“At that point, I knew I really screwed up. Obviously, they refused to sell to us. My dad isn’t usually the sort to go off on anyone, but he really unloaded on me about my unprofessional behavior.” He groaned and rubbed his eyes. “He actually said I had to start thinking with the rightheadin front of the entire office.”
I bit my lip, trying to keep from laughing.
“Anyway, I was obviously a mess after that. When I got home, I was feeling defensive and embarrassed, which triggered a fight with Claire. I blamed her for distracting me. She said it was shitty of me to shift the blame onto her for my own choices.”
“Right,” I said. A valid point.
“She broke up with me that night,” he continued. “Which made me even more defensive and embarrassed.”
“Why?”
“Because I’d blown the deal and set my dad off all for a relationship that had fallen apart immediately. I’d made myself a laughingstock for nothing. Anyway, you live and learn,” he said, giving me a wry grin.
“And what did you learn?”
“Not to assume a man’s secretary isn’t sitting at the bar waiting for him.”
I huffed a laugh. He was trying to play it off, but from the tight look on his face, I could tell that the situation had really upset him at the time. Claire’s words echoed in my head.I thought the business was your baby.
What did that mean for us? Obviously, Locke and I weren’t in a relationship—not a real one—but the baby we were going to have was very real. Where would they fall on Locke’s priority list? Would the business always come first? It was, after all, the reason he was jumping through all these fake relationship hoops—just for a chance to buy the distillery.
My hand drifted down to my stomach, cradling the life I was growing. Being a mother meant protecting my child from anything that might hurt them. And that included a father who’d treat them like an afterthought. Locke might be here now, but if Claire’s words had reminded me of anything, it was not to get too attached.
10
LOCKE
Two weeks in, Braeburn’s gossip mill had settled into a steady hum—and I’d started splitting my time between keeping up appearances and keeping the company running. On that particular morning, there was a plate of still-warm tattie scones sitting on the island counter when I walked into the kitchen in Lochbrae.
“Agnes, you’re a dream,” I murmured, picking one up and tearing into it. “Morning.”
Weston grunted from behind his coffee cup. He was hunched over his laptop. Lena was on the phone, pacing behind him, talking a mile a minute.
“What’s going on? You two look like you’re in some sort of crazy damage control mode.”
Weston put his coffee down. “We have a surprise regulatory site visit.”
“For the wind farm?”
He nodded. “We just found out this morning.”
“What does that mean?”
Weston rubbed his eyes. “It means we get to spend the next eight hours walking around with the inspector.”
“Does ithaveto be you?” I wondered, making my way to the fancy coffee machine on the counter. It was one of the best parts of Lochbrae as far as I was concerned.
“CEO presence will help smooth over compliance and optics,” Lena said, hanging up the phone. “And I need to make sure whatever non-compliance we get flagged for gets addressed as quickly as possible, which means having me on hand to start farming out tasks as needed.”
“What’s your plan for Aisling?” I asked as I waited for my coffee to brew. “Surely, you’re not bringing her with you? That’d be death by boredom.”
“Of course not,” Lena said. “We’ve asked Auntie Isla to watch her for the day.”
“I’ll try not to be offended that you don’t trust Uncle Locke to look after her while you’re gone,” I teased as I picked up my deliciously warm mug. “Might I remind you, Iamthe favorite uncle.”
“There’s an idea,” Weston said with a mischievous look. “Why don’t you go down to the inn and help Isla out for the day? Might be good window dressing for the old fake relationship.” They knew the truth about the fake engagement, though I’d kept the baby news to myself. “You could color. Do puzzles.”
“Oh, boy,” I said dryly. “How could I possibly turn that down?”
