Page 19 of Kilt Trip

Addie laughed and took another tentative sip. “What were they fighting over?”

“Oh, most likely it was nothing. They love the making-up part, if you ken my meaning.” Elyse waggled her eyebrows.

“Sounds healthy.” Addie had never heard of retaliation being the key to a relationship. Then again, she wasn’t exactly an expert.

“But never dull. Come on, then. Tell me you don’t want a man who gets your insides so minced you can’t sleep.”

“Or so strung out you can’t resist burning their clothes?” she said jokingly, to cover her terror at the thought of getting that close to someone. She’d seen firsthand the kind of destruction love could wreak. You never knew when someone would leave you, whether they meant to or not. It wasn’t worth the damage when they did.

Elyse laughed. “It’s nice having someone my own age to talk to for a change.” The way she smiled made her words sound like It’s nice having a friend.

Addie didn’t make many of those. Full-time traveling wasn’t conducive to relationships. She’d eaten cake at one too many going-away parties to think she’d hear from her old coworkers ever again, let alone clients.

Devika was the exception. After her husband died in a car accident three years ago, the office had filled with flowers and well-wishes. But shock wears off pretty quickly when the grief isn’t yours to bear. The sting of loneliness Addie felt for Devika brought with it the ghost of people pulling away, of her high-school boyfriend breaking up with her saying, “You’re so fucking sad all the time,” like there was some alternative she refused to consider.

Late one night, on a project in Monaco, she’d knocked on Devika’s hotel-room door. Addie held out a bag of peppermint chocolates. “They don’t help, but they do taste good. Do you want to talk?”

Devika hiccuped out a laugh, invited her in, and told her about Samir. Addie talked about her mom for the first time in years. It turned out, ordering takeout and working long hours with a friend helped dull the ache as much as jet-setting.

Elyse’s animated hand gestures and lively stories had that effect on her, too.

“Really nice,” Addie agreed.

Elyse pressed the prongs of her fork against her lips like she was thinking. “You’re right, though. I don’t need a frustrating man in my life. I already have one of those. Logan’s been all over me with the social-media plans. He’d still have a flip phone if it hadn’t broken, and now he’s over here telling me about filters.”

Addie rubbed her eyes. “Tell me about it. He can’t find time to pull together costs for the trips, and yet he had me swapping out fourteen different versions of Scottish-thistle pictures on the home page yesterday.” It was unprofessional to complain to a client’s employee, but the executive team who hired her didn’t usually include a giant Highland boulder intent on obstructing her path.

Elyse chuckled. “He’s a tosser. But I’m happy to help wherever I can.”

“Like getting me cost breakdowns?”

“Consider it done.”

“Seriously?” Relief flooded through Addie, and she took an oversize bite of bacony potato. “Thank you.”

Elyse shrugged. “I love this place. It’s like family, but without all the complicated bits... Or maybe that’s just mine.”

“Mine, too.” Wait. Elyse’s welcoming nature overrode Addie’s instinct to deflect, to the point where she almost wanted to commiserate. But she knew better.

“I told them I took this job, and my mum said, ‘How nice, a secretary.’”

“That’s shitty. An office manager is an important job. This place would be a wreck without you.”

Elyse flicked her hair over her shoulder in a move that was definitely meant to be ironic. “Doesn’t matter what they think. I love it.”

“I can see why.” Addie worked in a lot of offices every year. There was definitely something special here. The new trainee wore only Heart of the Highlands hoodies, and the drivers always came in to chat before their trips. The HR lady left flattering notes on pink Post-its at random, including for Addie.

“I want to take on more, but it’s hard at a family business. I’m not sure it’s my place.”

Addie knew exactly how that felt. “I get it, but there’s certainly enough work and they adore you. I say go for it.”

“Maybe. Don’t say anything to Logan, alright?”

“We’re not currently speaking, so all good there.” If it wasn’t for him, this place would be a dream.

The afternoon light was gloomy by the time Addie and Elyse strolled back from the potato shop and crested the stairs into the noisy office. No sleek lines or skyscraper views here. The Heart of the Highlands’s office resembled a pub more than a workplace, with dark timber desks, thick-paned windows, and ferns on every available surface. They parted ways, Elyse to her desk along an exposed brick wall, and Addie to the hooks holding the office’s various keys near the door.

From her bag, she pulled out silver bagpipe keychains she’d found in a tourist shop on the way back. The little yellow bag crinkled and Addie crumpled it up to stop the noise. Slipping the metal loops over her thumb, she grabbed the first set of van keys, slid her nail between the split ring, and twisted.

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