“I came for Angus. Just like you.” My eyes adjust to the low light and I can see him better now as he scrubs a hand across his bearded chin. “I didn’t know you’d be here, Jamie.”
“Yeah? And, what? If you’d known, you wouldn’t have come?” he bites, and I shake off the instinct to flinch, locking my shoulders instead. He has no idea how right he is. I probably wouldn’t have, but not just for my sake… for his too, and for Lennox’s.
“And what, you’re sayingyouwould’ve come if you’d known I was going to be here?” I snap, my nerves too raw to keep my tongue in check.
“He’smyfucking Grandad, Avonlea.” His words hit like a whip crack. “I’ve already missed out on enough time with him because of you. So, yeah, I still would’ve come, but you don’t need to be here. I do.”
That stings. A lot. It also makes zero sense.
“I never stopped you coming back to Scotland.” My hands shake and my voice trembles with the anger I have leashed just under the surface. “You were the one who wanted to stay in America. Don’t put your choices on me, Jameson.”
He throws his hands in the air and shouts, “Forget it. I’m not doing this with you. I’m not here foryou.”
“Noted. And just so we’re clear, I’m not here for you either. If Angus didn’t want me here, I’d leave. But he does. AndIdon’t walk away from the people who actually want me.”
He rears back like I slapped him. Without another word I’m back on the ladder and my feet hit the grass without even registering the climb down. That wasn’t the perspective I was looking for, but I got it just the same.
He doesn’t want anything to do with me… which would be fine, if he wasn’t going to be here for a year.
A year.I still don’t know what to do with the news Angus shared earlier.
How can he leave his life behind so easily? If he hadn’t wanted that life more than he wanted me, we might not be in this situation.
And how dare he blame me for going so long without seeing his grandparents?Fucking prick. He has no right to even be mad in the first place. He’s the one who walked away. He’s the one who didn’t wantme, at least not the way I wanted him.
I squeeze my eyes shut and lean against the inn’s cool stone exterior.What the hell am I supposed to do now?
I could ignore him for the next two months… but that won’t do me any good once Lennox arrives. He may be a miniature replica of me in almost every way, but it was his eyes that made Angus ask the question in the first place, seeing as he once fell in love with those same eyes. Aileen’s eyes.
Even if they aren’t enough to have Jamie questioning who Lennox’s father is, can I really keep this from him? Keep this from Lennox? What right do I have to ask Angus and Aileen to keep this secret now that the circumstances have changed?
“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath. I’m more confused than I was when I came out here.
What am I going to do?
CHAPTER NINE
Jamie – Seventeen Years Ago
If Gran catches me up here again, she’s going to throttle me.
The light wind glides across my face and I grip the chimney with my fingertips. I’m not sure exactly how many times she and Mum have told me to stay off the roof, but it’s probably more than I can count. And I’m eleven, so I can pretty much count as high as I could possibly want.
I watch the road through town with eagle eyes.
Avi is coming today. I heard Mrs. Campbell, her grannie, telling my Gran this morning. I’ve barely been able to sit still since.
Last summer was ages ago, and it went by too fast. After Avi’s parents and grandparents found us laughing in the garden, covered in mud, there was no chance of keeping us apart.
Is she as excited for the next six weeks as I am?
We spent last summer running wild… well, as wild as we could get away with. We learned the hard way that the Campbells wouldn’t stand for any shenanigans. The first time we traipsed into their kitchen in our filthy, soaked socks, Avi ended up doing chores all weekend. We got sneakier after that.
We’d steal away with carrots to feed Fergus, their highland cow, or pick flowers for Avi to weave into a crown for her hair, only to end up at the inn for tea. And Gran never seemed to mind throwing Avi’s clothes in the wash when we wound up covered in mudagain. Avi would borrow one of her fluffy robes and we’d play board games or have staring contests in the parlor until her clothes were dry, then she’d go home with her grandparents none the wiser.
I hope we can get their permission to venture further into the village this summer. We’re eleven after all and much more responsible than last year.
A gust of wind knocks me into the chimney and I tighten my grip.
