There With You

by Samantha Young

  “Maybe he got counseling?”

  “Yeah, but if he got help, he shouldn’t have been coming into the coffee shop twice a week.”

  “Maybe he liked the coffee.”

  My sister side-eyed me.

  I sighed. “I know, it’s weird.”

  “Is this why you don’t think you should take the job?”

  I nodded. “Is it responsible for me to become involved in Thane and the children’s lives when I have this hanging over me?”

  Robyn considered this for what seemed forever and then exhaled slowly. “Let me call Autry first and get him to do a background check on this guy. See where he is and what he’s up to. I doubt we’ve got a problem here, but I think we should still leave a statement with Autry.”

  Autry was Robyn’s close friend and ex-beat partner back in Boston. He worked as a beat cop at the same precinct as my dad. I worried my lip with my teeth before admitting. “I didn’t want Dad to know.”

  “Seth would not blame you for this. He, more than anyone, knows how these kinds of people work. You are not to blame.”

  And there it was. The thing I couldn’t admit to my sister.

  That somehow this was all my fault.

  “I just hung up with Autry and …” Robyn’s voice trailed off as she marched into my room and noted my luggage. She glared at it. “What is that?”

  “First, what did Autry say?”

  Robyn glowered at me. “Luggage?”

  “Autry?” I insisted.

  She gave in first. “First, this guy has a record of harassment. Two women. He slept with them and started stalking them.”

  “Wonderful.” I slumped on my bed.

  “Good news … he’s never taken it further than stalking and has desisted once the police got involved. So Autry is going to stop by his apartment and give him a warning. Seth doesn’t need to know about it. Autry is still going to monitor Austin’s movements. With behavior like that, we’re never completely out of the woods, but I’m confident he won’t follow you to Scotland. He probably doesn’t even know you’re here.”

  Relief crashed through me in a flood. “I’m so stupid for not telling you sooner.” It was like she’d lifted this weight from my shoulders.

  “Oh, sweetie.” My sister sat down on the bed beside me. “It’s okay. You can have a fresh start here. And I think the job with Eilidh and Lewis will take your mind off things. They’re good kids.”

  I nodded, sniffling. I’d been nothing but a watering can since arriving in Scotland.

  Eventually, I pulled away, gave her a grateful smile, and got up to check my makeup. Touching it up, I caught sight of Robyn in the reflection, glaring at my luggage again.

  “Wanna explain this?”

  “I’m packed just in case you advised me I could take the job.” I turned to her.

  “But you just got here.”

  “And I’m not going anywhere. It’s just next door.”

  A blank mask fell over Robyn’s face. “Fine.”

  It wasn’t fine. It was far from fine, and suddenly guilt squashed my elation over the Austin news. “Thane told you it was a live-in job, right?”

  She frowned. “He never mentioned that.”

  “He has a guest house for the nanny.”

  “Right. I forgot. I just thought with him being next door, you wouldn’t need to move out.”

  “It gives us all space.” I gestured around the room. “You and Lachlan don’t want me hanging around all the time when you just got engaged.” I raised an eyebrow. “You were loud last night.”

  Her lips parted in dismay, and I knew if my sister could blush, she’d be a tomato.

  Worried she assumed I didn’t want to live with her, I smothered my laughter and rushed to say, “It’s not that I don’t want to live with you. I just thought for three adults, this was a better plan. And I’m right next door, which is kind of perfect. I’ll spend all my free time with you. When you’re not busy, that is, and we’ll catch up on everything. I promise. Please don’t take this the wrong way.”

  At my worried expression, Robyn relaxed. “Sorry. I’m not trying to smother you. Or make you feel guilty for wanting space. You’re right about everything. Especially if I’m so loud.” She raised an eyebrow.

  “Hey, he’s loud too. Very loud. Good job.” I winked lasciviously at her.

  “Shut up.” My sister then continued like I hadn’t spoken. “I just … you just got here, you know. And you’ve been through a lot, and I want you to feel safe. Besides, I thought you’d be living here while you were working.”

  I pulled her to her feet and into a tight hug, relieved when she embraced me in return. “You are going to see so much of me, you’ll be sick of me. Besides”—I reluctantly retreated—“you’re still going to teach me MMA, right?”

  Her expression turned determined. “You bet your ass. You’re going to learn to defend yourself so the next time some asshole tries to trap you in a room, you can turn his balls to mincemeat.”

  “You are scary sometimes. Speaking of, you’ll owe me a dollar for every time you bruise me during our sessions.”

  Robyn made a face. “But you bruise like a peach.”

  “I do bruise like a peach.”

  She smiled but there was still a glimmer of sadness in her eyes. “I’ve missed you a lot.”

  Emotion burned in my throat, but I grinned my way through it. “Right back at you. And I’ll be a hop, skip, and a jump from your doorstep.”

  “I can’t believe you’re giving up this very large guest room for Thane’s little guest … box.”

  Thinking of the huge walk-in shower, the hotel-quality bed, and the phenomenal view from my window, I couldn’t believe it either. Robyn laughed at the face I made. “You can still back out, you know.”

  “Nah, Eilidh and Lewis are great. You’re right. I need this. I can’t imagine finding a better job.” Thane had emailed the contract, and whoa, the pay was good!

  “You say that now before you’ve had to clean toilets.”

  And that was why the pay was good.

  “Party pooper.”

  Robyn’s lips twitched.

  “Pun not intended! Aargh. I’m leaving now.”

  Despite not wanting me to leave, Robyn helped me downstairs with my luggage. I trundled my suitcase toward the front door.

  “Have you told Mom and Seth you’re staying here for months?” Robyn asked.

  Something in her tone made my spine straighten. I turned to her as I opened the door. “Yeah. I called Dad while you were on the phone with Autry.”

  She tried to hide her surprise, but I still saw it.

  I sighed. “I know I don’t want Dad to know about Austin … but everything else … I meant it when I said I was turning over a new leaf. I want to keep the people I love close, even if we’re not physically close. No more shutting anyone out, including Mom and Dad.”

  “Good. I’m glad. And how did they take it?”

  Remembering Dad’s hesitant silence on the phone when I told him about the nanny position with Lachlan’s brother, I slumped a little. “Dad was supportive, but I think a little sad. He’s glad I’m here with you, but I think he’s worried he’s going to lose us both to Scotland, which I told him is ridiculous.”

  “Don’t go making promises, Ree. This place has a way of bewitching you.”

  “I think we both know you stayed for reasons other than the scenery.”

  She shrugged, a smug smile prodding her lips, but the amusement fled when she asked, “And how did Mom take it?”

  “I don’t know yet. She was out. Dad said he’d tell her when she got home.”

  “Brace yourself.”

  Yeah, I was pretty sure my mom would be furious. “She’s never happy with anything I do.”

  At my tone, Robyn reached out and squeezed my hand. “Let’s make time this weekend. Just you and me. To catch up. To talk about things. Including things you’ve bottled up that have obviously bothered you for a long time
.”

  “I’m fine,” I promised her.

  Robyn sighed. “Regan, you can smile and charm everyone into thinking you’re the happiest person in the world, but I know better. I know our mom loves us, but I also know she’s not perfect. And it’s clear you harbor some resentment toward her. So let’s talk about it because you’re not alone. Wait until I tell you about her and Dad.”

  Instantly intrigued, I leaned against the doorjamb. “Mac? What about her and Mac?”

  Robyn waved me off. “This weekend. When we have time to really talk. Okay?”

  “Okay.” I nodded. “Will you be all right alone? Where’s Lachlan?”

  “He’s working late tonight. There was a plumbing issue in one of the guest suites at the castle.”

  “Oh. He plumbs?”

  She snorted. “No. He oversees.”

  “Ah. Yeah, that makes more sense.” That afternoon, Lachlan had done as promised and given me a tour of the entire castle and estate. In addition to an impressive suite of reception rooms, the castle held many bedrooms and an entire staff quarters on the other side of the first floor where the kitchens, mews, and security department were located. We then took a golf cart to the separate gym and members’ homes dotted around the huge estate. I could tell by the way Lachlan talked about the place that it was his pride and joy and that he had his finger firmly on the pulse of everyday life here.

  “I will be fine.” She ignored my teasing. “You better go if Thane is expecting you.”

  THANE

  Regan Penhaligon stood in the dusky light of the evening sunset. On his doorstep. With luggage at her side.

  Fifteen minutes ago, he’d only just gotten Eilidh and Lewis to sleep, so the sound of his doorbell ringing at nine o’clock did not amuse him. As he tried to work out why she was on his doorstep, he listened for the sounds of waking children.

  “Regan?” Thane was pretty sure he was scowling at her.

  Her eyebrows shot up, confirming it. “Bad time?”

  “Well, nine o’clock at night is generally a bad time to ring anyone’s doorbell.”

  “Oh.” She winced. “We’re used to fairly long days in the summer in Boston, but nothing like this. I keep forgetting how late it is since it’s still daylight out. I mean, it only just gets dark at eleven o’clock. That’s wild.”

  He waited for her to stop rambling and explain her presence.

  Regan’s smile wobbled at his stony nonresponse, making him feel like an utter arse.

  “Sorry.” He shrugged apologetically. “What brings you next door?”

  Her brows pulled together. “I start tomorrow.”

  “Yes …”

  “Well … don’t you want me to move into the guest house tonight?”

  Now it was Thane’s eyebrows that almost hit his hairline. He’d assumed because Regan was living next door that she wouldn’t want to move into the annex. “There’s really no need.”

  Disappointment flooded her expression. Another surprise. “Oh.”

  “You want to live in the annex? While it’s fairly comfortable in there, it’s not a luxury guest suite with incredible views of the Ardnoch Firth.”

  “I just thought it would make things easier for the job and …” She glanced over her shoulder at his brother’s home. “I don’t want to cramp their style.” Regan looked back with a little shrug. “They don’t need me sharing their space for six months. They just got engaged. I thought if I lived in the guest house, we’d all have our space.”

  Her consideration toward Robyn and Lachlan was nice to see. He stepped back to allow her inside. “Come on in, but be quiet. The kids just went down.”

  She nodded and walked past him, suitcase rolling at her side. Thane reached for it, brushing her hand away from the handle. Regan seemed perturbed by the gesture, but realizing he was taking the luggage from her, she gave him a grateful, dimpled smile.

  Thane nodded and followed her as they moved through the house. When they reached the main living area, she waited for him as he pulled open a drawer in the kitchen and grabbed the spare key to the annex with a key and fob to the main house. “Yours,” he murmured, presenting it to her. “This way.”

  He led her down the narrow corridor behind the main staircase, the one that led to a tiny sitting room with an enormous picture window they called “the snug,” a downstairs restroom, and the utility room. A side exit door led out from the utility room. Smirking, Thane said quietly, “You’ll soon be well acquainted with this room.”

  Regan threw him a grin as she took in the piles of laundry waiting to be done. “Good thing you pay so well.”

  Chuckling, Thane opened the side entrance and hauled the suitcase down a paved path toward the annex. He and Fran built the guest suite with her parents in mind. She wanted them to have a separate place they could live when they made the long drive from the Borders to the Highlands to visit. Tragically, Fran’s dad, Heath, died of cancer only months after Fran’s death, and her mum, Liz, of a heart attack three weeks after her husband passed. Thane knew Liz’s heart just couldn’t take the stress of losing her husband and only daughter within months of each other.

  Thane had talked about redecorating the annex, hoping it would suppress some of those sad memories. But he’d never had time. Not with working from home while also caring for Eilidh and Lewis.

  One day he’d returned from dropping the kids at school to find a team of decorators in the guest building. Lachlan had sent them and paid for the whole thing.

  Always looking after him.

  “I’m kinda excited.” Regan pulled him out of his musings. She grinned as she put the key in the door.

  He followed her in. “Keypad.” He stopped her in her tracks and tapped the small box on the entrance wall. “Code to set the alarm when you leave is 2324.”

  “2324,” she repeated.

  “To alarm it on exit, put in the code and then press the A button.” He pointed at it and she nodded. “To alarm the annex when you’re sleeping, punch in the code and hit the B button.”

  She frowned. “What if I need to get up to pee?”

  His lips twitched. “The night alarm is only triggered by force on the doors and windows. But there’s also a smart device in the annex that will do it for you. I’ll show you.”

  “Nice.” Regan nodded, wide-eyed. “But can I check out the rest of the place first?”

  Laughing softly at her impatient giddiness, he nodded and gestured for her to go ahead. The small hallway/mudroom led into the primary space. There was a farmhouse-style kitchenette along the wall to the right, and next to that a two-seat sofa facing a wall-mounted TV. It was hooked up to a DVD player and to the TV service the main house used. Beyond that was the king-size bed overlooking sliding glass doors that led out into the yard. She had a partial view of the water at this angle. A dividing wall next to the bed hid a small walk-in and a stylishly refurbished bathroom.

  He waited in her tiny sitting room, placing her luggage by the sofa as she wandered through the annex.

  “Holy …” He heard her say as she stepped into the bathroom.

  When Regan reappeared, she grinned at him. That damn gorgeous smile of hers made it difficult not to smile in return. “You were holding out on me, mister.”

  Thane raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

  “This place”—she gestured—“is amazing.”

  “You think so? It’s half the size of Lachlan’s guest room.”

  “So what?” Her big, shining brown eyes danced around the space. “Look how gorgeous and cozy it is. And that bathroom! I think I might never come out of that walk-in shower.”

  An image of her naked, water sluicing down her no doubt beautiful body, entered his mind out of nowhere, and he guiltily threw it off. Where the fuck had that come from? He scowled at himself.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  He nodded, unable to meet her eyes. “Fine, fine. Eh … okay … so”—he gestured to the TV—“you’ve got access to all the chan
nels plus the streaming apps on here. We set up the Wi-Fi. Password is RescueRiders. Both r’s in capital letters, the rest lowercase. Eilidh chose it.”

  Regan chuckled. “Maybe you should make your password more difficult.”

  “So Lachlan doesn’t steal it?” he teased.

  He saw understanding dawn, and she grinned. “Right.”

  They didn’t have any neighbors around to tap into their broadband services.

  “This”—he pointed to a tablet mounted to the wall beside the kitchen—“is the smart home device. You can voice activate it and it’ll turn the lights on and off, put the window blinds up and down, even set the alarm. It will switch on the underfloor heating,” he continued, pointing at the floors. “It’s on a schedule, but you can change the settings on here. Or just voice activate it. If you have any issues, let me know. The voice activation will switch on any technology in the annex.”

  “Very high tech. I never noticed this in the main house.” She studied the tablet curiously.

  “It was an experiment in here. I hoped it would convince Fran to put it in the main house, but she thought it would make the kids lazy.”

  “She was probably right.” Regan stole the words from his thoughts.

  He cleared his throat. “Anyway, I wasn’t expecting you to move in, so nothing is stocked except some basics. I’ll leave money for you tomorrow so you can get what you need.”

  Regan frowned. “You don’t need to do that. You’re paying me well enough. I can get those things myself.”

  He nodded. “Speaking of, you need to open a bank account so I can pay you.”

  “Sure thing.”

  “Right. Well. That’s all I can think of at the moment.” Turning on his heel, he strode toward the exit. “The kids are up at seven for school, so I’ll need you here around six thirty to make their breakfast. I’ll get them up and out of bed before I leave for work.”

  “I can do that if you need to leave earlier.”

  “I can manage.” He liked to be the one to wake them in the morning. He never wanted six thirty in the evening to be the first time in the day his babies saw their dad.