“I can’t tell you what a difference this is going to make. Christina said we were close to needing to let some people go.”
“What?” I’d glowered in shock. “Why didn’t she tellme?”
“She was going to if we got to that point, but now we don’t need to. London Wetherspoon, eh?” Fraser had perched on my office desk. “That’s a tasty wee morsel. Since when were you and she …” He’d gestured crudely with his fingers.
I’d warned, “Do that in front of me again and you won’t have any fingers left.”
“Och, dinnae be so serious.” Fraser pushed off the desk. “You don’t want to talk about it, fine. But you will sign a postnuptial agreement and so will she. I’ve already got our lawyers working on it. No fucking way are we putting this company through another Jill.”
“London’s not Jill.”
“Aye, that’s what you thought about Jill.” He strolled out of my office, whistling cheerfully, and I’d wanted to do him a violence.
Since I avoided those kinds of emotions, I decided I’d go meet theNessie, the whitefish trawler set to arrive into harbor, and give them a hand unloading.
To make matters worse, the first night in the house with London had been strained and awkward. She’d stayed in her room for the rest of the evening, and I’d wandered around feeling unsettled and a bit lost.
That morning, she was up an hour earlier than me to get ready for her job at the guest house, but we’d met in the kitchen as she drank the last of her coffee. The small talk had been physically painful before she departed for work. I could only hope things between us would ease with time.
At the harbor, I could feel eyes on me. Could even hear the whispering when it was near enough. The only folks who weren’t acting strangely were my captain, Matt, and his crew, who had no idea about my sudden marriage because they’d been offshore on theNessiefor a week.
As I was finishing up offloading some fish into ice bins on the larger shipment boat anchored next to theNessie, Jack Ahmed, the harbor master, met me as I walked down the gangway.
“Problem?” I asked, assuming it would be business related.
“You’re married?”
Apparently, I’d assumed wrong. For forty minutes I’d been distracted from my marriage, so his question was unexpected. Though not really. Jack was a good friend. He was the son of an immigrant father and born islander, Jacqueline Doon. His mother had met Jack’s dad on the mainland, they’d defied both their families and married, and Jack’s father moved to Glenvulin. The Ahmeds had once owned the first and only Pakistani restaurant and takeaway in Leth Sholas. It had closedten years ago when Jack’s mother passed away and his father fell into a deep depression. He followed her in death not long after.
Years ago, it had taken time for the Doon family to accept the relationship, but the arrival of Jack helped bridge their differences. The Doons were a family of fisherman and Jack caught the bug, so I’d spent time in his company since I was a boy. He’d worked his way up to harbor master. Despite the five-year difference in our age, Jack and I had become good friends over the years. It hadn’t always been easy for him because no matter how welcoming a community might be, there were always a few racist arseholes to contend with. He’d learned how to hold his own in a fight way too young. It had made him tough, and no one caused trouble on the harbor while it was under Jack’s management.
Our longstanding friendship meant I knew Jack’s interest came from genuine care for me. But still. “Aye.” I wiped rain and sweat off my forehead with my arm. “Word travels fast.”
“Didnae know you and the American were that close,” Jack hedged, his dark eyes filled with curiosity.
“Her name is London.”The American. She’d been living and working on the bloody island for nearly two years, and they were still calling her the American.
“Aye, I know. No offense meant. It’s just a shock to us all.”
“Really? Wouldn’t you try to keep a new relationship as private as possible while living here? You of all people know what the folk here can be like, Jack.” I brushed past him to see if there was anything more to be done today.
Jack followed me. “Aye, I do. And I probably would keep it a secret for a time. But marriage seems awful sudden-like. You cannae expect folks not to have an opinion.”
I turned to face him. “No, I can’t. But that doesn’t mean I’m interested in folks’ opinion aboutmybusiness. They’ve been”—Igestured toward Main Street—“flapping their gums about my life for years. I’m not going to start paying attention now.”
“She’s quite a bit younger than you.”
I tried not to wince because if we were really married, our age gap might give me pause. But we weren’t really married, so it was a moot point. “Aye.”
“Bonny lassie. Young. Impressionable …”
Realizing where he was going with this, I narrowed my gaze. “First, she’s almost thirty, for fuck’s sake. Two … Jack, you’ve known me my whole life. Are you really insinuating what I think you are?”
Jack winced. “No, man. I’m no’. But I want you to be prepared that folks are talking, and what they’re saying is that you’re taking advantage of this lassie to cut Jill off from the company.”
Disgusted that people I’d grown up with could think such a shite thing about me, I couldn’t even respond. Instead, I shouted down to Matt to see if he still needed me. He waved me off, yelling that he’d catch me later, and I abruptly marched away. The plan was to jump in my Discovery and head home to shower, but the door to Pages & Perks opened and suddenly London was there with Ramsay and Tierney, coffee cups in hand.
London took one look at my face and hurried toward me. “What is it? What happened?” She reached out to touch my chest, and I shifted away because I didn’t want her getting fish grime on her.
