Secrets at the Loch (Loch Lannick #5) - Hannah Ellis Page 0,83
by the window left, and Lexie had got lost in a trance as she stared across the room at them.
“Yeah,” Lexie said.
“Why don’t you go and talk to him? Sort it all out.”
“He doesn’t want to talk to me.”
Angus wandered in from the kitchen. “Do you want to kick that lot out or shall I?” he asked Lexie, tipping his head at the Mackenzies.
“You do it.”
“You usually like shouting at people to get out,” Angus remarked as he set off in their direction.
“Why don’t you go home?” Mary asked. “Have a good sleep and everything will seem better in the morning.”
“Everything’s a mess,” Lexie said bitterly. “And it’ll still be a mess in the morning.”
She forced a smile as her drunk friends called goodbye on their way out.
“You finish up here,” Mary said to Angus. She put her hands on Lexie’s shoulders and marched her across the room. “We’ll be upstairs.”
“I’m fine,” Lexie insisted as she walked up the stairs at the back of the pub. “You’re right – I should go home to bed and everything will be better in the morning.”
“You’ll only go over it all in your head. You may as well tell me what’s going on. Then you’ll feel better.”
“Nick’s angry with me,” Lexie said when they reached the living room.. “I’m not even sure he wants to be with me any more. I knew I’d mess it up.”
“Why is he angry?” Mary asked, patting Lexie’s knee as they sat together on the couch.
“Because I still haven’t told anyone about me and him. Apart from you and Dad.”
“Why haven’t you told them?”
Lexie opened her mouth to give the usual line about not having found the right time, but that was only an excuse, and a poor one at that.
“They’ve been trying to set him up with Meghan.”
“Okay,” her mum said slowly, clearly not understanding how that answered the question. “What does that matter?”
“They all love Nick. And they think I’m not good enough for him.”
Mary spat out a laugh. “I think it’s the other way around personally.”
“That’s because you’re my mum,” Lexie said with a sigh.
“I’m sure your friends will be happy for you. But it doesn’t matter what they think anyway.”
Lexie leaned on her knees, chewing on her thumbnail. “What if they’re right?”
“What do you mean?”
“Even I think he can do better for himself. So I can see where they’re coming from. Maybe someone like Meghan would be better for him.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. Nick adores you. Everyone can see that.”
“Maybe for now. But he’ll get sick of me eventually. Like everyone does.”
Mary squinted, looking completely bewildered. “No one gets sick of you. What are you talking about?”
“Stephanie got sick of me,” Lexie said, blinking back tears. “Then Grandad did. And …”
“And what?”
Lexie sniffed. She’d been thinking of her time in Inverness when Ryan had got fed up of her, and Stephanie had got bored of her for a second time in her life. But Mary didn’t know any of that.
“It doesn’t matter. The point is, people don’t always hang around long.”
“What about me and Angus?” Mary asked. “Have we ever abandoned you?”
“No, but let’s be honest, if you’d have been able to have kids of your own you’d never have got lumbered with me.”
“We didn’t get lumbered with you.” Mary shook her head. “We wanted you. And so did your grandad. He only asked us to take you temporarily because he was struggling while your gran was ill.”
“He didn’t want me back, though, did he?”
“Yes!” Mary raised her voice. “He did.” She closed her eyes briefly and inhaled a long breath. “None of what you’re saying is the truth, Lexie. That’s not what happened.”
Lexie’s chest heaved as she fought to keep her emotions under control. “Well, what did happen? I’ve asked you so many times why you don’t speak to Grandad and you won’t tell me.” She stood and paced the room, suddenly furious. “You know, maybe the reason I’m not very good at opening up to people is because you’ve spent my whole life hiding things from me. I don’t understand why.”
Mary wiped tears from the corners of her eyes. “Sit down,” she said, patting the couch.
Lexie stopped pacing and glared at her mum. “Just tell me.”
“Stephanie was always a terrible mother,” she said carefully. “Your grandparents took care of you since you were tiny. Stephanie came and went, usually when she needed money.” Pausing, Mary ran a shaky hand through her hair. “You’d just turned four when your gran got ill.