“Everybody,” he huffed. “At least we didn’t have any guests yet. Clara was very particular about drama in front of the guests, so she would’ve made Sy and me break it up if we had some.”
“Fuck, I’m sorry.” I rubbed a hand roughly over my face.
“That’s all right. From what we’ve heard, and what you told me before, the Brights have been super shitty to Noah. I get that it pisses you off.” He gave me an understanding half smile. “I never told you what happened when Clara’s mum and grandmother visited her, did I?”
“No.”
“Come on, I told Ariah I needed a break.”
He led the way to his flat, motioned for me to settle on his couch and poured each of us a dram of the Mountain Red.
“They were here a few weeks ago. It was the weekend you went to Kirkmuir with Noah, I think. And they were fucking horrible to her, the mum not as much as that old hag.” A low growl, not unlike the one I’d made earlier, rumbled in his broad chest. “They kept nagging and tearing her down, and I swore I was going to keep my cool, for her sake, y’know?”
“Yeah,” I huffed. “I know exactly what you mean.”
“I was doing really well until her nan started making snide comments about her body, and how much weight she’d put on since the wedding.” SweetPea took a deep, steadying breath.
“She tried not to let it get to her, but I could tell the old bitch was starting to get under her skin. So I gave her a piece of my mind. Not gonna lie, I thought I’d fucked it up. The way she looked at me.” He chuckled and took a sip of his whisky.
“That clearly wasn’t the case,” I supplied, toasting him with my glass. It explained why he had just growled at me in the kitchen.
They are together. Gods, finally!
“I won’t go into much detail, but no, luckily for me she loved it.”
“So you mean to say, Noah’s going to be happy that I screamed at his brother?” The momentary happiness I’d felt at hearing SweetPea’s news fizzled out, and more dread set in when I remembered Ollie’s face.
“I don’t know, mate. But standing up for someone and making them feel less alone will always be worth it in my book.” He nudged my arm with his.
“Come on, let’s go. Noah’s waiting.”
We emptied our glasses. “And Ollie will come around, just give him a few days.”
Days? I didn’t have those. Noah would be gone then, and I’d sit here alone, but hey, at least Ollie wouldn’t be mad at me anymore.
“Lewis!” Maddie hurried over when we stepped foot into the yard, freshly dyed magenta hair ruffled by the biting winter wind. Her poodle huffed happily at the sight of us. “Hey, SweetPea.”
“See you later,” the Brownie patted the dog’s head, waved at us, and left in the direction of the restaurant.
“Are you okay? I’ve been looking for you. I heard you talking to Ollie.”
“You mean you heard me shouting at him?”
“Yeah,” she grimaced. “You okay?”
“No idea, to be honest. I’m still angry and—”
“Noah is leaving next week, isn’t he?” Her voice was gentle.
“He is. And I wanted to take him to the sea, because he doesn’t believe me that Scottish beaches are at least as pretty as the ones in Bali, but we didn’t have time.”
Why am I telling her this?
“Give me a minute, okay?” She pulled out her phone, unlocked it, and opened her browser app. A few moments later, she pushed the screen in my face.
“That’s a cottage up in Nairn. Fitz and I went there before the wedding. It’s free this weekend.”
She left it to me to finish her thought.
