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My heart jumps the track. “Yes! You knew her?”
“Yes, siree. She considered this place home. A neat lady, that Winifred.”
My smile is wistful. “Yes, she was. How long did you know her?”
“Aye. A lifetime.” He shrugs. “I fancied your grandmum when I was all of fourteen years. She was one of the bonnie dancers in academy. I knew the second I saw her I wanted to invite her to share a milkshake. And that’s what I did.” He sighs. “She was my first love, and I was set on marrying her.”
I gasp. “I can’t believe it! What happened?”
“We were young. I was a poor farmer’s boy.” He shakes his head. “Her folks didn’t approve of the match. So, we went our separate ways.”
I look at Maddox, shocked. This story is heartbreaking, but I’m not sure how best to comfort him. I keep it simple and say, “I’m so sorry. I’d love to hear more stories about my grandmother when she was young. If you wouldn’t mind.”
“Oh, yes. I’d love that!” Mr. McRoy smiles widely. “Us coffin-dodgers love to talk about the good ol’ days.”
I chuckle. “Great.”
“Enjoy yourselves, now. I do hope you fancy this place as much as your grandmum did.”
“I already do. Thank you, Mr. McRoy.”
“Christ. Call me Mac.” Mac is kind and patient as he explains how to get to our rooms on the second floor. Then he hands us keys that look like they’re from another century.
We lug our bags up the creaky stairs, as there are no elevators. When my suitcase slides down the steps, Maddox chases after it.
“Wow. Chivalry isn’t dead.” I playfully slap his shoulder.
“No, my lady.”
I laugh as I take my bag back, and we make our way down the hallway. The floor groans under our feet with each step, and I’m getting a little nervous about the state of our accommodations, but I keep my chin up. “We can knock back a few pints, so whatever we’re sleeping in doesn’t seem so bad.”
“And if we get bitten by bats, we’re all ready to go.”
“That makes me want to laugh and cry at the same time.” With a thought, I say, “I call the best room.”
“I bet they both have saggy mattresses.” Maddox sighs. “And what if my room is infested?”
“You can sleep in my shower. I’m sure they’d bring us extra blankets if we requested.”
“Rook. I flew for fourteen hours, took two trams, and hiked up a rocky mountainside to get to these accommodations. For you. The least you could do is offer me half your saggy mattress.”
“Oh, but we don’t even share rooms, remember?” I smirk. “But because you fetched my luggage, I’ll take that under advisement.”
After a lot of fidgeting and repositioning my room key, I get the knob to turn. And when we go inside, it’s…wow.
A massive stone fireplace serves as a centerpiece of the room. The king-sized poster bed is dressed in gold velvet. The plush rug looks like it’s made of spun silk, and the large bay windows overlook the ocean. The wall sconces flicker in the dim lighting, and it feels like we’ve time-traveled. I toss myself onto the bed, saying, “And…I’m never leaving.”
Maddox puts his hand on his hips and peers around. “This is definitely the better room. I should check mine and make sure it’s not a retrofitted prison cell.”
Maddox leaves through the adjoining door to an identical room, and I get up to unpack.
# # #
Together, Maddox and I head downstairs because we’ve decided it would be a travesty not to have a beer at a real Scottish pub.
Inside McRoy’s, we take a seat at the round, wooden table, and whatever they’re making in the kitchen smells delicious. A lamb stew?
My elbows are on the table. Oh, if my mother could see me now. “I’m starved.”
