Page 124 of Journey to the Scottish Highlands

‘I received this new job offer. It just seemed too good to be true.’

I glanced at the intrigued faces around me. Grandpa caught me looking over at him and arched a brow.

On the phone, Evan braced himself as Loch Crawe continued to shimmy behind him. ‘A friend of mine, Dave Woodrow, worked as senior sports reporter on The London Gazette. He said that a new editor had taken over and wanted to shake things up a bit.’ Evan hesitated. ‘He’d had the idea of introducing a brash and controversial TV and film review column and asked Dave if he knew of anyone who could write sharp, controversial copy; pull new readers in and get people talking.’

My eyes widened.

‘Where the hell is he going with this story?’ puzzled Dane.

I swallowed, said nothing and returned my attention to Dane’s mobile.

‘Dave kindly recommended me to his editor; I got called in for an interview and was asked to produce some example column copy. The editor read it, liked it and said he’d give me a six-month freelance trial. He also said I’d have no byline; I’d be anonymous, and therefore I could say what I wanted, and it would stir up more interest about who was behind the column.’

Evan rubbed at his face. ‘I created a monster. The nastier and more sarcastic I was about TV and movies, the more the editor loved it, and so did the readers.’

I swung my attention away from Dane holding up his phone and examined the bewildered faces around me.

Evan stopped scratching his dark, stubbly jaw. ‘What I’m trying to say is.’ He gathered himself. ‘I’m Fox, the critic for The London Gazette.’

Even though I’d guessed the direction of travel Evan was taking, it was still a surprise to hear him utter Fox’s name and confess that they were one and the same person.

Alison almost got whiplash, jerking her head at Dane and then Bennett.

Dane let out a, ‘Shit! You’re kidding!’ and scrambled not to drop his phone on the tiled hall floor.

‘What’s he admitted this for?’ I murmured to myself. ‘Why did he have to go public like that?’

I froze.

Several sets of eyes swivelled in my direction.

‘You knew?’ asked Dane. ‘You knew Evan was Fox?’

I struggled to think of something to say, but Evan picked up his monologue again, and the gasps around me fell quiet. ‘But I’m not Fox. At least not anymore. I’ve come to realise that some things are more important than having people talk about you.’

His bright, deep, dark eyes seemed to lock with mine through the phone screen. ‘Me becoming Britain’s most talked-about TV critic doesn’t matter to me anymore. I only did it in the first place for the paycheque to help out my parents and The Ramblings. But over time, Fox took over, and I guess my ego did, too.’ He gave his head a brief shake. ‘But it’s taken one special young woman to make me realise that what I was doing wasn’t me, even though I thought I was doing it for the right reasons.’

My stomach whooshed.

Evan blew out a cloud of air. ‘Daisy,’ he faltered, eliciting sets of eyes to switch back in my direction again. ‘Daisy Madden. She’s not only a wonderful actor, but a sweet, thoughtful and beautiful woman. I mauled the TV show she was in for my column, even though half of what I said, I never meant. Again, they were just words to pull in the readers and cause a stir.’ Shame gripped his handsome face. ‘But it wasn’t until I met her and saw what effect my review had had on her and her belief in herself that I wondered what the hell I was doing.’

‘I think a certain young man is in love,’ piped up Grandpa beside Louise. ‘He wouldn’t be doing all this if he weren’t.’

‘I think you’re right,’ agreed Josie, giving me a soft smile.

My head was spinning. Evan was revealing who he was on social media. He was making his career implode. He was doing all this because of me?

Evan gazed down the phone screen. ‘Daisy, I don’t know if you’re watching this. But I want you to know that I’ve fallen in love with you. You’ve made me realise what matters, and that if you don’t like yourself, how the hell can you expect someone else to?’ His generous mouth flickered. ‘From the way you took care of Shaun on our road trip…’

‘Who’s Shaun?’ puzzled Louise.

Cayla shrugged. ‘Beats me.’

‘The way you’ve done everything you can to help with The Ramblings financial situation; how you’ve thrown yourself into the arrangements for the Florence tour; how you got involved with Cayla to make her see what a great little actor she is…’

At this, Cayla grinned so hard she looked like she might explode.

‘And I get now how reckless words hurt people and what impact my review of Sinister had on you. I got to see that first-hand. I didn’t see the people behind what I was doing, because I was too preoccupied trying to keep Fox’s reputation going.’