Highland love's redemption

Chapter 6:

A few days had passed in a pleasant routine.
Lachlan had closed himself again but was not as rude as before. I could see the effort he made for not pushing me away everytime and I did not intrude more than necessary in his life.
Our routine was the same, I had been waking up at 5 every morning, walked for 30 minutes or so in the freezing darkness and was often picked up by Lachlan's Jeep. Then I would prepare myself, prepare the kids to go to school, cook for Lachlan and he picked the kids to school while I was cleaning the house in the afternoon. I'd have grown to like this clockwork routine, it kept my mind busy most of the time and I felt useful. The nights were better as the days got by and though nightmares still filled my sleep, I could clearly see an improvement.

Maybe he was right. I should've come here sooner, maybe he would still be there if I had.

This thought was a constant and a part of my daily routine, one that I tried to avoid but I thought of the what ifs more than once a day.

I had been there for more than a week and on this Tuesday night I was doing the dishes again alone in the kitchen while the kids were asleep and Lachlan was watching the television in the living room. I did not hear him coming in the kitchen with my airpods on and jumped when I saw him in my peripheral vision.

"Jesus."

He cracked a quick smirk at my reaction and I took one of my earphones out, my hand still on my heart.

"Sorry I didn't mean to scare you."
"What can I do for you?"

He rested his hips on the counter beside me and crossed his powerful arms on his chest, letting me see the veins in his forearm. I mentally shook my head to focus again on the moment. These kinds of reactions happened more than I cared to admit. I'd often find myself admiring him and his strong broad body or having weird thoughts about how his low voice was sexy or how I loved listening to his accent when he was talking to his kids or family. I noticed he made a good effort when I was around to conceal it. I tried to ignore it, blaming the long time I hadn't been so close to a man.

" I am going out tomorrow night."
"Oh great."

"Yeah, Wednesday is our "boys" night. I usually meet Doug, Graham and Alastair in the pub in town. I did not last week because I considered I had to stay for your first week but I guess I can trust you now, can I?"

I nodded.

"Perfect. You have my phone number anyways so I'll be there if you need. Is that fine for you?"
"Course it is."

I smiled and he quickly responded with a smile too.

"Braw."
"Sorry what?"

He seemed not to understand at first, then repeated it again.

"Braw?"
"Means, it's good, great, cool."
"Oh okay, sorry."

He left without another word and I went to sleep shortly after.

***

Lachlan's POV:

I arrived at the Lochside at 6 where Graham was already waiting for us at our usual spot. Douglas was still running here and there to serve some pints to customers and arrived with our own a few seconds later, promising us to be there in a minute. Graham and I stayed in our usual comfort silent, none of us being particularly keen to talk.

Alastair arrived at 6:30 after his shift, interrupting Douglas in his story of the latest gossip in town. Doug talked about women as Alastair interjected often with his dry wit about how he would never for his life settle down. We discussed the weather, politics and raised more than one pint of ales to the good old days and the better ones to come.

The four of us had met long ago in school and were since then inseparable. Alastair was the town's police chief and was happily married to Eilidh since they were 18 and had three girls. Douglas was the owner of the Lochside and the eternal Don Juan of the group and never seemed to stay with a woman for long since the departure of Annabel for Dublin 12 years ago. And Graham was the quiet one, always in his mind and could be rarely seen in public. He would retreat himself to his farm with his sheep and would not come to the town bar for groceries or our weekly meeting. Graham was still handsome and at the brink of turning 40, he was still making head turns, but his life was for the most part a mystery even for us.

The conversation suddenly shifted and all the heads were turned to me. I grunted seeing Doug's looks and unconcealed interest in the subject.

"So how's the nanny? I saw her in town walking around. Pretty girl isn't she?With her tight pair of leggings..."
"Fuck off will you."

That only made him laugh.

"I am only messing y'know that."

I made a doubtful look which made him laugh even more.

"How is she with the bairns?"

I thought of the answer and realised I could not find a default to her babysitting skills, she was supposed to be inexperienced but handled the twin with lots of care and fun. They were really happy with her and so was I. A little too much maybe. I found myself checking on her more than I should, I had to admit that I knew what Doug was talking about when he talked about her leggings. She was without a doubt very pretty. Pretty young too. That too but I was not interested in repeating the same mistake I did years ago with Isabella and certainly not with the nanny who my children began to really appreciate.
I finished my beer and made a sign to Cillian to pour me another one.

"She's fine, they love her."

"What about you?"

I turned to Graham who had talked and I knew I was in trouble. This man was a real people reader and could mess up a careful put facade in no time.

"As long as she's good with the kids."

He nodded without keeping his eyes off of me.

"What d'ye want now?"

I saw a light of satisfaction in his eyes and understood he had the reaction he wanted when Douglas blew a whistle.

"Don't start now, this is the end of this conversation."

I drank my last pint a little too fast while Alastair reminded me to be careful. And once again my mind was inevitably drawn to her, I checked my phone and sent her a message.

Lachlan: Everything's fine Leannan?

I had used this term in the beginning in spite of her, to tell her how precious and out of place she looked in this farm but it had become strangely more. You're playing a dangerous game, MacLeod.
She was quick to answer my message.

Eleanor: Yeah it's braw, you?

I smiled remembering the conversation from last night.

Lachlan: I see you're getting used to the local slang. Yeah,  will be home in an hour or so.

She typed and erased her text before typing again.

Eleanor: Okay, enjoy then.

I put my phone back in my pocket and caught Graham's look on me. I decided to ignore it and saw him smile a bit. During the next hour my mind constantly came back to her and I checked my phone more than usual to see if she wrote anything.
I came back to the farm in the dark of the night and found her asleep on the egg chair in the veranda, a book closed on her.
The dilemma tugged at me - should I disturb her sleep so she could go upstairs and find her own bed, drape a plaid over her but then she would wake up with more than likely stiffness, or carry her to her bed?
After a good minute of hesitation, I chose the latter.

Gently cradling her in my arms, I was surprised at the weightlessness of her body. Her perfume enveloped me as I was carrying her upstairs. She was stirring a bit, threatening to wake up as I tugged her into her bed.

"Lachlan."

Her small sleepy voice was barely audible as I turned to leave.

"Yeah Leannan?"

She fell back to sleep in an instant and I left the room without making any noise.