Page 76 of Highland Getaway
Everything that’s happened between us has been based on a lie; or, if not a lie, exactly, then at least an omission of truth. He’s no better than Bex, really, pretending to be younger than she is, or anyone else who lets people think they’re something they’re not.
No wonder he didn’t make a big fuss about me pretending to be Rosie Summers when I first arrived here. How could he, when he was pretending to be someone else, too?
And he’s been pretending the entire time.
My shoulders sag in defeat as I lean back against the cellar wall.
‘Could you say something, please?’ Hunter says, his voice raw. ‘Tell me what you’re thinking?’
I consider this carefully. What I’mactuallythinking is that there’s no chance of a future between us; and there never really was. Even if Hunter had been honest with me from the start, he’d still live hundreds of miles away, and there’s just no way around that.
Plus, he said it himself: I’ve only known him for a few days. It’s nothing, really. It was silly of me to think it could be something more; just as silly as it was for me to think I could come to the Chrysalis as myself and emerge as someone else.
Nothing’s going to change.
‘What I’m thinking is that we barely know each other, Hunter,’ I say softly. ‘We’re from completely different worlds; and in a couple of days, I’ll be going back to mine. So I think it’s probably best that we just end this – whatever this is – between us now, don’t you? It’ll be easier that way.’
A flash of emotion crosses his face, too quickly for me to be able to identify it. Then he nods, just once, not looking at me.
‘Can we at least still be friends?’ he says, his voice cracking on the last word. ‘I know you don’t want it to be any more than that, and I get that – I do. But .?.?. well, I don’t know about you, but I could definitely use a friend around about now.’
I pause, one foot on the first step.
Friendship isn’t what I want from him; and I’m not sure it’s whathereally wants, either. But we don’t always get the things we want in life – isn’t that what he told me?
And isn’t it the truth?
‘I’m not sure,’ I say honestly. ‘I don’t know if I can trust you anymore .?.?. even as a friend.’
Then, before he can say anything else, I open the door and walk away.
Chapter 30
The hotel lobby is empty, with just one solitary potato sitting on top of the reception desk as a reminder of the events of earlier.
The ballroom, however, is still filled with people, and there’s a low hum of excitement in the air as they crowd around the room’s tall windows, watching the rain falling outside. The wind whistles through the trees that line the driveway, making them bend precariously, and, as I watch, there’s a sudden loud roll of thunder, that makes the smaller kids – and Millie – shriek in alarm.
‘I don’t suppose you’ve seen Dante, have you?’ Zara says, coming hurrying over as soon as she catches sight of me. ‘Or Sabrina? No one knows where they are, and this lot are getting restless. None of them want to risk driving back in this weather, and apparently the power’s still out in the village, so they don’t want to leave, even if they could.’
As if on cue, lightning lights up the room with a loud crack that makes me jump, and Millie scream again.
This is going to be a very long night.
‘I haven’t seen either of them,’ I tell Zara, my mind still struggling to process everything that’s happened in the last few hours; and the last few days. ‘If Dante isn’t around, though, I guess that leaves the Laird in charge?’
Zara and I look over to where Lord Glenmuir is sitting in a wingback armchair in front of the fire, looking rather lordly with a glass of whisky in one hand and a jacket potato in the other, which he’s eating as if it’s an apple. There’s a couple of villagers around his age sitting on each side of him, and the entire scene is strangely reminiscent of something fromGame of Thrones– which isn’t particularly reassuring, all things considered, although the fact that he’s apparently decided to make peace with the ‘intruders’ can only be a good thing.
Thunder booms around the room once more. Just a few seconds between it and the lightning, which means the storm must be almost overhead.
‘Er, you should ask him,’ I say, nudging Zara forward. ‘You seem to know what you’re doing. And also, I’m a bit scared of him.’
Zara sighs loudly, sounding a lot like my oldest sister when the kids have asked her to do one too many things simultaneously. But, after a moment’s hesitation, her instinct to take charge kicks in, and she goes striding confidently towards the Laird; me trailing much less confidently along behind her, fighting the urge to drop a quick curtsy as we arrive in front of him.
‘They can stay here,’ says the Laird, when Zara finishes explaining the situation with the storm and the villagers, having to raise her voice so he can hear her over the sound of the rain, which now sounds like it’s attempting to break through the windows. ‘If there aren’t enough rooms, some of them can sleep in the ballroom. It’ll be just like in the war, when we were requisitioned. Soldiers in every corner. Limbs falling off and everything. Blood everywhere. Marvellous time it was, though. Proper Dunkirk spirit.’
For once, not even Zara knows quite what to say to that, and I’m just glad Yasmin isn’t within earshot.
‘So .?.?. what, we just hand out room keys?’ she manages. ‘Shouldn’t someone from the hotel be doing that kind of thing?’
