Page 92 of Blindsided
My eyes first land on Roan and Allie, the two of them dressed in black and standing beside my father as they pay their respects. I stride over, and Roan sees me coming.
He opens his arms for a hug that I accept willingly. God, I’ve missed him. “Ag, Mac. I’m so sorry about your grandad. He was the shit.”
I smile at his choice of phrase and turn to hug Allie next, dropping a kiss to her cheek. “I’m so sorry for your loss.” She pulls back, and her eyes are teary. “Are you doing okay?”
I nod and glance around, looking for Freya. “I’m all right. I had some good moments with him before the end.”
Allie reaches out and strokes my arm. “I’m glad to hear it. We’ve missed you in London.”
I nod, and my eyes continue to wander. “Is Freya with you?”
Allie’s hand falls from my arms, and her expression shifts from sympathetic to guarded. “She was out on the front porch I believe.” I step away from them to go find her, and Allie leaps into my path. “Mac…just…be gentle with her.”
My stomach sinks as I look down at Allie with shame and regret. I deserve this after everything I said to Freya. I reach out and touch Allie’s arm. “I will be, Al. I promise.”
When I walk outside, I find Freya sipping a whisky with two old men that I recognise as friends of my grandfather. The men are roaring with laughter, and Freya is positively toppled over in her own fit of adorable snort-filled giggles.
When she rights herself, her eyes fly wide the minute they land on me. “What is it with you charming old Scottish men?” I ask, sliding my hands into my pockets.
“Old?” the man I know named Angus huffs. “We’re not old. We’re experienced.”
Freya turns her shocked expression to amusement as she looks over at him. “Angus, you already shared far more than I ever needed to know about yourexperience.”
My grandfather’s car buddy, Alexander, pipes in next. “Aye…and me too, for that matter. I could have lived the rest of my life never knowing the shite you got up to in Prague.”
“Me too,” Freya says, holding her hand out for a high five to Alexander like it’s the most normal thing in the world.
Angus mutters his argument as I step in and hold my hand out to Freya. “Do you mind if I steal her for a moment, gentlemen?”
Freya gazes at my offered hand for a second before standing up on her own. My eyes drink in the sight of her in a fitted knee-length pencil dress that hugs all her curves that I swear have shrunk some since last I saw her. She’s lost weight.
I don’t like it.
Her heels clunk on the wooden steps as I guide her into the house and up the stairs. “Where are we going?” she asks, frowning as she glances down the hallway.
“To talk,” I reply, opening my bedroom door for her.
She hesitates at the threshold. “I don’t think this is a good idea, Mac.”
“Just talk, Cookie. Come on; I promise I’m not going to bite.”
She steps in slowly, her eyes cautiously taking in the small room. “What did you want to talk about?”
I sit down on my bed and pat the area next to me. She chews her lip nervously before coming over and perching on the very edge as though she’s ready to sprint away.
“Whisky?” I ask, grabbing the bottle and offering it up to her. “No glasses.”
The corner of her mouth twitches with a smile as she takes the open bottle and tips it to her mouth. Her lips are a lush ruddy colour as they wrap around the amber glass and drink. Her eyes squint shut as she swallows the burning liquid before she hands it back over to me.
“How have you been?” I ask, my voice deep and steady.
She nods for a bit too long. “I’m okay.” She pulls her lip into her mouth and shakes her head. “I’m so sorry about Fergus, Mac. I know you knew it was coming, but it doesn’t make it any easier. He was such a unique man. One of a kind.”
I shoot her a wry grin and look down at her hands, nervously clenched on her lap. “He was. And even in the end, he was asking for a shot of whisky.”
She smiles fondly. “I’m not surprised.”
I lick my lips and eye her face, taking in her wee freckles like I’m seeing them for the first time all over again, when a mere three months ago, I could have drawn them in a portrait of her perfectly. “I’ve missed you, Freya.”
