: Chapter 11

Max

I stormed downstairs, furious and hurt to my bones. In the hall, my mother parked her suitcase and smiled, her cheeks red from the cool night.

The happiness evaporated from her expression. “What’s wrong?”

Ah fuck, I wished they’d been out longer. With a struggle, I tried to contain my emotions. “I need to tell ye and Da something.”

My phone buzzed, Lia calling. I silenced it and left it to ring. Fuck her.

My father brought in another case then slammed the door. Like Ma, he spied my no doubt thunderous expression and lost his grin.

A minute later, we all sat at the kitchen table, and I tried to cool the surges of antagonism in my blood.

I settled my gaze on my parents in turn. Both sat perfectly still in a way they’d done multiple times before when I’d delivered bad news. As if needing to arm themselves against my latest disaster. But school fights and run-ins with the cops were nothing to this.

I released the words into the reality of our kitchen. “I’m a father.”

Ma’s mouth opened in silent shock.

“A couple of years ago, my girlfriend got pregnant. She had the bairn without me knowing. I found out a few days ago.”

Da’s gaze shuttered.

Already, I’d fucked up in my telling.

He’d been in that exact scenario when Cait’s birth mother purposefully hid her bairn.

“She thought I’d been told,” I added fast. “It wasnae a deliberate secret. Lia was sick in hospital and sent a relative to see me. Somehow, that didn’t happen. She thought I didnae want to know.”

“Lia,” Ma said softly. “The girl who broke your heart.”

My father didn’t say a word.

On the table, my phone lit again with another call from the heartbreaker herself. I flipped it over then brought my attention back to my folks. The next part was harder to say after the wee chat with Lia’s father.

“I intend to be part of the bairn’s life, though that might be hard—”

“Lad or lass?” Da finally spoke.

I stared at him, at the lines on his forehead and age-old worry in his eyes.

“A lass.”

He leapt up and paced to the counter, facing the window.

I half stood, but my mother laid a hand on my arm.

“Give him a minute. It’s history repeating itself. He went through so much with Caitriona.” She linked our fingers. “It must have been a shock when you found out.”

She didn’t know the half of it.

I’d take Maddock’s involvement to the grave.

“Aye. I had no idea she existed. To look at her, there’s no doubt. Evie has your hair colour. Lighter than mine.”

“Evie,” Ma spoke her name. “How old? Do you have a picture? Where do they live?”

I turned over my phone and dismissed the ignored calls, then found the picture I’d taken of the bairn in her cot.

Ma gasped and brought the phone closer. “Oh, what a perfect baby girl. Ally, she’s the image of the boys when they were young.”

A small smile pushed onto my lips. I knew Ma would adore her from the second she saw her. My whip-smart mother, who ran a multi-million-pound international business, loved hard.

I swiped the photo to bring up the one of me holding her. “Her full first name is Evelyn, and she’s thirteen months. Birthday’s March. She’s beautiful, no?”

“So perfect.” Ma’s gaze lingered on the picture then went to Da. “Ally, look.”

She held up the phone.

Across the other side of the kitchen, my father turned, his hands finding the worktop at his back. “Fuck,” he said succinctly.

I gave a surprised laugh. “Right? That was my reaction. It’s sunk in now.”

He opened his mouth then seemed to think better over what he wanted to say. “Your Ma’s right, this is history repeating. Are we going to have a struggle on our hands?”

Up until an hour ago, I would’ve said no. But Lia’s father had changed everything.

“We might.”

Da dipped his head, his body stiff. “Then we’ll get a solicitor on this first thing tomorrow. Sit down, write out everything, dinna miss a detail. They’ll need to know it all.”

I did, noting down everything I knew apart from that horrible detail of my twin’s involvement.

I had no clue on my rights, but surely I had some. If Lia wanted to play hardball, I’d smash that right back.

Evie’s ma: I’m sorry about Dad. He’s protective. Can we talk?

Her three AM text found me awake and staring at the walls again. She’d tried to call a further time before giving up. But obviously Lia was sleeping as well as I was right now.

In my mind, I created and dismissed any number of answers.

No.

We tried and failed.

See ye in court.

But none were good enough to fit the way I felt. I rolled over and tried to pretend Lia and her never-ending bombshells didn’t exist.

Morning came, and with it, an empty day. The garage was closed on Mondays, and Da found me to advise of a meeting with a solicitor later in the week, so I was at a loose end.

Despite the closed doors, I spent a couple of hours working on Isobel’s Austin-Healey, then I took my bike up into the mountain trails, kicking up rocks. I checked my mountain rescue alerts half a hundred times, begging for action. But no, today the public decided to play it safe.

By mid-afternoon, I was going out of my mind.

In a few days, my life had been inverted, and I had no idea how to right it.

Gabe’s name on my ringing phone finally gave me the distraction I needed.

I answered fast. “Gabe, please tell me you’re in Scotland.”

The pilot gave a dark laugh. “Hello to ye, too, Max. Your brother said to call ye once I’d landed in Inverness. If it’s any trouble—”

“No trouble.” I cut him off. “Honestly, man, you’re doing me a favour. I need something to do or I’ll go insane.”

Besides, knowing Gabe, he’d disappear if I even hinted he was in the way. The man needed kin badly. His time with us over Christmas proved that. There was no reason in the world that someone like him shouldn’t have family to go to, or to claim him and want him around.

“Did ye bring much luggage?” I added.

“Just a rucksack.”

“I’ll jump on my bike and come fetch ye. Be there in forty.”

We hung up, and I readied to leave.

If he’d come with suitcases, I’d have borrowed my father’s Land Rover, but my Interceptor would do. Another thought occurred as I threw my leg over the gleaming metal, revving the engine hard. If I did ever get regular access to Evie, I’d need to get a car of my own. No putting a bairn on the back of a motorbike.

Hell, I’d need a place of my own, too. But all of this was pie in the sky when even access was in doubt.

At the end of the track, I passed Castle McRae. Under the scaffolding that climbed one side of the ancient stone building, Uncle Callum pulled lengths of wood from a stack.

I’d never thanked him for his help when I’d been injured. Now was as good a time as any.

“Callum,” I hollered, idling the bike.

The huge man peered around and spotted me. He set down the planks and strolled to the road. “How’s the arm?”

“Healing fine. I meant to thank ye.”

Callum lifted his chin. “Nae bother. If you’re at a loose end, I could use a spare pair of hands. We’re finishing the apartments this week.”

It had slipped my mind that they were adding flats in the castle. Uncle Wasp and Aunt Taylor were moving into one. They travelled a lot so were giving up their crofthouse to their son and his wife in the hope they’d fill it with grandchildren. I had no idea what Callum was doing with the other flats.

“On my way to pick up a friend from the airport, but unless he has some burning matter, ye can count on two pairs of hands.”

Callum’s eyes lit. “I’ll pay ye in beer.”

“Deal.” He let me go, and I sped away.

At the airport pick-up zone, a typically quiet Gabe bro hugged me while I subtly scanned him for bruises.

Back when he and Maddock met on a training course, Gabe’s father had flown him out to California for a meeting. Gabe had left with a black eye, Maddock reported. What kind of man hit their own son? I couldn’t fathom it.

Though my own family had the stain of that form of parenting in our history, too. My grandfather had been a violent alcoholic, and the lesson rippled through the generations.

Today, Gabe’s face was unmarked, but shadows marked his eyes like he’d missed sleep.

“What brings ye to Scotland this time?” I led him through the car park to my bike.

Gabe rubbed his jaw, dark with stubble. “Trouble.”

“What does that mean?”

At his slow reply, I offered my own answer. “Problems at home? At work?”

“In a manner of speaking. I walked out.”

“Of which?”

He shook his head like he couldn’t believe what had happened. “Of both.”

Well, shite. This man had come to Scotland with no more possessions than the bag on his back, and it sounded very much like he’d walked away from his entire life.

I blew out a breath. “Then I’ve got two things that will help. Hard work and beer. Ye in?”

“I’m in.”

His answer was weighed down with relief. Whether at the easy acceptance we could show him or the fact he’d got away, I wasn’t sure.

At Castle McRae, after an easy ride back, Gabe a natural at riding pillion, I reintroduced my friend to my uncle. Callum led us into the great hall, gesturing to the corridor that passed the dining rooms and wound its way to the tower.

“The tower apartment is done,” my uncle told us. “That was our bachelor pad, growing up, but it’s now a two-bed. We put bedrooms on the first floor where the gym used to be, and the living space upstairs. It’s a braw wee home for someone. Wish we’d done it years ago.”

Gabe stared at the entrance, but Callum directed us the other way, up the pine staircase that climbed the interior wall of the great hall.

“The second apartment is at the back of the castle, looking out on the mountain. It’s a three-bed and mostly finished, aside from the bathroom fitting, which I’ll get done now, and painting of the second and third bedrooms. That’s why I need ye.”

At the top of the stairs, we traipsed down the corridor, passing the guest bedrooms until we reached a door. Previously, this had led to a second suite of family bedrooms, but now, as Callum opened the door, a self-contained apartment waited within. In the bright space, the plasterwork had been painted white, exposed stone left around the doorways, and sun spilled through windows onto the wooden floors.

I strode through the wide living room to peer from the window, up at the mountain. The thick walls and quiet gave the home a sense of privacy despite being in a busy building. “I always loved this view. Will this be Wasp and Taylor’s place?”

It had to be. It was the bonniest set of rooms.

“No. They’ve chosen the ground-floor apartment beyond the kitchens.” Callum led us through to the spacious but unfurnished kitchen, where a new entranceway led to a set of ornate metal steps outside. Its own private entrance.

Gabe asked a question about the work needed, but my mind was running away with me.

Several months ago, I’d tried to get my own place, my sights set on the cottage Maddock now rented. I’d lost out to him there by being slow in asking.

Having my own place was even more necessary now, not that I had a chance of affording something as nice as this.

Under Callum’s direction, we set to work. My uncle finished the bathroom work, and Gabe and I painted the second then third bedroom in companionable silence until the sun set.

We were on the final touches when my phone buzzed with a text. I glimpsed Lia’s name onscreen with a text message, and my stomach crunched.

Downing tools, I entered the master bedroom, picturing a wide bed then a thick rug, cushioning the walk to a deep fireplace. I liked everything about this apartment. Whichever family took it would be lucky fuckers.

Only in privacy did I read the message.

Evie’s ma: I’ll bring her to see you. It can be a longer visit.

Night had fallen outside, and I stared at the blackness. I suspected that the solicitor would tell me to leave the conversations to them, but the more I thought about Evie, and about Lia, the more urgency rose in me. I’d had such a brief time with the bairn, and I couldn’t remember her well enough. I needed more. There was so much left unsaid between me and her mother.

“Max?” In the doorway, Gabe drained his beer bottle.

True to his word, Callum had been supplying us for our efforts. The three I’d downed had made me wistful.

“Came to say all finished, but is something wrong?” my friend asked.

I raised an eyebrow at him.

Gabe wrinkled his nose and rested a bulky shoulder on the doorframe. “Fair enough. I’ve arrived here and told ye nothing.”

I waited for a beat. “You’re naw going to either, are ye?”

He scrubbed a hand into his ink-black hair, leaving a streak of white paint in its path, his overalls borrowed from Callum mostly unstained. “I will. I don’t even know where to start.”

“Same,” I admitted.

Or maybe I just didn’t want to admit my failing.

Earlier in the evening, Callum’s son, Lennox, had stuck his head in to say hi. Lennox was married to Isobel, my boss, and had Jamie-Beth in his arms and Archie, their older boy, tearing up the hall at his back.

A perfect family, all planned, connected, belonging to each other.

If I’d felt like sharing my news, that image had stopped me in my tracks. Whoever I told would want to bring in another to hear it, and so on, with shockwaves rippling outwards across the clan and to every corner of the estate. For a wee while, I wanted to keep the information close until at least I’d become the owner of it myself.

Gabe, on the other hand, was a neutral party in that respect. I pointed at him. “I’ll show ye mine if ye show me yours.”

The pilot shook his head on a laugh, his lips twisted in a wry smile.

Behind him, Callum appeared. “I see you’re done. Top job, lads. The place looks great. Almost ready for someone to move in.”

“Aye. We can come back another day if there’s more.”

“This was the last push. All we need now are people to take ownership.”

We cleaned up then left the castle for the cool spring night. This time, I wheeled the bike rather than driving.

Gabe fell in alongside me, pacing the dark hill to Maddock’s place.

He didn’t start on his story, so I took the opportunity and worked through announcing mine.

“I have a daughter.” To him alone, the words were easier to say. “Just over a year old. I found out this week.”

Gabe choked on a breath. “Not what I was expecting ye to say. Have ye met the child? Are they safe?”

Safe. An interesting choice of word. I gave him the short version of the revelation, first meeting, and the confusion between me and Lia.

Her texted offer burned a hole in my mind.

Gabe listened without interruption, and soon, we arrived at Maddock and Rory’s cottage.

I let us in with the spare key Maddock had left me then gave it to the new temporary resident.

“How do ye feel about the woman. Lia, did ye say her name was?” Gabe dropped onto the couch, a pillow and blanket left for him at the end.

I went to the wood burner and set about making a fire. “Loaded question.”

“Why?”

“Used to love her.” I built kindling on top of newspaper then lit it with a match.

When I turned around, Gabe was watching me. “Ye said on the walk up here that she thought ye knew about the child.”

“Evie.”

“Aye, Evie. Do ye believe her?”

That question was easy. “I do. I’m pretty sure she was lied to and told I didnae want a role in the bairn’s life.”

“Fuck. Who would do that, her parents?”

A sense of justice sank over me. “I suspect her da. But to be honest, I don’t know shite about her life. They move from city to city with his job. Every chance we’ve had to speak has been tense or cut off. Even if I get to see Evie again, I have no clue how to make that a regular thing.”

The fire caught with a rush of heat and amber light. Shadows carved over Gabe’s expression, but the instant anger in his eyes couldn’t be concealed.

“Ye want her, aye? Then fight for her, now, before she’s old enough to think ye don’t care.”

“Lia offered to bring her here.”

“Do it, Max. Take control of this. Don’t let this arsehole father decide what’s best. Ye loved the mother once, then find a way to get on with her now. If ye need support, I’m here. I can fly them in. We’ll make this happen.”

He sat on the edge of the seat, attention fixed on me, his breathing coming hard.

I took him in, several thoughts occurring at once. “I will,” I said, “now tell me what the fuck you’re running from, and who ye left behind. Because I’m looking at a man who’s speaking from experience. Don’t try to deny it.”

Gabe’s fierce gaze didn’t waver, all that emotion fresh and on the surface. “I didn’t run. I left my father’s home. He…”

“Is a violent fuck.”

His hands formed fists. “A dangerous man, but that hardly matters. Not to me, anyway. I’m twenty-eight. Stronger than him in every way. He can’t hurt me.”

“Will he come after ye?”

“No. But he’ll find another way to force my return.”

We both took a deep breath.

“Christ.” He slumped into the cushions. “Does Maddock or Rory keep an alcohol stash here? We could do with getting blind drunk.”

“I wish. I’m on call in the morning. Speaking of, now you’re here, you’re staying. We need your skills for the mountain rescue team. Take a job on the helis, too. Maddock landed a big new contract, so there’s work needing doing.”

I gave him what I knew he needed. What he’d come here for. A sense of family and purpose. The safety he’d asked if Evie had.

Whether he’d give up any more on his abusive parent, I didn’t know. Gabe had already uttered more words in this short conversation than I’d heard him say in one go in every other visit he’d made here.

“I’ll talk to Lochinvar tomorrow,” he replied.

Lochie and Cait lived right next door, the only other cottage for half a mile. I needed to talk to my sister about Evie. Like my parents, she’d be fine in time, but it might hit a nerve, too.

Which only left one thing to do now.

I pulled out my phone and found Lia’s message, then hit reply.

Max: Bring her here. Just tell me your arrival date, and I’ll work out accommodation and the rest.

I expected to be told no, that she’d make her own arrangements, that her boyfriend or dad would take over.

Three dots instantly appeared.

Evie’s ma: Okay. We’ll be there on Sunday. We can stay a few days, at least.

I stared at my phone then held it up for Gabe to see. He read the message, and some of the tension left him.

“Just like that, and you’ll have her.” He briefly glanced at the ceiling.

“Ye left a family behind,” I concluded.

More of the stress fell away from him. “Aye, but not in the way ye think. So, if we can’t get drunk, is your tattooist friend available?” He pointed at my arm, my ink revealed now I’d stripped my jacket.

Last winter, me, Gabe, and Maddock had all got tats from Smith, and I had my sleeve done by the man since. The king of nothing was his work.

“I’ll give him a call.”

Smith arrived, kit with him. Like last time, Gabe had another set of initials carved into his biceps.

I had Evie’s date of birth added to my sleeve. I may not have been there for the day, but I needed to honour the moment it happened.

Then in the morning, I left Gabe to talk to Lochie and drove to Castle McRae.

Inside the great hall, Callum sat in front of the fire, a huge mug of something in one hand and his expression contemplative.

I threw myself onto the bench seat opposite, my head full of furniture and possibilities.

“I need to talk to ye about the place upstairs,” I told him.

My uncle set down his drink and gave me his full attention.

Taking control, as Gabe advised, I made my case.