“Does anyone care what I think?” Callum grumbles, but Jane leans in and murmurs something that softens him instantly.
At least today has eased his hostility toward Alistair.
Too bad it doesn’t matter—since our relationship is nothing but a performance.
That thought tightens painfully in my chest.
“Well, it’s settled!” Maggie declares. “Alistair stays. Jamison, please prepare the blue room.”
“The blue room”—right next to mine. With thin walls that carry every sound.
“Perfect,” I manage weakly.
Alistair gives me an apologetic look. He didn’t plan this either.
After dessert,we move to the living room for whisky and family stories. Alistair sits beside me on the couch, listening intently as Duncan launches into a tale about our great-grandfather wrestling a bear.
“He’s lying,” Lachlan whispers. “It was a very aggressive badger.”
“I heard that!” Duncan snaps.
“You also lied about that fifteen-kilo salmon.”
“Itwasfifteen kilos!”
“Five, at best.”
I watch the familiar chaos with a smile. For all their bickering, my family is warm, tightly knit—and somehow, Alistair fits right into it.
“What are you thinking about?” he murmurs beside me.
“Nothing in particular. You all seem very… familiar.”
“Familiar?”
“You argue like real brothers.”
He smiles softly. “It’s nice. I’m not used to that.”
“How so?”
“At home, unless extended family is around, dinners feel more like board meetings. Polite. Controlled. Deadly dull.”
“That sounds peaceful.”
“Stifling,” he corrects.
I glance at him, surprised. It’s rare to see this side of him.
“You prefer our chaos?”
“I love your chaos,” he says quietly. “You argue, tease—but you can feel the love underneath it.”
There’s something almost wistful in his voice, and for the first time, I glimpse the loneliness behind Alistair McKenzie’s polished exterior.
“You know you can be part of that chaos anytime,” I say without thinking.
“Even after…?”
