Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 109783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 549(@200wpm)___ 439(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 549(@200wpm)___ 439(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
“You ready for your first doc appointment, wee yin?” I asked as we strode across the car park.
We’d discovered Millie loved the baby carrier. She stared up at me, wide-eyed, a hilarious smirk curling one side of her mouth.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” I pressed a kiss to her forehead and looked up to find the worst person imaginable exiting the doctors’ surgery.
Aisla Rankin.
Mrs. Rankin was widowed and a judgmental busybody masquerading as leader of the morality police. When Callie fell pregnant, Aisla Rankin tried to muddy Callie’s reputation. The Adairs wouldn’t stand for it and Mrs. Rankin found herself persona non grata with the most powerful family in the Scottish Highlands. Stupid auld cow. She deserved it after the rumors she’d spread about Callie.
Unfortunately, she was the worst person I could run into on my first outing with Millie in the village. News of my small companion would be all over Ardnoch by the end of the morning.
Wonderful.
“Fyfe Moray.” Mrs. Rankin peered at Millie as she passed us. “What do you have there then?”
“None of your business,” I replied calmly, snorting when I heard her huff of indignation behind me.
Millie giggled as if she were in on it.
“That’s your first encounter with the town gossip, wee yin,” I told her softly as I entered the building. “You are to avoid her from now until eternity so she doesn’t fill your head with her internalized misogyny and toxic Victorian values.”
My daughter blew a bubble at me.
“One day you’ll agree.” I patted her wee bottom and walked into reception.
There were four people in the room, most familiar faces from the village. I gave them a nod and watched them greet me, their curious gazes on Millie.
“I have an appointment for Millicent Moray,” I told the receptionist.
She gaped at me and then Millie. “Oh. Of course, Mr. Moray. Please take a seat.”
And so it began.
Even if Aisla didn’t do the work, the people at the doctors’ office would. Everyone would know by the end of the day that Fyfe Moray was now a single dad.
As soon as I sat down, Millie got antsy.
“It’s all right. Won’t be long.”
Her face crumpled in indignation.
“Fine.” I stood and began pacing. Her wee smile returned.
Brilliant. She wasn’t even a year old, and she already knew how to get her own way.
Ten minutes later, a man I didn’t recognize strode into the reception. He wore a shirt, trousers, and tie and had a lanyard around his neck. He looked around my age, maybe just a tad older. When his gaze landed on me, I could have sworn it hardened. “Fyfe and Millicent Moray?”
“Aye, that’s us.” I crossed the distance between us. “Doctor …?”
“Dr. Phillips.”
“Are you new in town?”
He gaped at me as if I’d surprised him. “Well … yes.” Shaking his head, he turned around. “This way.”
Mildly bemused by the strange welcome, I patted Millie’s bottom again and followed him. “Let’s follow the doctor, wee yin.”
Inside his office, Dr. Phillips was brisk and efficient, checking over Millie.
“Her previous doctor’s surgery said they’d email you her medical records,” I told him. Pamela had provided all that information to my solicitor.
“Yes, we got them. Nothing untoward there. And Millicent seems in perfect health.”
I was a little disconcerted by how unemotional he was with Millie, considering she was cute as fuck and it was physically impossible not to smile at her. Maybe he just wasn’t a baby person. I never thought I was until Harley came along. “We call her Millie.”
“Eilidh tells me you have full custody of Millie now.” Dr. Phillips handed my daughter back to me.
I frowned. “Eilidh?”
The doctor narrowed his eyes. “You do know that we’re seeing each other? Me and Eilidh. She’s my girlfriend. She didn’t tell you?”
What the actual fuck?
Blood rushed in my ears as a sickening roiling sensation moved through me at his revelation.
“You and Eilidh Adair?” I felt the need to confirm.
The bastard smiled smugly. “For weeks now. We’re getting quite serious.”
A jagged sharpness blazed from my heart.
Jealousy.
It was an ugly fucking emotion.
“Is that right?” I looked away because I was afraid he’d recognize my sudden need to punch his lights out. Instead, I focused on putting Millie back into the baby carrier. “Funny. If you’re so serious, why has she never mentioned you?” I felt the words bubbling up before I could stop them as I lifted my chin to meet his gaze in challenge. “She clearly mentioned me and Millie to you.”
Dr. Phillips narrowed his eyes. “Well, Eilidh’s a kind person who is happy to help out a man she considers a brother.”
That’s when I knew.
He had no idea Eilidh had admitted to being in love with me.
My gut twisted.
She’d told me she loved me not that long ago and now she was dating this prick? Make that make sense.
“Are we done here?” I stood, and Millie made grumbling noises that suggested if we weren’t, she certainly was.