Max
In a quiet residential street in the outskirts of Inverness, Lia pulled into a driveway and parked badly.
All through town, she’d broken traffic rules, rarely indicated, and scared the shite out of me with her driving.
I left my Interceptor next to her car and dragged my helmet off. “Where did ye learn to drive?”
Lia brought a slow look to me. “Do you have a problem with my driving?”
“I have a problem with your everything.”
She went to retort, but the door opening drew both of our attentions. A man waited in the frame.
Right. The boyfriend.
I stood taller and sized him up. He had to be late twenties if not older. Sandy-haired, skinny, about as threatening as a lettuce leaf. I had no right, yet jealousy surged.
The boyfriend widened his eyes at Lia. “Is that…?”
“Yep,” she answered.
“Evie’s sleeping. Want me to…?” He made a running motion with two fingers.
What was wrong with this guy? Couldn’t finish the sentence, wasn’t glaring at me like I was glaring at him. My lip curled, and I wanted the antagonism that didn’t come.
Lia’s shoulders sagged. “If you don’t mind. Thanks, Linc.”
The boyfriend leaned into the house and grabbed a coat. He reached Lia, whispered something in her ear, then beat it down the drive.
I watched him go. “I wasnae good enough for ye, but he is?”
She blinked, then shook off whatever she planned to say. “Come on in.”
We entered the house, and I took in the off–white walls and generic pictures. I knew nothing about Lia’s life. Not where she lived, or how, but I was certain this wasn’t home.
Shedding her jacket, Lia slipped off her shoes then made for the stairs. I copied the action and traipsed after her.
The place was overly warm, but my palms sweated for another reason. In our argument by the side of the loch, Lia had used the word unreal. I was outside of my body looking in.
Down a short hallway, Lia entered an open bedroom. I set one foot into the room and stalled. Next to Linc and Lia’s bed, a toddler slept in a cot. The curtains were drawn against the dull April day, but even the low light couldn’t hide the vibrancy of the bairn.
Where my and Maddock’s hair was a dark auburn, Evie’s shade was identical to Ma’s. Stronger, a truer red. Against her white sheets, her curls glowed.
I couldn’t take my eyes off her. The curve of her chubby cheek, her little fingers flexed as if she dreamt of clutching something.
“You can come closer,” Lia whispered.
I scrubbed my hands over my face and forced my feet to move. At the cot side, I stole a better peek. Recognition hit me in waves. She was every one of my baby pictures mixed in with hints of Lia.
Shite, this was messed up. I had no idea how to feel.
“She’s bonny,” I told her ma.
“She is. And she’s sweet and inquisitive and funny.”
“Does she call your boyfriend Da?”
An ache inside followed my question, but Lia’s gaze shuttered.
“No. She… That isn’t a word she uses yet. Do you want to take a picture of her or something?”
Lia turned her back on me and moved to the bed. She picked up a pile of clothing and sorted through it.
I’d said something that upset her. Maybe her boyfriend didn’t want to play daddy, and I’d hit a nerve. Or maybe today was doing as much of a number on her as it was on me.
From my pocket, I extracted my phone then took a shot of Evie.
My folks would want to see her. They’d left last night for a short holiday but were due back on the weekend. What a clusterfuck of news I had for them.
Our family history made it doubly complicated.
My elder sister, Cait, had been born without my father’s knowledge. He met her when she was a few weeks old, after her mother had died and her secret birth revealed.
I’d heard the story so many times, and taken on board the implied warning to be careful over relationships and specifically in wrapping it up to avoid pregnancy. Da had never stated that in front of Cait, but he’d hammered it home to Maddock and me.
The single time I’d broken that rule had been with Lia.
If anything, the reminder should’ve frosted over my senses. But the opposite happened. Maybe it was the warm room, or the living, breathing evidence of the time we’d been together, but memories rose in hard, fast waves.
I found myself staring at the bairn’s mother.
I’d wanted Lia from the moment I saw her when we’d been teenagers.
The same desire rode that wave now. An instinct, that was all, but the strength of it shook me up.
Stowing my phone in my back pocket, I gripped the cot.
From across the room, Lia watched me in return, her focus tracing the bulge of my biceps under my white T-shirt. Over the tattoo half sleeve, inked into my upper arm, then down to the bandage covering my mostly forgotten injury.
Then her gaze locked on to mine and, for a heartbeat, I forgot how much I hated her.
I didn’t want this. Had no use for the attraction.
It grew anyway. My blood rushed south.
A rustling broke our stare-off, and I snapped to peer into the cot. A pair of green eyes looked back at me.
A newly awake Evie’s little rosebud mouth opened. I expected a wail at the sight of a stranger, but nothing came out.
“Baby, it’s okay.” Lia rushed over. “I’m here.”
The tiny lass clambered up using the bars of the cot and reached for her ma. Lia brought her into her arms and hugged her, then propped her on her hip to face me.
“This is your dada,” she told the bairn without hesitation.
Or uncle, an insidious voice said in my head.
Yet I clung to Lia’s words. Earlier, in the bar, she’d refused to acknowledge what had happened with Maddock. She’d talked through the scene as if I’d been present, not him.
Rewriting history.
In a way, I understood. She’d lived her version of the truth just as I’d lived mine.
If only hers could’ve been true.
I reached and gently took a lock of Evie’s hair, rubbing it between my fingers. “Ye have the same hair as your grandmother, sweetheart. She’s going to go nuts over meeting ye.”
No matter the truth of Evie’s paternity, my mother was her grandmother.
“God, I don’t know anything about your parents. She has a granny now.”
“She doesnae already?”
Lia gave a short headshake then turned away, carrying Evie to the bed. In practiced moves, she stripped her and changed her nappy, before buttoning her into a long-sleeved body suit then adding a flowery dress over the top.
Everything appeared brand-new and top-end. Lia clearly wasn’t struggling.
“Where do ye live normally?” I asked.
Without looking up from her task, she replied, “Define normally. For the past two months, Paris. On Saturday, we move lock, stock, and barrel to another city. I’m hoping after the summer we’ll settle for a while.”
“This is for your da’s job, aye?”
“I’m surprised you remember that.”
“Why? It’s the one thing ye told me about yourself. Your excuse for cutting and running.”
I shouldn’t be digging at her anymore. It had been such a long time. Yet my sense of abandonment had never gone.
Lia rolled her eyes and lifted Evie then carried her from the room. I followed them downstairs, the bright-eyed little girl peering at me over her mother’s shoulder.
In the kitchen, her curious look turned to an outright stare. Her pudgy hands reached for me.
Fixing her sippy cup, Lia hadn’t noticed.
“Can I hold her while ye do that?” I asked.
She stilled and gave a wary nod. Carefully, we managed the exchange.
I propped Evie on my hip, my muscles taut. Just yesterday, I’d held Jamie-Beth with no worry. Everything about this situation was different. My skin magnetised. My balance off.
The only way to handle it was to remove myself a degree.
Pretend this was normal and not a massive headfuck. For the sake of the bairn, I’d fake it.
Fearless, Evie stretched to my hair. She took a handful and tugged, and I ducked to give her better access.
“Does it remind ye of yours?” I asked her.
She pulled harder, and my nerves settled. I gave a growl and nuzzled at the hand gripping me.
“Ba,” Evie said in a sweet voice.
A shocked inhale came from Lia. With her hands to her mouth, she stared at her daughter.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
She floundered, then shut down her emotions once more, hiding her reaction. “Nothing. It’s just a trip seeing you holding her.”
Yet her laser gaze on her daughter told me there was more to her reaction. I could have called her on her bullshit, but whatever Lia thought or did was none of my business. I let it slide.
“I’ll make her a snack, then we can get going,” she added.
“Where?”
“Neither of us are going to be content until we find out exactly what happened with Aunt Marie. We’re driving over there now.”
I needed that, too, but the urgency had been suspended by meeting Evie.
“Are we taking her with us?”
“No, I’ll leave her with Lincoln. I don’t want her overhearing negative things.”
The last line, she mouthed.
Yeah, it probably wouldn’t be great if I came face to face with a woman who’d lied through her teeth about me.
“Hard to guarantee that I won’t lose my mind,” I agreed.
Lia exhaled hard, then sent a message on her phone. “I’ve asked Linc to come back. We’ll go alone. If you want, you can spend more time with Evie this afternoon.”
I was supposed to be heading north today, but it would wait.
Lia busied around while we waited on her boyfriend. He returned and took Evie from me with an impersonal smile. I flexed my arm, sort of missing her weight.
Lincoln put the TV on in the living room then gave Lia a wave. “Peppa Pig is a great distraction. Don’t worry about her. Just…”
“Don’t tell my dad. Got it. See you in a couple of hours.”
Outside, Lia pressed the button to unlock the doors then rounded her car.
I hesitated. “Can I drive?”
“Why?”
“I dinna want to die at the age of twenty-one.”
Her mouth dropped open, and I fought an unexpected grin.
“Seriously, what’s wrong with my driving?”
“If ye have time, I’ll write a list.”
She glowered at me. “I’ve only just passed my test, but Linc says I’m fine.”
I threw her a bone. “This is a hire car, so I doubt ye really give a fuck. Besides, trust me, it’s more fun being a passenger on this route.”
She chewed her lip for a moment. She didn’t trust me, just like I didn’t trust her. That was the reason for this trip.
Then Lia tossed the keys. I snatched them from the air, barely saving my face. I liked this more vicious version of her. She’d been a sweetheart before but now had new depths. Angrier and with an edge.
Like spoke to like—I had those broken parts, too.
I got us on the road. After a long while of Lia sulking with me, I broke the ice.
“How long have ye been with Linc?”
“I don’t want to talk to you about him.”
“Must be strange being in a relationship with a man like that.”
Her gaze burned a hole in the side of my head. “What is that supposed to mean? A man like what?”
“He fucking smiled at me. No malice.”
“Not everyone is a grade-A jerk.”
I steered us around a corner. “There is no way he should be looking at me without fear in his veins or wanting to smack me down. That’s just wrong.”
Apparently, I was stuck in arsehole mode. Whatever. It suited how I felt.
Lia offered no further response. The road took us along the banks of Loch Ness, and she watched the view, sitting taller when Urquhart Castle came into sight down on the water.
But this wasn’t a tourist trip. I pushed on until we drove into the little town of Fort Augustus. Lia directed me to a row of bungalows, and I stopped at the right number. We exited the car.
“Ye sure it’s this one?”
At her nod, I approached the door and hammered on it.
“Easy,” Lia chided.
“Fuck easy.”
No movement came from inside, so I thudded louder. “Aunt Marie, it’s your favourite niece. Come out.”
“Great-niece,” Lia grumbled, but she stared at the door as if she could summon the woman by willpower.
Still, no one answered.
I peered in the window, unable to see shite through the net curtains.
A man emerged from the next bungalow over, shuffling with a cane.
“Hey,” I called. “Have ye seen Marie today?”
“Who?” He cupped his ear.
“Marie…” I waited on Lia for the surname.
“No idea,” she said.
She didn’t even know the woman’s surname.
Fuck, I didn’t even know Lia’s surname.
“No Marie there. That place is empty,” the man called back. “Has been for over a year. A terrible waste.”
“Marie lived here with her husband before he passed away. Do you know where she went?” Lia asked.
“Cannae say I do.” He lifted his stick and walked away.
I stared at Lia. “What does that mean? Is she still alive?”
“I don’t know.”
“What, did she move?”
“I said I don’t know. I only ever spoke to her once, the first time she went to see you.”
“Wait, how many times did this fantasy woman darken my door?”
Irritation flashed over Lia’s gaze. “You don’t believe me.”
“I mean, do ye blame me? This is a wild goose chase.”
“Not of my making. I got the address last night from Dad’s assistant. Clearly it’s out of date.”
Disappointment soured my already terrible mood. I’d needed this showdown to reset my brain. I was entirely hung up over the lies and had no chance of moving past them.
“All very convenient,” I argued.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I can guarantee on my fucking life that this person didn’t come to talk to me. Can ye be sure she exists?”
“Of course she does. I told you, I spoke to her.”
“Ye spoke to someone. Had you ever met her?”
“Well… Not that I remember.”
“Who was in contact with her if ye only spoke to her once? How did she come onto the scene?”
Lia opened and closed her mouth. “My dad had his assistant hunt her down. We needed someone local who could visit you. Dad’s family were originally Scottish, and she’s the last one here.”
“And this happened how?”
“I don’t know. I was sick. I only knew what was relayed to me, then what she repeated on the phone.”
A stomach-turning certainty formed. What parent faced with a pregnant teenage daughter didn’t try to handle their lives? Lia had told me she had no mother on the scene. Which meant it was just her and her father, the guy who moved them from city to city with his team of assistants. “Bull. Ye were lied to. I was set up. My guess is your father’s the culprit.”
With her lips pressed together in unhappiness, Lia frowned away down the street. “Dad wouldn’t do that to me.”
“Whatever. I’m going to try the other neighbours.”
A fast circuit of the street brought me only puzzled squints or confused answers. The houses were part of a retirement complex, and the residents in their eighties or older. I could only get confirmation that a woman had lived there, but not her name.
I returned to Lia. “Get in the car. We’re leaving.”
“Don’t bark orders at me. I’m not a dog,” she snapped. “I’m driving this time.”
“Fine.”
She grabbed the keys from me, and with the snarl of the engine, drove us out of town.
At an impasse, I was too annoyed to speak. Likewise, Lia stayed quiet.
One thing became clear from the wasted trip.
Someone, probably Lia’s dad, made up a lie to keep her and her baby from me. There was no chance this great-aunt had been real. No way she’d somehow made a mistake. It was all make-believe. A betrayal.
Despite my mistrust, I was starting to be convinced that Lia knew nothing of it.
If I said another word, I’d alienate her even further.
Even in the middle of the shitty realisations, I knew that. For now, I had to shut the fuck up and let her work it out for herself.
