29. Chapter 29 - Ash

Iwas at the bar turning in a drink order and Don said, "See that table over there? That's Katie and Hayley, they went to school with my brother, weren't they with Lochie the other night?"

I smiled, "Yeah, Katie is his sister-in-law..."

"They here to see you? I thought you said Lochie was out of town..."

"He is."

Someone interrupted asking Don directly for a drink. I finished filling a soda glass, glancing over at the ladies, wondering why they were there...

Once Don was finished, he said, "I bet they're checking up on you."

My eyes went wide. "On me?"

"Yep, her little brother spent the night, they want to see if you're worthy."

"Like worthy, how?"

"Imagine it's your sister, why would she be here?"

"To see if I plan to break his heart."

"Whoa, I was just kind of kidding, there are hearts involved? You weren't just messing around? He seems like a big boy, and handsome — he's for sure a player, maybe they don't know he's a player...?"

"Nah, he's not a player and yeah, there are hearts involved. I guess I should go talk to them. Can I take a break? Will you cover my tables for a moment?"

"Sure."

I walked over to their table, and the three women abruptly stopped talking as if they had been talking about me. I sank into the empty chair. "So, hi."

They all reintroduced themselves, then the woman, Emma, said, "The reason why we came..."

I said, "My guess is you came to check up on me."

Hayley laughed. "Kind of, but not, you know, in the bad way."

Emma said, "Lochie's not... he's not from here, and he hasn't dated much, so... we were concerned that maybe...?"

Kaitlyn shook her head. "Now that we're in the conversation, I totally regret it. Why did we come?"

Emma said, "I have no idea, honestly, Ash. When we talked this out we thought it was a good idea."

Hayley said, "Yeah... and Ash, promise you won't hold this whole thing, us, against him?"

I said, "I won't hold it against him. I think he's really wonderful."

Kaitlyn smiled widely. "Yay! That's awesome, Ash, you're going to see him when he gets back?"

"Definitely. If he'll see me..."

Emma said, "That sets my mind at ease."

I said, "Phew, this was a little like an interrogation."

Hayley said, "Oh we have so many questions, we didn't even get past the first one."

I said, "If you need my back story, I was in the army, now I work here. I live nearby. I did well in school... is that pretty much all you needed to know?"

Kaitlyn said, "Yeah, again, really sorry that we bothered you." She took a sip of her drink and said, "I guess he told you all about Scotland?"

"Not much really, except...it's not at all what I expected Scotland to be like."

Kaitlyn nodded. "Good, yeah, perfect." Then she said, "Oh, I mean, yeah, Scotland is not at all like what you see in the movies. It's got a real ancient vibe to it."

I said, "I'd love to see it..."

Emma said, "Maybe Lochie will show you someday...?"

I said, "I would love that. He mentioned taking me, I hope he will."

All three of them leaned back in their chairs, smiling.

Emma said, "That's awesome. We're so glad. Thank you for not holding this against us."

I said, "Your family is really close, huh?"

Kaitlyn said, "Magnus has a lot of responsibilities, everyone works with him?—"

Hayley said, "It's a family business, sorta."

I chuckled. "Almost like the mob?"

They glanced at each other then laughed.

Kaitlyn finished her drink and pulled a pen and paper from her purse. "I'm writing down my phone number. If you need anything, want to talk, if you want to ask when he's coming home, if anything goes down that's weird, you know... just call, okay?" She passed it to me.

I said, "Thank you, that sounds good. I'll call if I need to know anything." I tucked the paper in my pocket.

Kaitlyn said, "Please forgive us for intruding."She stood and jerked her head at Hayley and Emma. They all gathered their coats and bags. "Call me, if you need anything."

And then they left.

I returned to Don. "You were right, they were totally checking up on me."

I pulled the paper out of my pocket and laid it on the bar and pulled out my phone to key the number in: Kaitlyn Campbell (Lochie's Sister)

Don said, "Why'd she give you her number?"

I shook my head. "I don't really know. She said something strange about ‘if anything goes down, that's weird.' What does that mean, you think?"

Don shook his head. "I don't know, that's super strange."

"Yeah, I agree. I asked if they were in the mob, they glanced at each other. Do you think he's in the mob?"

"A Scottish mob? Not sure that's a thing. But I do know Katie's husband is very rich... he owns that big house down on the south end, you know?"

"Yeah."

"Maybe they're just a close-knit family, is Lochie religious?"

"Yeah, he prayed before he ate my um... pie."

"I bet he did." Don laughed. "That explains it, they're just religious."

"Sure, yeah."

"You'll need to decide, do you like him enough to put up with the family?" He wandered away to fill a drink order.

I thought, I do, I do really like him enough, and put the phone in my pocket. Lochie flashed through my mind, his smoldering look when he would say, Aye, Mistress Ash, and my hand rubbing across his chest, the way he felt against my skin, the scent of his cologne... and the way he had looked when he pressed his thumb to mine and said, ‘...I will never beguile ye...' I finished serving the last tables, wondering where he was and what he was doing now...