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“Or perhaps you were just gathering intel.” Matthew raised an eyebrow at him.
Graham winked and nodded toward the bottles lined behind the bar. “What can I get for you this evening? We have a lovely selection of Scotch, or perhaps a pint?”
“Sophie is after a proper pub experience,” Matthew said, barely concealing a grin. “In my estimation, that means she would need a pint, wouldn’t she?”
“Aye, it’s a pint for the lass, it is then. And yourself?” Graham asked.
“And what kind of friend would I be if I let her drink on her own? I’ll have the same,” Matthew said with an easy smile. Graham turned away and busied himself pouring pints of God knows what, and I narrowed my eyes.
“Is he…?” I asked, peering speculatively at his broad shoulders.
“No,” Matthew said and slumped back in his chair. “Much to my disappointment.”
“How can you tell? He seemed friendly enough. He winked at you,” I pointed out. I thumbed through the menu, noting a few of the more traditional Scottish dishes, before deciding that I would indulge in a burger, one that I didn’t have to sneak past the baleful eyes of my assistant.
“Have you decided what you want to eat?” Matthew asked as Graham returned, sliding our full pint glasses onto two coasters with the Tipsy Thistle logo printed on them.
“Och, lass, if it’s a proper pub experience you want, then you’ll be having the haggis neeps and tatties this evening.” Matthew opened his mouth to protest but Graham had already whisked away our menus and disappeared into the kitchen.
“I have no idea what he just said to me,” I admitted. “Why do I feel like I’m going to regret my choice tonight?”
“Have you been to Scotland before, Sophie?” Matthew peered at me, a curious expression on his face. “I mean, you must have heard of haggis before?”
“I’ve heard of it. But I can’t remember what it was exactly. The few times I’ve come to Scotland have been with Uncle Arthur. We stayed in ridiculous five-star accommodations where all of your meals were seen to, and I never had to think about anything. Perhaps I did have haggis then? I’m not sure. I was younger.”
“Excuse me?” A tap on my arm had me turning. An older woman with closely cropped white hair and a chunky purple cardigan beamed up at me with twinkling blue eyes. “I can’t help but ask…are you Sophie MacKnight? The new owner of MacAlpine Castle?”
I stilled, uncertain how I wanted to answer this question, because I still didn’t know how the people of Loren Brae were going to respond to me. If Lachlan’s actions mirrored what others in the village thought, then I wasn’t up for being taken to task tonight. However, it wasn’t in my nature to lie either, so I did the only thing I could do.
“Yes, that’s me. But I would just like to say that I only learned about the castle a couple of days ago. If you have experienced any problems because of the absence on my uncle’s part, I’d like to apologize. I’ll do my best to learn not only about the castle but also the town, and I’m hoping to be able to help in any way I can. If you have any complaints, I’m happy to listen to them. Just let me know what I can do. I’m so sorry again if I haven’t been able to...” I trailed off as the woman touched my arm, stopping my rambling.
“It’s you. It’s really you.” Her eyes had filled with awe, and her smile widened until it almost split her face. Turning, she looked out to the rest of the pub. “It’s her! The Knight has arrived.”
My jaw almost hit the floor as the rest of the pub cheered, and Matthew made a tsking noise with his mouth.
“Seems you’re a bit of a celebrity here, Soph,” Matthew said, taking a sip of his beer.
“We’ve been waiting for you. Well, the Knight, that is. If you’re here, that means things can finally change. And everything will get sorted out just fine, after all.” The woman almost knocked my breath out of me when she threw her arms around my shoulders and squeezed me tight. I patted the woman’s arms awkwardly while giving Matthew a confused look.
“Yes, well, about that, I still have a lot to learn, and we’ve only just arrived,” I said.
“That’s just fine then. As I said…you’ll be after sorting it out. We’re here to help. Oh sure, and it’s a fine evening, isn’t it?” The woman all but danced back to her table, and I looked around at all of the people in the pub, who were now smiling wildly at me and lifting their glasses in the air.
Another broad-shouldered man, because that just seems to be the way of how they grew them here, stood and raised his pint glass to me. “To our Knight! Sláinte!”
I raised my glass, unsure of how to respond to their adoring looks, but a part of me warmed to the challenge. I didn’t know the first thing about being a knight, let alone any rules of magick, but I did know one thing—I liked to help people. I was a fixer at heart, forever taking care of extra duties both in my uncle’s company, at his house, and in all of my friends’ lives. I was always the first person people called when they had a problem, and I loved nothing more than feeling like I was needed. Perhaps it stemmed from my parents ditching me at such a young age, and therefore I sought validation through being of service to others, or at least that was what my therapist told me before I stopped going to her. Nevertheless, there was no way I was going to let the sweet grandmother down. Or at least, not without giving this whole knight thing an honest try. It felt funny to think of myself as a knight even though our family business was built on protecting people. At that thought, I almost dropped my pint.
“Matthew, a thought just occurred to me,” I said.
“Oh, just one? That’s a record for you.” Graham snickered from where he’d overheard, and Matthew preened.
“I guess I’m not the only one who’s bitchy in Scotland, am I?” I arched an eyebrow at Matthew.
“It’s not just Scotland, darling, as you well know.” Matthew smoothed a wrinkle in his pant leg.
“As I was saying…do you think that there is some correlation of our family business being a security company and this whole magickal knight thing?” I took a proper sip of the beer and was surprised to find that I enjoyed it. I was more of a wine girl, but the beer had some light citrus notes and a dry aftertaste that was different from some of the lagers I had forced down in the past.
“I definitely had the thought when it came to your last name,” Matthew agreed. “However, I hadn’t thought too deeply about your uncle when it came to his protective services. That’s certainly interesting, isn’t it?”
