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“You’re older than me by two years. You must have seen that in my file too.” He grins at me.
“Scared you can’t keep up with a slightly older woman?”
His eyes glint with mischief. “Be ready for seven o’clock. I will pick you up. If you could text me your address, please. I’ll try not to get lost this time.”
I step out of the harness that’s fallen to the ground, then scoop it up off the grass.
“Can I make a reservation?” I want to take him somewhere I think he will love. Not touristy, and further out of town, but the views of the ocean are spectacular.
“Whatever you want, Violet. As long as I get to spend some time with you, I don’t mind what we do or where we go.”
Seven o’clock can't come soon enough.
CHAPTER 7
Lincoln
“I can’t talk too long. I’m going out.” I scurry about my hotel room.
“Who with? Are you wearing a shirt? Is that new?” My father’s voice sounds across the room from our video call on my laptop. “Are you going out on a date? When did you last wear a shirt?” His voice is laced with humor and a faint hint of teasing. “And you’ve had a haircut and the long straggly beard has gone. Definitely a date.”
I fasten the last of the buttons on my black shirt, then plunk myself down on the edge of the bouncy bed to face the screen.
“In answer to all your questions, yes, I am.” I reach for my aftershave and splash some on my neck. Fuck, that stings. I haven’t shaved in months. My goatee and beard are back to exactly how I like them again; short and sharp as I wanted to look smart tonight for Violet.
“What about your no woman rule?”
“Things change. But it's just a date.” I am very close to my father. We discuss everything together; he is not that much older than me, so I pretty much share my life with him, including my dating shenanigans. But I don’t tell him Violet feels like more than just a date.
My father raises a black eyebrow in amusement.
I’m desperate to woo Violet this evening. I want to get to know her better.
Plus, I have to work with her for the next few weeks. I don’t want any awkwardness manifesting between us. So a one-night stand is off the table.
“But you only have a few weeks to go. Could you not last?” My dad flashes me a smile and tilts his head. It’s uncanny how much I look like my father. It’s like looking in the mirror.
“Should you not be in bed?” I brush him off. “It’s mega late for you guys. Or early.” I check the clock; it’s half past six here in the evening, which means it’s half past two in the morning in Scotland.
“We were at the zoo today with Eva, her sisters, Hunter, and Fraser. It was carnage.” He yawns. “Seven kids.”
Eva is a triplet. Her sister Eden has triplet boys with Hunter King, the pro golfer and Ella, her other sister, married her high school sweetheart, Fraser Farmer, who is also a pro golfer. Fraser and Ella have a little boy together. Collectively, along with Eva’s two boys and then my little sister, they are noisy, boisterous, and so much fun, and they have all changed my father’s life. He was lonely before he met Eva, working all the time. Now he has people who love and care about him as much as I do.
I love our ever-growing family.
My dad continues. “The school had an in-service day. Archie and Hamish chose the zoo. I should have an annual pass for that bloody place. Or shares in it.”
My brothers love the zoo. I have a lightbulb moment and make a mental note to adopt an elephant for Hamish and Archie’s birthdays later this year. They will love that.
“We all returned to the house and had a pool party. Then we opened some wine and one bottle led to two and you know the drill. We missed you today, so did the kids. You would have enjoyed the terrible barbecue food Eden made us.” He gags, making me chuckle. “It was truly awful. And everyone ended up staying over here. The adults have only just gone to bed. We were all dancing. I love dancing with Eva.” He chuckles. I think he’s a little tipsy.
He’ll regret that in the morning when he has to get up for my baby sister, Thea, at the crack of dawn.
Eva’s voice whisper shouts from somewhere behind him. “Knox, who are you talking to at this ungodly hour of the morning?”
“Shh, you’ll wake the kids. I’m talking to Linc,” he says in a hushed tone.
Her face suddenly appears on the screen. “Ah, Lincoln. How are you?” She doesn’t let me answer. She’s had a few glasses of wine too, I can tell. “I forced your father to relax today. Since you left, he’s only had a handful of days off.” She kisses his cheek from over his shoulder and rubs his hair playfully. “He secretly enjoyed the mayhem today.”
