awry, was always an earlier riser than me.
“She’s happy here. We both are.” I brushed back Max’s hair, loving the fact I could do so.
His eyes briefly closed. A moment played out before he opened them again and posed a question. “What would have happened if you’d stayed?”
Without asking, I knew what he meant. How we were talking about the past, not the current. Two years ago, I left him. Yet there was nothing but curiosity in his looks, no anger or mistrust. He wanted this final part rewritten. Continuity from then to now.
“If I’d known myself, I would’ve argued to remain longer in Inverness. I would’ve spent as much time as possible with you. I would’ve looked at universities in Scotland. Then when I found out I was pregnant—”
“We’d have done it together,” he finished for me.
I swallowed. “So many times I’d dreamed that had happened. You came to me and brought me back. We went through my pregnancy as a couple.”
He pressed his lips to my cheek. “Celebrated it.”
I gave a surprised, short laugh, despite knowing nothing else could’ve been true.
Max continued. “It would have been a shock, no lie, but I—” He stalled, but he didn’t need to finish the sentence.
“We were both robbed of that,” I whispered into the gap.
The sound of movement came from beside the bed, then the baby-sized yawn followed it. “Ba, ba,” Evie uttered.
Smiles broke over both mine and Max’s faces.
He rolled and collected our sleepy daughter, and she draped heavily over his bare chest, reaching a hand to touch my shoulder.
“Good morning, beautiful,” I said to her. “You’re talking so much now, I can barely get a word in edgeways.”
From the other room, Max’s phone dinged. He placed Evie on the mattress then laid a lingering kiss to my mouth, letting her see. Then completely naked, he strode from the room. A few seconds later, now in boxers and with his phone in his hand, he returned and scooped Evie up.
“Take a shower. I have a surprise coming for ye in twenty minutes. I’ll give Evie her breakfast, but then I have to go out for the day.”
They went into the kitchen together. I rested back for a moment, thinking on where I was in my life and what I wanted to happen next. The Lia who had left behind the only truly good thing she knew was long gone. This time around, I’d make the right choices for me and those I loved.
Washed and dressed, I found Max and Evie at the kitchen table. He ate butter-heavy toast from a plate while giving her bites.
His gaze lifted to me. “She had porridge but is still hungry so wants my breakfast, too. I need to rush to get ready, so can ye take over? Surprise due in four minutes and counting.”
“My dad is getting here later today,” I said on a breath.
The lightness dimmed in Max’s expression. “Your father.”
I chewed my lip. “There were messages in the night. I called him to talk. He swore he had nothing to do with the deception. I need to see him to talk through it all, but I believe him.”
“I’m supposed to be flying out to look for Struan. Gabe and Gordain are going with me. I can cancel.”
I shook my head, adamant. “No need. I’ve no idea what time he’s getting here, though Linc said he’d arrive first, and that hasn’t happened yet. If he doesn’t turn up until the evening, you’ll be sitting around all day. Besides, I need to handle it. Him. All of it. Not least, I’m going to warn him that if he says one bad word to you, he’ll need to leave. And he has to apologise.”
Max leapt up, and he delivered a buttery kiss to my lips. “I don’t care about him, but I need ye to be happy. I can play nice. When I get back, just tell me how ye want me to be.”
God, I loved him. “Yourself. Only ever yourself.”
His phone dinged again, and he glanced at the screen then muttered, “Your surprise is almost here. I need to get ready. Dinna look out the window.”
Still only in his boxers, he sped around the apartment, then arrived back with damp skin but dressed a few minutes later. With his expression still troubled, reflecting exactly how I felt on the inside, he picked up Evie then held out his hand for me. At the door, we stepped into our shoes.
“Is your da staying long?” he asked.
“I’m not sure. He said he wants to be with us, but he’s married to his job. I could ask… Wait, no, I can’t ask Felix. Dad said to ignore him until we speak.”
Max frowned deeper. “That reminds me, when ye spoke to Stephen last week, he said that Felix mentioned your da had no plans to retire. Why would they be in contact?”
I cocked my head. “That is weird. I didn’t pick up on it. Um, Dad still talks about Stephen a lot. I think he’s proud that his protégé has gone on to do great things. But they don’t work together. Felix would have no reason to speak to him, other than when Dad asked about that relative.”
We emerged onto the steps, and every thought on my dad and his assistants fled my brain.
On the gravel below, a beautiful car waited, a woman in the driving seat. In powder blue, the convertible car had the top down. It was a two-door, but a child seat had been added to the bench seat.
I clapped my fingers to my mouth. “What’s this?”
“Ye needed a car. This is one we had at the garage. Not too fast, nice to drive. I thought ye might like it, and it’s definitely better than that ugly hire car which caused you grief.”
The woman exited the car and made jazz hands at it. “She handles beautifully.”
“That’s Isobel, my boss and personal delivery driver.” A happier Max propelled me down the stairs.
Around the corner of the castle, another car appeared, Gabe at the controls. He pulled up as we reached the bottom of the steps, but my attention held to Max and his incredible gesture. In everything he’d done for us until now, I’d assumed Evie was at the heart of it.
This was solely for me, and I couldn’t quite comprehend it.
I definitely didn’t deserve it.
Max ushered me into the driver’s seat. “I know it’s a classic car, but I’ve upgraded it to be safe as possible.”
Isobel snorted in amusement. “Don’t let him undersell himself. He’s been working all hours to fix this up.”
Max dipped his head but didn’t take his eyes off me.
“It’s beautiful,” I breathed. Yet I was scared to even touch the steering wheel.
Isobel skittered away to talk to Gabe, leaving the three of us alone. Max hugged Evie close, and our little girl stared on with wide eyes.
“Do ye like it?” he asked quietly.
“Love it,” I replied.
If we were alone, I would have told him everything on my mind in respect of love and happiness, but our audience didn’t need to know the details.
It could wait.
Max and I wouldn’t be torn apart again.
He glanced around and seemed to come to the same conclusion so gestured to the car. “It’s an Austin-Healey. I’ll talk you through all of the details later, but she’s road safe and ready for ye to take for a spin. Later, I want ye to drive me somewhere, so get practising.”
He held out a hand to me, and I stood, moving straight into a soft kiss.
“Thank you,” I said against his lips.
Evie giggled and clutched my hair, and I took her from Max.
“I’ve got to go. Gabe’s here to collect me,” he murmured. “I know you’ll be busy with your da, but if anything happens, or if you need me for any reason, just let me know.”
In that moment, I was certain I had one part of me left to change to be worthy of Max and everything he gave me.
“Any problems I find, I’ll handle them myself,” I swore to him.
Independently, with no burden to pass to anyone else.
Max’s look of concern didn’t leave him, but he wished us goodbye and left. Gabe drove them away, and Isobel moved over to my side.
“Now he’s gone, I get to tell you what he did. I’m not even joking about how hard he worked. Once he’d set his mind to this, it changed from being my passion project to one hundred percent his.”
I summoned my will and asked the question too obvious to ignore. “How did Max afford this?”
Isobel pursed her lips, hesitating.
“Because his motorbike isn’t here, and Gabe picked him up. Please tell me he didn’t…”
“Maybe he did,” his boss said slowly. “But to be honest, selling his bikes was probably the best thing he could do now he’s a dad. And I would know because I used to race cars. Once you have people depending on you, it’s a logical step to take.”
Her words made sense, but I felt the wrench this must’ve cost Max.
Isobel gave me a quick tour of the car then set off on foot for her garage. I offered to drive her, but she grinned and left at a run.
Then it was just me, Evie, and our new ride.
My phone rang in my pocket, and I collected it to find Lincoln’s name onscreen.
“I’m at the airport, just waiting for my baggage, but I’m not entirely sure where you are to give a taxi driver instructions.”
With Dad not here yet, Linc almost certainly had more information than I did. And my gratitude towards Max needed to start with getting behind the wheel of this car.
Though maybe without Evie along for the first time driving it out on the roads.
“I’ll drop Evie off with Max’s sister then come and pick you up. Meet you at arrivals.”
With that decided, I locked up the apartment then strapped us both into the car. No small amount terrified of denting the beautiful vehicle or stalling in the middle of a junction again, I turned on the engine then eased the car into first and out along the track that led to Max’s sister’s.
The whole time, I didn’t get above fifteen miles an hour, but my confidence grew by the time I parked up. It really was a sweet ride, and my driving not too terrible.
Outside the cottage, Isla gawked at the car then ran over. “Oh my God, is this yours? Is Evie coming to play? It’s so unfair! Da’s about to take me to school.”
“I’m hoping your mum will babysit for a couple of hours, but we’ll do a proper playdate on the weekend,” I promised.
Cait emerged from the door, her baby in a sling at her chest. She peered at me curiously, and I climbed out with Evie then made my request. It was a wrench leaving my daughter behind, but she toddled after Isla into the house without a backward glance. Then I hugged the woman who I hoped one day would be my future sister-in-law, and set out on my mission.
At the airport, an exhausted-looking Lincoln barely batted an eyelid at the car and settled into the passenger seat with a groan.
“I hate that you had to leave Trent to come here, but I’m so glad to see you,” I told him.
“It’s okay. He’s so much better and was texting me during the flight. I knew this time would come.”
“What happened with my dad? How did he find you when you turned off tracking?”
“You know him, he has methods. I received a direct demand then a secondary message via Trent’s Sergeant across his hospital bed.”
I stared at him then jerked my gaze back to the road. “Holy crap. So here’s the thing. I accused Dad of trying to keep Max and me apart by inventing a relative who lied about speaking to him. Dad swears he didn’t do it, and I believe him.”
“Which means someone else is the culprit,” Linc filled in.
I sighed with relief at having someone on my side who knew all the background and the short list of potential suspects. Who’d been more alert to what had happened when I’d been sick. I’d avoided questioning Lincoln because of his emergency, but now it was time.
Making a decision, I drove us into Inverness instead of returning to the estate, and took the nanny out for breakfast.
One way or the other, I was going to talk this through before Dad arrived. This time, I’d meet him as an equal, not reliant on his information or opinions. The Lia I’d sworn to be forever more.
