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McTavish looks at me for a long moment.
“The Laird, o’ course,” he says bluntly. “Jack’s granda.”
I shake my head mutely.
The land is rightfully McTavish’s. Jack knows.
“Anyway, that’s why I dinnae drink now,” McTavish says, putting the car into gear. “I’m determined no’ to make the same kind o’ mistake. I need to keep my wits aboot me if I want to keep the rest o’ the farm.”
“You won’t make the same mistake,” I say firmly, rummaging in my wallet and handing him the biggest tip I know he’ll accept from me. “And I’ll speak to Jack about this tonight, I promise. We’ll get to the bottom of it, McTavish.”
Jack can’t possibly know about this. The Jack I know wouldn’t be comfortable knowing he only has that land as the result of a bet. He wouldn’t want to profit from the McTavishes misfortune.
“I wish ye wouldn’t,” McTavish says seriously. “What’s done is done. It’s ancient history. From what my da’ says, the Laird won the bet, fair and square. It was my granda’s mistake. The eejit. And I ken I might seem daft sometimes, Emerald, but I’m a proud man, a’ the same. Jack doesn’t owe me anything. Please dinnae make a fuss. Promise me.”
I swallow the lump that’s suddenly risen up in my throat.
“If that’s what you want,” I tell him, reluctantly. “But if I could just—”
“No,” says McTavish firmly. “Forget it, Emerald — I mean it. I want ye to try to put a’ this nonsense behind ye, and just enjoy this wedding o’ yours. Ye deserve it.”
I lean forward and hug him impulsively through the car window.
“You’re the best friend there is, McTavish,” I tell him honestly. “Hey, I don’t suppose you want to be Maid of Honor at the wedding, do you?”
He chuckles dryly.
“I heard ye already have two o’ those,” he says. “So I’ll pass, if ye dinnae mind. Thanks, though.”
“Any time.”
I hug him again, then stand watching as his car splutters its way back down the drive, my heart heavy in my chest.
I wish there was something I could do to help him.
I wish I hadn’t promised not to talk to Jack about this.
With a sigh, I turn and walk into the house, where I find Rose standing at the bottom of the stairs, tapping something urgently into her phone, which she puts into her bag as soon as she catches sight of me.
“I wish you hadn’t told Frankie I’d asked you to be my Chief Bridesmaid, Rose,” I say, still annoyed with her. “You must know that’s not what I said at all.”
I didn’t even realize I was going to say it until the words came out of my mouth, but now that I have, I know it was the right thing to do. I have to stand up for myself — and for Frankie — or this family will walk all over me. That much is obvious. And I might not know whether Rose said it on purpose, to make things difficult, or if it was just a simple misunderstanding; but either way, I’m going to have to set her straight.
“You didn’t?” She looks genuinely puzzled as she looks up at me from her phone. “But I thought you did? Or Jack did, anyway?”
“Nope.” I sigh with frustration. “I really didn’t, Rose. I said I was going to ask Frankie. At least, I thought I did.”
I frown, trying to remember the exact words I’d used at dinner the night before.Could I really have made it sound like I was asking Rose to be Maid of Honor?
“But Emerald,” she says, her lower lip trembling. “I thought youwantedme to be part of the wedding? Like proper sisters?”
To my absolute horror, she looks like she’s about to burst into tears.
Am I just going to makeeveryoneI know cry today?
“Look, Rose,” I say awkwardly, “I’m really sorry if I made you think that, but Frankie’s my best friend, so she was always going to be my Maid of Honor.She’slike a sister to me.”
I can’t believe I’m having to explain this yetagain. Is it really so hard to understand why I’d want my best friend since childhood by my side, rather than a woman I’ve known for less than a week?
