The Calum (7 page)

The more time Lovie spent
with Duff, the more intrigued she was. He could go from jerk to
gentleman in less than a second. And talk about hard to
read.

She’d always considered
herself a master at figuring people out. If she had to guess, she’d
have said that whatever he was hiding had something to do with his
family. He clearly loved Ginny - who wouldn’t? And he mentioned his
mother often enough but completely clammed up when she asked about
his father.

Sometimes the best way to
solve
a mystery
was to ask the right questions.

“
So, has the B&B
always been in your family?”

He paused, mid-focus, and
turned to look at her, frowning. Okay, so her question was a little
out of the blue, but the B&B was a good intro.

Duff resumed shooting
along the fort’s stone wall. “Me gran and granda opened it after
the war. It was the only one in Inverness, for
a time
.”

“
She invited me and Jo to
move over there for the rest of our stay.”

He chuckled. “Aye, well,
she loves
havin’
the place full up, ye ken.” He followed the
flight of a bird with his lens before taking a few shots. “Business
hasna been so good of late.”

“
Oh no!” Lovie turned to
face him. “It’s such a lovely little place. If it had been closer
to town, we would have booked our stay there.”

He nodded, smiling
conspiratorially. “To tell the truth, I’m kinda glad things have
been slow. Gran’s not as spry as she used to be, though dinna tell
‘er I said so. She’ll box my ears.”

Lovie laughed. “Was your
mom anything like Ginny?”

“
Me ma? She was a wee
fragile thing.” His thumb stroked his full bottom lip. “Beautiful
and kind,” he added. “But fragile. Her strength was different than
Gran’s, ye ken. She was witty. Resourceful.” She could see his love
for his mother in his eyes.

Duff had impossibly
beautiful eyes. The color wasn’t unusual, not for a shallow sea in
some warm climate. But the sea didn’t stare back at you the way
Duff was then. He searched her face, the wistful smile that had
touched his lips fading.

“
She was never the same
after we left Inverness.”

“
After your dad?”
Left? Died?
She wanted
to ask, but hesitated.

He seemed to snap out of
his daze. “Er...yeah.” Emotions flickered across his face like home
movies. He had some heavy stuff on his mind, but it was clear that
he didn’t like to talk about it. It was just as clear that he
needed to. It hung in the air between them, whatever it
was.

Duff leaned forward,
resting his elbows against the railing, and stared down at the
rocks below.

“
Did he...” Lovie edged
closer. “Was there someone else?”

He glanced up, his eyes
narrowing in thought. “Yeah, in a way.” A sound from below drew his
attention, and he lifted his camera to capture it. Lovie didn’t
care what it was. She was far more interested in what made this man
tick. “The only person he ever cared about was himself. The rest of
us were just baggage, ye ken.”

“
I’m sorry.”

“
Water under the bridge,
and such.” Duff squinted out over the horizon. Hardness edged into
his voice. “It’s just hard to come back here.” She understood that
perfectly.

“
I know what you
mean.”

Lovie hadn’t meant to
speak her thoughts aloud. He turned those bright eyes to
her.

“
And your
parents?”

“
Mine are still together.”
She snapped a photo of nothing in particular. “On paper, they’re
the perfect couple.”

“
But it isna so in
reality?”

“
They seem content enough,
I just always felt like something was missing between them. They
married young, maybe too young, and grew apart I think. But they
stayed together.”

“
For you?”

She nodded. “Maybe. I like
to think not.”

“
Why d'you say
that?”

Lovie thought of all the
forced smiles and false courtesy at their dinner table. She’d never
seen any sign of affection between her mother and father. They
loved her, of course, and raised her with a lot of joy. They just
had none for each other.

“
If I ever get married, I
want it to be about more than just duty and obligation. It’s not
that my parents don’t love each other, I’m sure they do, in their
own way. It’s just that neither of them seems
fulfilled.”

Duff shrugged and unpacked
his tripod, extending the legs. “It takes more than another person
to fulfill you.”

“
I know that, but having
someone that you love, that loves you. Someone that will be there
for you no matter what, and not because they think they have to be.
That’s what I’d want.”

“
You’re a romantic.” Duff
grinned over his shoulder.

Lovie smiled. “Maybe, a
little. I do believe that sometimes there’s a spark that happens
between two people that you...you can’t explain. It just happens.
And then they’re just...in sync.” She shook her head. “I
dunno.”

“
Aye, but you do. Don’t
you?” Duff focused that intense blue gaze on her. He stared for so
long that Lovie began to shiver. He had a way of affecting her that
she didn’t understand. “Are ye cold?”

“
No.” She wrapped her arms
around herself.

“
Mmmph.” He smiled, the
sun glinting off his perfect
teeth,
and nodded over her head.
“That’s why I wanted to come today. Why I come here often, when I’m
home.” Grateful for the change in subject, Lovie turned to take in
the sunset.

Scotland was just one
Kodak moment after another. In the distance, the sky was a riot of
purples and blues, dipping into the pinks and golds that kissed the
horizon. She was breathless, taking it all in. And cursing herself
for having such a shitty camera.

She took a photo. “It’s so
beautiful.”

“
Aye. ‘Tis.”

Lovie turned back to find
Duff still staring at her with that knowing smile. His eyes
sparkled in the fading sunlight. She forgot to breathe and then
inhaled too quickly, dizzy from the lack of oxygen. Or him.
Probably him.

Duff tilted his head,
regarding her. One chocolate wave fell over his eyes so that it
looked as if he watched her from behind a veil.

“
Yer one of those people
that likes to poke at folk.” His smile was playful, but his tone
was staid. “Get ‘em to tell you their stories.”

Lovie squirmed under the
scrutiny. He wasn’t far off the mark. She did have a natural talent
for it. She turned back to the water, snapping a photo of a passing
boat in the distance. “You’re interesting, is all.”

“
Interestin’
?” She could hear the smile
in his voice. The air warmed as he stepped closer to her side,
raising his camera. “Define
interestin’
.”

“
If I could define it,”
she said, turning to face the lens. “It wouldn’t be interesting,
now would it?” He took a shot and then lowered his camera, one
corner of his mouth lifting.

“
She’s interested in the
interesting,” he mused before taking another shot of
her.

“
Aren’t you?”

He squinted at her
question, edging even closer. “Aye, verra much.”

A gust of wind blew a lock
of hair into her face. Duff caught it. She held her breath as he
coiled it around his finger before brushing it back out of her
eyes. His thumb traced over her cheek, and she gave up breathing
altogether.

Oh God.

He wanted to kiss her. She
could see it in his face. Could feel the air shifting between
them.

And she wanted him to kiss
her,
holy shit
did she ever. He had that whole mysterioso thing down pat.
Duff was gorgeous, talented, and funny. And freaking gorgeous. The
kind of guy that wouldn’t look at her twice back home. Jo, sure,
but not her.

So why was he leaning
in?

And why wasn’t
she?

She tilted her head.
Closed her eyes. And jumped when Bruno Mars blared from her
pocket.

Duff blinked and shook his
head, the smirk returning.

She laughed, pulling out
her phone. “Hello?”

The sound of a speeding
engine drowned out the voice on the other end. “Jo?”

“
Hey sweets! Where are
you?” Jo sounded happier than Lovie had ever heard her. She
frowned, shielding her mouth from the wind. Duff walked further
down the platform, his shutter firing away.

“
I’m at Fort
George.”

“
You’re at a fork?” Now a
man’s laugh broke through the background noise. Hamish,
presumably.

“
Fort, Jo. For-tuh.” Lovie
stuck her finger in her other ear. She could see Duff’s shoulders
shake with laughter. “Are you still with Hamish?” Duff glanced
back.

“
We’re on our way to his
estate,” Jo emphasized the word ‘estate.’ Lovie rolled her eyes. He
would have an estate.

“
Don’t tell me. He’s a
laird.”

“
Wouldn’t
that
be something?” Jo
was trying to temper her excitement, but Lovie recognized the giddy
vibrato in her voice. If Hamish had some sort of title, that would
be the frosting on her TastyKake.

Did she plan to seduce
this guy into making her his lady? Did that still happen in the
twenty-first century?

“
That...would be
something.”

“
You have to come out
here. It’s gorgeous! Take a taxi. I’ll pay.” Hamish mumbled in the
background. “Oh, that’s perfect!” Jo juggled the phone, and Lovie
heard the distinct sound of a kiss. “Ham says he’ll get Duffy to
bring you. It’ll be a double date!” There was more mumbling
from
Ham
.

“
Oh and bring a change of
clothes. It’ll be an all-nighter.” Great.

Another phone rang. Lovie
looked up to find Duff taking his out of his pocket, and she was
suddenly in on both ends of his conversation.

“
Hello?”

“
Hey ya, twally!”
Hamish yelled at him on the other end.

Duff met her eyes.
“Eh!”

“
Fit ye on the
day?”

“
Aye. Brought me
camera
up to the
fort to catch the light. You?” Duff’s Scots brogue thickened
whenever he spoke to Hamish, or to his grandmother.
Interesting.

“
Ham’s on the phone with
him now,” Jo said, unaware of Lovie’s proximity to the man in
question.

“
Ah, you bodach!”
Hamish laughed. Jo giggled. Lovie had no idea
what the heck that was. She was pretty sure Jo didn’t
either.

She and Duff shared a
look.

The scowl had returned. He
definitely wasn’t too happy about his friend’s interest in
Jo.

And that was
definitely
interesting,
and something she wanted to know more about.

“
Come down to ma bit. Grab
Joana’s wee friend on that way. Will ye?”

Duff met her eyes with a
wink.

“
Sure, awright. Do ye ken
where she might be?”

He gave her a smirk that
made something clench low in her belly. It should’ve been illegal
to look at someone like that.

“
Lovie, where are you?
Duff is going to come get you.” Hamish and Jo’s tag team effort was
irritatingly coordinated.

“
I’m...uh...just getting
back to the hotel.” Duff looked at her with a shocked expression,
his subsequent smile blinding her.

“
Perfect! Grab a change of
clothes and we’ll get Duff to pick you up. K?”

“
Well-”

“
C’mon, it’ll be fun.” In
the background, Hamish echoed Jo's pleading. “You can even have
your own room.”

“
Well, as long as I get my
own room.”

“
Done!”

“
Okay, then.”

“
Yay! She said yes.” Lovie
pictured Jo bouncing in her seat with excitement. She smiled,
despite her reservations.

“
Joana says the lass is
keen, so get yer arse over there and bring her here.”

“
Awright, see ye around
about five.”

“
Barry!”

“
Who’s Barry?” she
mouthed, raising her eyebrows at Duff, who just shook his
head.

“
He’ll come get you around
fiveish, okay? See ya babe!”

“
Bye.” Lovie tapped her
phone against her palm. “So, it’s a...uh...a double
date?”

A slow smile spread across
Duff’s lips. “Seems so.”

****

After a quick stop at
Gran’s for an overnight
bag,
and a not-so-quick stop at Lovie’s
hotel for her giant fucking suitcase, Duff drove out to Hamish’s
family estate. The land butted up against the shores of Loch Ness,
and Duff knew that the girls would find it impressive.