Page 37

“And obviously competent and experienced if you were going to hire her,” I replied pointedly.

Tierney sighed. “Very. She ran an inn in Vermont. Worked her way up from being a housekeeper, which means she knows how to do housekeeping too. She’s freaking Lorelai Gilmore and was perfect for me. I’m sorry. I’m being unfair to Torin. I’m sure he would not hire an employee based on their hotness factor. It’s just … I’m bummed.”

“I’m sorry.” I knew how stressed she must be at the thought of turning her guest house over to someone else. “You’ll find the right person to do this.”

Maura made a gurgling noise, drawing our gazes. I grinned and she gave me a gummy grin that melted my heart. “Maura agrees with me.”

Tierney gave her daughter a wide, glamorous smile. “You think Mommy’s going to find the perfect manager, baby?”

Maura giggled, kicking her legs.

“You lucked out. Even when she’s teething, she’s a big ball of sunshine. It really is a miracle she got your sunny personality instead of McRae’s storm clouds.”

“Yeah, when Ramsay found out Montrose swiped Brenna—the single mom—I had to talk him out of ‘paying the bastard a visit.’”

Indignant, I spoke, as I often did, without thinking. “He’s not a bastard. The guy just punched out Forde’s uncle Roddy for calling me the s- and c-words.”

Tierney dropped her knife, nostrils flaring. Righteous indignation burned in her hazel eyes. “That better mean ‘sweet’ and ‘cute’ and not the other things I think you mean.”

“Unfortunately, it was the other.”

“What happened?”

I hadn’t intended to tell any of my friends about the darker side of Leth Sholas, but I realized I needed to get it off my chest. One of the things my counselor spoke about was not bottling this stuff up. I was so used to keeping the hard stuff to myself that it was an effort to share the issues that were bothering me.

I relayed to Tierney this morning’s episode at the Lantern and the things that were being said to my face and behind my back. The reason I knew they were being said behind my back is because Shona McIver had stopped me to commiserate and offer her support. In doing so, she’d let it slip what people were saying. She hadn’t meant it spitefully or vindictively. She’d genuinely meant to be supportive, but Shona had a way of putting her foot in her mouth. It was a wonder she and I weren’t closer because we had that affliction in common.

“I’m going to kill them.” Tierney’s cheeks flushed with anger. “I mean, I’m going to twist their heads right off their stupid, narrow-minded necks.”

I nudged my head toward Maura. “Not in front of the baby.”

My friend huffed, rolling her eyes before they focused on her daughter. “My baby girl has no idea what Mommy is saying, do you? No, you don’t.” She grinned and Maura smiled in return. Tierney’s expression immediately morphed almost comically as she switched her attention to me. It became something hard and flinty. She really had been spending too much time around her husband. “Now, who do I need to annihilate?”

“No one. They’ll get bored eventually and move on.”

“That’s not the point, Cammie.” Tierney shook her head. “How can they even think that what you did was anything but awe-inspiring? Like, I’m in awe of you, and if I haven’t told you that before, I’m telling you now. I think what you did was incredible and like something out of a movie. You’re a true heroine. Do you get that?”

Those words coming from someone like Tierney meant a lot. She’d faced incredible danger from very powerful people in her determination to prove her parents had been murdered in a corporate cover-up. If anyone was a true heroine, it was her. Emotion tightened my throat, so I shifted uncomfortably and pasted a cocky grin on my face. “Of course I do.”

“Be real for a second.”

“I am. I promise. And I’m trying not to let people like Roddy get to me. While I shouldn’t have, I did really enjoy watching Torin knock him out. One punch. Roddy crumpled like a misogynistic sandcastle.”

“Hmm. It’s a little aggressive, considering Torin barely knows you.”

“Says the woman married to whatever Ramsay is.” I winked. “But it didn’t feel aggressive. It didn’t feel like he was using it as an excuse to be aggressive. It felt like … I don’t know. I think he’s very protective of women. It’s a shame he’s not interested in anything serious with anyone.”

“Does Forde know what Roddy said?”

I tried not to read too much into her bringing Forde into the conversation. “Probably. Aodhan had some of the men put Roddy outside the Lantern. He was still there when Forde came out of the bakery. I left before I could talk to him, but I’m sure Torin filled him in.”

I could feel Tierney watching me as I cut up squash.

At her silence, I side-eyed her. “What?”

“Let’s take a break.”

As if on cue, a long, wet fart sound interrupted the moment, and I barked with laughter at Maura’s expression. Her lips had made an O shape and her eyes had grown huge. She appeared just as surprised by her breaking wind as we were.