Page 39 of The Rescue

“Aye,mo beag. I would love to see them.” He smiles at me softly.

He stands and stretches, and I get a little sneak peek of his toned abs as his t-shirt lifts. I have to stop myself from reaching out and stroking his exposed stomach.

He wanders over to the big couch, and flops down on it with a satisfied moan. I grab my laptop from the table and join him on the plush couch, and I picture myself snuggling up with Rabbie in front of the fire when it’s snowing outside. I shake my head to get that thought out of my head, because he made it clear to my brothers that it was nothing but professional between us. And because that thought is definitely in serious relationship territory.

I flick through all the pictures I took of Rabbie, and he quietly nods and smiles as I show him my favourites and which ones I suggest he should approve, to go on the website. I’m waiting for his input, but he doesn’t say anything.

“Do you not like them?” I ask him. I feel the worry spreading through me like a dark cloud. He turns to look at me with a strained look, and puts his arm over the back of the couch.

“Oh, no. I love them all. I just don’t have many pictures of me, so it’s just hard for me to get excited about them. Apart from school pictures, I don’t really have any. My nan never used a camera because she grew up in the war and never believed in novelty things such as cameras, and obviously you know the situation with my mum and dad. And to top it off, being an owner of a business is hard for me to accept when I had the childhood I had. I guess I’m dealing with a little bit of impostersyndrome. I’m sorry, I sound ungrateful, they’re all amazing.” he shrugs his shoulders.

I close my laptop and place it on the coffee table and turn towards him on the couch. My heart crumbles at the thought of knowing that there are no pictures of Rabbie as a baby or a little boy. I bet he was the cutest kid with his blonde hair and green eyes. It breaks my heart even more to know that he craved love from his parents and never got it. It kinda makes me feel stupid for having this weird relationship with my mama, because even though she always critiques me, I know she loves me.

“You’re too modest, you’ve created a successful business all by yourself. You should be proud of that.”

“Thanks, and this website wouldn’t be possible without you,” he smiles at me.

“You’re welcome, I’m glad I could help. Now, that’s enough talk of families and business for today, let’s go get a drink because I think we need a dram of whisky or two after the couple of days we’ve had,” I try to imitate a Scottish accent.

A small laugh escapes Rabbie’s mouth as he tilts his head back against the couch. I relish in this moment, because this is the light, carefree Rabbie that everyone loves.

His face is soft and stress-free. We both make a pact to push aside all our crappy feelings about families and self-worth,

and truly live in the moment.

* * *

Rabbie and I enter the pub, and I’m not surprised to find itpacked with the whole town. It’s lively here tonight, with people playing music and singing folk songs. The fire is lit, and it’s very cosy with all the tables lit by candlelight, it almost looks romantic to be in here. I must admit the rustic charm of The Drunken Duck is rubbing off on me. It will be weird going back to Boston and the swanky cocktail bars. Suddenly the thought of going back to Boston fills me with dread, and the pit in my stomach feels like lead.

I thought, after being here for a while now, that people would stop looking over and whispering whenever I enter a place with Rabbie. But it seems to have gotten worse as I spot multiple tables of locals looking over in our direction. Rabbie places his hand on the small of my back as we walk through the crowded pub. His heavy hand sends sharp jolts of energy through my body, and my legs begin to feel like jelly. I have to focus on not falling in front of the whole pub because this man seriously is doing strange things to me.

I scan the pub for Dylan and find her sitting at our usual table in the corner next to the fire. Rabbie leads me over, and I’m like putty in his hand, he can lead me anywhere when his hand is on me like this.

Dylan looks between me and Rabbie with a small smirk on her face, that girl can read me like a book. The look on my face must say it all. I’m trying to act cool in front of everyone, when really I’m squirming on the inside.

Dylan tries to hide her smirk by taking a sip of her drink, I know she’ll be asking me questions as soon as we’re alone. We take a seat at the table with everyone. Cam and Hamish are having some heated discussion, they both spot Rabbie and try to involve him.

“Rabbie, what do you reckon? Can you make it up to the cabin this year? Hamish reckons we’re all too busy, but seeing as it’s Dylan’s first winter in Scotland, and we have Crystal here,I thought it would be nice to take them to the cabin for the weekend,” Cam asks him.

“I w-was just thinking of how b-busy you’ll be now you’re the owner of Sweet Treats.” Hamish stutters.

Hamish looks at Rabbie with a glare as if he wants him to back him up and not Cam, I can tell the MacTavish brothers really value Rabbie’s opinion. Rabbie looks at me, and then back at the two brothers.

“I could close the kitchen for the weekend and make a huge batch of baked goods to sell. I trust Nellie and David to run the cafe for the weekend, I’m sure Nel will get a kick out of bossing David around. Plus, all the locals know how to behave when I’m away.”

Hamish rolls his eyes in defeat, and Fiona places her hand on his arm. Hamish immediately tenses up and Fiona pulls her hand away like she’s touched something hot and been burnt.

“What cabin?” I ask the group.

“We own a cabin about a couple of hours from here, it’s in the middle of nowhere. It’s beautiful to go this time of year, we always make the effort to get there a couple of times throughout the year, and I thought it would be nice to take you Americans,” Cam winks at Dylan.

Dylan lightly smacks Cam on his large bicep as he gives her a playful look.

“Only if you want to go,” Rabbie looks at me intently.

“Is there heating and running water in this cabin?”

“Of course, we’re not heathens. But none of that Wi-Fi crap. The weekend will be off the grid,” Cam raises an eyebrow at me.

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