“Och, you,” she says, her blush growing. “I heard about the bucket list.”
“This shortbreadisamazing,” I say before Gavin can ask for more information about what I want to do while I’m in the country. Knowing that kissing a Scot is at the top of my official list won’t surprise him, but it will mortify me.
Patty’s translucent white eyebrows rise on her forehead. Can she sense the tension? “I want to hear how you met.”
“We met yesterday,” I tell her quickly. “We aren’t?—”
“Callie’s a friend of my cousin’s,” Gavin says. “You know Young Hamish. He’s bringing family for a holiday.”
“That sweet lad is coming to visit, is he?”
“Aye. We’ll have a full house soon. Callie arrived a wee bit early, is all.”
He makes me sound overly eager when the truth is that everyone else is late. “They should all be driving up right now.”
Patty’s furrow deepens, the papery wrinkles on her forehead folding in concern. “Are they nearly here?”
“No, they live down in Wiltshire,” I tell her. “They should have left an hour ago.”
Patty gives a click of her tongue and shakes her head. “They’ll not make it, love. Not tonight. The storm’s on its way.”
Gavin’s mouth pulls tight momentarily before his trademark smile is back. “I’m sure they’ll be here before you know it.”
A pit has formed in my stomach. Doom and gloom and uncertainty create a hurricane of despair deep within it and are raging their own little battle that I’m not going to win. Something about Patty’s certainty coupled with the feeling in my chest tells me she’s right. I don’t know how I know it, butshe’s right.
Gavin’s large hand comes around my knee, and he squeezes softly. “We don’t know. They could be halfway through Derbyshire by now.”
I nod, but I don’t buy it. And, honestly, that means nothing to me. I don’t know where Derbyshire is, only that Mr. Darcy owns the miserable half of it. There’s a look in Gavin’s eye saying he has the same uneasy feeling I do. The room is lit by Patty’s overhead lights, and it’s early afternoon. It’s far too dark outside for this to be an ordinary storm.
“We should be on our way,” Gavin says, taking another piece of shortbread and popping it in his mouth. He drains his tea.
Patty looks concerned. She covers my hand with gnarled, compassionate fingers. “Come by again, love. I’d be glad of the company.”
“I’d like that,” I say, though right now the only thing I’d really like is to have my two-year-old nephew in my arms and not in a car somewhere on questionable roads.
When we get back in the Land Rover, Gavin faces me. “Home?”
“We should probably go to the store if there really is a storm rolling in, right?”
“I’m fairly well stocked, but I suppose it’s your chance to stop in at the market if you’d like to go.” He waits, expecting an answer, so I nod.
“Not the sort of thing you can explain?” I push, thinking of Patty’s hunched spine.
Gavin’s smile is unrepentant. He was goading me. Patty probably doesn’t have people staring at her bent back any more than I have people looking at my haircut.
Gavin drives into the middle of town, rows of buildings making up the small village. I spot a pub beside the market and a primary school with a small playground, but everything else appears to be residential. He parks on the street and we let ourselves in. The shop is tiny. I would have thought it was a gas station’s convenience shop and not a grocery store, except it has a small produce section, a tiny bakery, and rows of food products. I grab a basket and walk the aisles, tossing in things I think will hold me over until my family arrives and we can put together a meal plan. Gavin agreed to host us, but we aren’t going to sponge off his generosity.
Once I reach the candy aisle, I grin. Luna introduced me to English Cadbury chocolate bars, and I’m hooked. I throw in way more than one person should probably buy, doubling up on the ones Luna loves, then heave my basket onto the counter between Gavin and the checkout woman he’s speaking with.
“Hi there, I’m Katie.” She looks to be in her mid-thirties, with curly dark hair and full lips. She sends me a smile as she begins ringing up my groceries, her hands glittering with an abundance of rings. “Welcome to Glenbruar. Gav was telling me it’s your first visit to Scotland.”
“My sister lives in Wiltshire, so my visits to the UK have primarily been focused down there.”
“Och, I see. We’ll need to show you a good time, then, eh?” She gives me the total, and I tap my phone to pay. “Some of the ladies are meeting at the pub tonight if you fancy joining us.”
“Did you notice the storm?” Gavin asks her. “You’ll want to get home to Jack right away, I think.”
Katie looks to the window, frowning. “We’ll save those drinks for another night, then.”
