Page 241 of Tangled up in You

“Shite!” Jack said as he turned to a distraught Brodie, who cried out in anguish before falling to his knees.

“What? What’s wrong?”

Jack watched as Beth put her coffee cup down and ran to the distraught man. He couldn’t hold back the smirk as she checked him over to make sure he wasn’t injured.

“H-he’s gone? Uncle Liam is gone?”

“Oh, my God! Y-you’re the one he called Little Ridge? I mean, you’re not that little but, you’re his nephew?”

“Yes. He was Liam’s nephew.” Angus answered, short and to the point.

“How long ago did he die?” Broadie asked hoarsely.

“A couple of months ago. I found his attorney’s information and sent him the information he needed. That was the last I had spoken to him until the day I ran out on my wedding.”

Jack looked between his friends in confusion before approaching the group huddled in the doorway. If Mac had died months ago, why hadn’t Brodie been notified?

“Let’s go sit in the living room, out of the doorway and discuss this,” Jack recommended.

Once everyone had been seated in the living room, all eyes turned to Beth. No one knew where to start with the bombshell that was just delivered.

“You knew my uncle? What was he like? Did he ever talk about us?” Brodie started, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.

“No. Not really. Just that he had a sister and a nephew back in the U.K. He stayed private about his life really. But once a year, he would go on a binder for twenty-four hours. Holed up in his part of the apartments above the bar and got drunk. I always made sure he had food, but he would never let me see him like that. The one and only time I got him to talk about it was that he left because it was safer for them than to see the darkness he had in him.”

“What was he like?”

“At first, cold, distant, to the point. Didn’t do hugs or crying. But you could tell he cared, even when he tried not to. The first time he actually hugged me was when I cried on my eighteenth birthday. I had a hard time because my parents were dead, along with my younger sister. I realized that day my baby sister would never grow up and have a life. He actually took me to their graves that day and let me cry it out. After that, I was ok. Made it very clear he hated Doug from the get-go.”

Jack noticed that he and the other two couldn’t help but look at her when she chuckled at her last statement. She had gotten lost in the memories she had with Mac.

“How did he do that, lass?” Jack asked, prompting her along.

“Anytime the jerk would show up at the bar, Mac would say ‘pussy alert’. He always called Doug a pussy. Mac even taught me how to shoot a gun and wield a knife. When Doug got upset because of those lessons, Mac fired back that he had to make sure I knew how to protect myself because he knew damn well Doug wouldn’t protect me. He’d run like the little bitch he was.”

“You said earlier that you were in the middle of texting Doug that it was over when Mac had collapsed. What changed that? You were getting married.” Jack asked the burning question that was on his mind.

“Loneliness. I forgot all about that text when Mac had collapsed. My focus was on him. I was numb when I lost Mac. I guess in a large way I had stopped feeling, stopped caring when I lost him. Doug pounced on that weakness. Pushed his way back in. I was already questioning things when we got to the church. I don’t know why, but I had this overwhelming need to see him one more time before I walked down that isle. I walked into his suite at the church and found him and Haley fucking like rabbits. So, I turned around and walked away. Went home, packed up a suitcase and drove straight to the airport. Paid what I needed to have my flight changed to that day and flew into London. Changed flights in London to come to Edinburgh, then took the train into Inverness and here I am.”

CHAPTER 9

“Why Scotland?”

Beth turned to look at the quietest person in the room. She was slightly shocked at Angus’s question.

“Because this is where Mac was from. I wanted to be close to him one last time. I know it’s silly. But I wanted to see where he came from. The bed-and-breakfast was Doug’s idea. I also wanted to see if I could find Mac’s sister. I wanted to bring his ashes back to her, so she could decide where to spread them, or at least let her know his last wishes. I didn’t know if the attorney knew that part or not.”

“Y-you have my uncle’s ashes with you?” Brodie asked, looking at her for the first time in a while.

“Yeah. They are in the bag I have here with me. I couldn’t leave them in the car when I got out to hike. He was the closest thing I had to a father. I wasn’t leaving him behind just because I was lost.”

“Y-you were going to look for my mum?” Brodie asked, looking at her in confusion.

“Yeah, I was. He was still her blood relative. I realized the picture he had on his desk was her and you when you were little.Now and then I would catch him talking to that photo. Even told the picture about me. Said I reminded him of her and the nephew’s stubbornness.” Beth smiled over at Brodie.

“Aye. He always said I had the family stubbornness down pact.”

“Why did he leave? If you and your mom are alive, who did he blame himself for being the only survivor of?”

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