Secrets at the Loch (Loch Lannick #5) - Hannah Ellis Page 0,39
hand?” her dad asked, as he moved around Leana behind the bar.
Wearily, she shook her head. “I’m looking for Mum.”
“Upstairs,” he said, tipping his chin in that direction.
Lexie trudged up the steep stairs at the back of the pub and let herself into the flat above. She plonked herself onto the couch beside her mum and felt immediately tearful.
“What’s wrong?” Mary asked.
She shrugged and rested her head on her mum’s shoulder.
“Tell me what’s going on,” Mary said gently.
“I don’t really know.” Lexie paused and sniffed. “I keep thinking about Nick.”
Mary put an arm around Lexie and ran a hand over her hair. “I heard about his mum. He’ll have taken it hard. He’s a sensitive soul, isn’t he? People recover from strokes, though. Hopefully his mum will be back to normal soon and he’ll be back.”
“I’m scared he won’t come back,” Lexie said, her voice hoarse.
“Have you spoken to him?”
Lexie shook her head. “I just sent him a message.”
“Maybe you should give him a call. He’d like to hear from you. And if anyone can persuade him to come back, it’s you.”
“I don’t think he’ll want me to call him.” Tears rolled down her cheeks and landed on her mum’s shoulder. “I’ve not been very nice to him.” That was the understatement of the year, but she couldn’t bring herself to tell her mum how badly she’d treated him.
“I think you’ve been very good to him. It was always an awkward situation.”
“How do you mean?” Lexie asked, sitting up and wiping at her cheeks.
“Well, he’s been quite open about how he feels about you. Anyone can see how he dotes on you. You keeping him at arm’s length was the kindest thing. Some women would enjoy the attention and give a guy false hope.”
Lexie covered her face with her hands. It had definitely been kinder of her to ignore Nick.
“What’s going on?” Mary pulled her hands from her face. “This isn’t like you.”
Lexie let out a quick, humourless laugh. “It’s not like me to be concerned about someone else?”
“That’s not what I said. It’s just not like you to get so upset.”
“I think I need to …” She paused, wondering what it was she needed. What she wanted was to see Nick. She wanted to see him so badly. But she wasn’t sure whether that was because she was really concerned about him or because she wanted to make herself feel better for how she’d treated him.
“What?” her mum asked when the silence stretched on.
“I feel like I need to get away for a while,” she said.
“Well, after next week work will be quiet. Why don’t you have a holiday? We could go somewhere together if you want? Have a little mother-daughter trip.”
“I was thinking of visiting Grandad,” Lexie said. She hadn’t really been thinking about it at all. The thought had only come to her in that moment. It made sense, though. “I haven’t seen him in so long, and last time I spoke to him I got the impression that his health isn’t great. I think this stuff with Nick’s mum made me think about him.”
“Oh.” Mary failed to hide her surprise. “I’m sure Wesley would like to see you.”
“Do you think Dad will mind?”
“Of course not. He’s always said his quarrels with the family aren’t yours. He’s never had a problem with you seeing that side of the family.”
Her grandad was Angus’s older brother. There’d been a feud for as long as Lexie could remember, though she’d never quite got to the bottom of what it was about. Her grandad called her once a month. When she was younger she used to visit him in the school holidays and had always enjoyed it, but the older he got the more grumpy and bitter he became. The last time Lexie visited him was a couple of years before. When she’d had enough of him grumbling about Angus, she’d cut her stay short and not been back since.
“What did he and Dad fall out about?” Lexie asked. She’d probably asked a hundred times but never got a good answer. “Last time I saw him he kept saying Dad stole money from him …”
Mary shook her head and dropped her gaze to her hands in her lap. “It’s so long ago, I can’t even really remember what happened. They’re both very stubborn, though. I think that was the main problem.”
“You’re fine without me in the pub next week, aren’t you?” She was only down for one shift anyway.