Her Scottish Mistake (A Perfect Escape)

by Michele De Winton

  Somehow, the sound of all her brothers and her father sucking in air at the same time conveyed a tone of horror more terrifying than if her pop had been angry. Tony cleared his throat. “You know no one expects you to do that, right?”

  “I don’t have that much armpit hair anyway to be honest.”

  He coughed. “No, the cooking and cleaning for us part.”

  She slumped deeper into the sofa. “I know, you guys will all find partners and be off having babies and lives and stuff. It’s okay. I’m going to be a great auntie.”

  “No.” Tony’s voice was firm. Harsh, even. “Mom would kill us from her grave if we let you use this as an excuse not to get out and take over the world.”

  As the oldest, Tony had known their mother the longest. So his saying that snapped Janie’s head up fast. She looked from one to the other, her eyes finally settling on her pop’s. “Mom wanted me to take over the world?”

  “You’d already started to, even before she passed,” her father said gently.

  “But as soon as I got back here you were all so happy to see me, like you wished I’d never gone to Thailand…” Janie was lost a moment as the four men in her life looked at her with a mix of stern paternalism and concern. “Who’s going to make sure you take your meds, and make Mom’s chili for you, and run the shop? You were so dead set against me working in there as a mechanic, I figured it was because you wanted me behind the desk even though I’m twice as good as Tony—sorry, Tony.”

  “You are twice as good as me,” Tony said with a laugh.

  “The doc has given me this reminder thingy to help me remember my meds. I’ve been fine the whole time you’ve been away, haven’t I? And Tony is only working in the garage so he can pay off the tractor he busted up pretending to work on Hank’s farm. Well, that, and paying for the rent money he’ll need if he gets into Juilliard.”

  “You’re going to Juilliard?” Janie leaped from the chair and threw herself at her brother, punching him in the arm. “You big holdout!”

  They play-fought for a second before Janie remembered what they had all been talking about in the first place. “What about Mom’s chili?”

  They all looked at one another uneasily. Tony was the one to break the silence. “We only say no one makes it quite like you because, well, no one does. It’s the worst chili this side of Texas.”

  “What? Why didn’t you say anything?”

  “It meant something. It was Mom’s recipe, and you always said how it made you feel closer to her.” He paused. “The whole being happy you’re back? Of course we are. But not so’s you need to stay here forever. We just figured, you know, you could use a break from the rest of the world for a bit. Lie low, hide from the papers, or at least hide from Bobby.”

  Janie was flummoxed; the world was suddenly open to her to go anywhere. Do anything. Only problem was, she still didn’t have the money. Then another thought struck her. “Why the hell were you all pleased that I was marrying Tom?”

  “No one was pleased about that. But what did you want us to say? The guy is a douche? I was ready to put a whole lot more than a fish in the guy’s hubcap,” Hunter muttered.

  “But…I still don’t get it.”

  “Hunter was never going to work in the shop. He doesn’t have the hands for it, and he’s too damn big,” her pop said with a smile. “Dave here is more like you and me, can rebuild a carburetor with his eyes closed, and he loves it, might as well have been drinking gas as a baby; well, either that or he learned it from a book, the number of them he has under his bed.” Dave blushed as Janie looked on openmouthed. It was about as close to her pop saying he pooped gold to hear him talk about Dave’s mechanic skills like that.

  “You always had bigger plans. You were going to take on the world. And with animals, always with animals. I admit I thought the snake thing was a phase, but you haven’t grown out of it yet. Your mom would have rolled her eyes at me. She always said you knew your mind and you were going to follow it all the way to success.” A faraway look filled her father’s eyes, and Janie saw just how much he missed his soul mate. What she wouldn’t give to look like him someday, even if it meant having loved and lost.

  “Hang on, boys. I see the look,” Tony said with a grin.

  “What look?”

  “The ‘look’ look. The one you get when you’ve just clicked about something and you’re about to try to make us dress up like mice,” Tony said.

  “Or put a fish in some guy’s hubcap,” piped up Hunter.

  “I do not have a look.”

  The three boys looked at their father, who nodded.

  “Oh, whatever,” she said, the love and frustration that only siblings could engender filling her to bursting. “Anyway, the real question is what the heck do I do now?”

  “You follow your heart,” her father said, quieter and with such sincerity that the humor that had been bouncing around the room dropped away.

  “What if I don’t know what’s in my heart?”

  “Don’t give me that. Your mother wasn’t kidding when she said you would be off on adventures taking on the world.”

  “I’ve been out of Texas once and I work part time at a petting zoo. That’s hardly taking on the world.”

  “You lost your way when she passed, but I knew you’d find it again. I only wanted you to work it out for yourself. It’s better that way. Just like Tony needed to work out he was going to play music. Hunter and Dave here were born doing what they were doing, and that’s a blessing sure enough, but when you find your calling as a grown-up, well, that’s a powerful thing.”

  Someone could have slapped her with a fish and she would have fallen over. Janie gawped at her father’s long speech.

  “Now this guy. The one from Thailand. What did he do that was so bad?”

  “He lied about who he was, what he did, how he lived. He pretty much lied about everything. And he heaped everything on me, didn’t trust me, didn’t give a rat’s ass about how his choices would play out in my life.”

  “Well, shit.”

  All four of Pop’s children gasped. He never swore, but he wasn’t done yet. “You love him anyway, though, don’t you?”

  “Love him?” Janie scoffed. “I hate him. He tried to blame me when this whole thing hit the headlines and didn’t even think about how it would impact all of us here. I call no chance on him getting back in my good books.”

  “But the whole interweb thing? Ain’t there more than forty people reading your blogger whatsit now?”

  “Maybe.”

  Tony snorted. “Only like three hundred thousand. And that last post you did, about the ringed somethingsomething, mangrove snake?”

  “The Boiga dendrophila melanota.”

  “Yeah, that. It was great. Funny. The bit about reality TV stars and snakes and…you should read it Pop.”

  “Maybe I will, and then you’ll have three hundred thousand and one. Won’t someone pay you to write more of that stuff?”

  Yes. Yes they would. Janie thought about the email she’d gotten just that morning asking if she’d write a guest piece for a reptile magazine in Australia. The floor could have opened up to meet her and she would have been less surprised. “Apparently.”

  “Well then,” her pop said. “Enough of this ‘we can’t afford this, that, and whatchamawhozit.’ We’ll be fine here if you want to go off and follow him.”

  “What? How? Who?” Janie said, her head spinning that she’d just been told by her father to monetize her blog and run off around the world.

  “Do you love him?”

  Janie felt the blush start at the roots of her hair and travel over the top of her head till she was sure she was pretty much glowing pink. “Pop.”

  “Well?”

  If it was honesty night, so be it. “Yes. Totally.”

  “Hunter thinks he was sorry. He flew all the way here to tell you. Don’t you think it might be worth hearing the guy out?”

  Right at that minute Tony’s cell p
inged.

  “Really? Now?” Janie rolled her eyes at the brother who had always been the social butterfly of the family.

  “Um. It’s actually about your man.” He paused and scrolled down as another two pings sounded. “Think you might need to get down to the town square. Your Mr. Thailand is down there with a bunch of people. Apparently he’s calling it a press conference and wants you to come.”

  Janie rubbed her face and ran her fingers through her hair, which was clean. Or at least cleanish.

  “A press conference? Here? Who’s going to cover it, Bobby?” said Janie.

  Tony shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe your man’s counting on you covering it.”

  “He’s not my man.”

  “Sure ain’t if you don’t get down there and find out what’s going on.”

  Janie bit her lip, wavering on the edge of relenting. Tony gave her a nudge. “What have you got to lose?”

  True. “Okay, let’s go. If I’m going, you’re all coming, too.”

  In the town center, Blaine was holding court with Bobby. The old men who liked to sit in the sun on the benches around the dusty square were sitting up like their lunchtime sandwiches just got full of fifty-dollar bills instead of peanut butter and jelly. Two men, obviously reporters, stood by a white van with the Austin Daily News logo on it. It was probably the most action the town square had had, well, ever.

  The heat ran over Janie’s skin like a lizard on a hot rock and she wondered whether there was such a thing as early-early menopause, because the hot flashes she’d had today were starting to reach an epic scale.

  “She’s here.” The men by the van moved toward Blaine, and one of them pulled a camera onto his shoulder.

  The look on Blaine’s face when he looked up and saw her was so full of hope and longing that just for a second, she was ready to run toward him, leap at him, and make him promise never to leave again. “Janie. Thanks for coming.” Blaine’s voice was strong, his accent crisp and oh so sexy.

  Focus. Sexy doesn’t mean diddly-squat when the guy is a two-faced bastard.

  Tony nudged her, and Janie remembered her whole family was there with her this time. Knowing that whatever happened they would support her made her spine straighter, her heart beat stronger. Knowing that she could make it on her own, maybe even make it big and that her whole family wanted her to enjoy it…well, that did plenty for a girl’s confidence.

  A few other locals drifted over and suddenly Blaine was talking to an audience of about twenty, all of them captivated by his presence, the way he held himself tall. The way he wasn’t afraid to meet anyone’s eye. The wind blew, and behind him, the tree that had stood over the town square her whole life bent, as if it too were listening in to Blaine.

  “When we met, I quite literally wet my pants,” Blaine started and Tony sniggered. “That’s not quite right. She wet them for me by spilling her drink over me. And once she’d caught my attention, she didn’t let it go. Not until she realized I wasn’t who I’d said I was, and she got caught up in a media circus that tried to take her down for the sheer fun of it.”

  Just at that moment another car pulled up and a woman stalked over to the small gathering, pulling a microphone out of her bag as she came. Blaine nodded at her. “I know those of you in the press have a job to do, and I know I’ve made it easy for your colleagues back in the UK to cast me in a certain role. But for the record, Stephanie Johns and I were on a break, working out whether we’d even been right for each other in the first place when I met Ms. Milan. When that happened, well, I discovered how much of an idiot I’ve been for most of my adult life. And it was because I wasn’t thinking about the bigger picture. I was doing what I thought I was supposed to, rather than being true to myself.”

  Janie’s hand was at her mouth before she realized it had moved.

  “I was looking out for my little brother to the point where I was partially living my life for him and not myself.” Blaine took a long breath and caught Janie’s eyes. “But that’s a stupid way to live a life, especially when you’ve met someone who makes you want to live every moment as if you might get bitten by a snake any second.”

  Hold the phones. Tony nudged her again and Janie stamped on his foot. This wasn’t about her. Was it? She groaned when she saw another ten people from Little Acre wander up now that it was clear the circus was well and truly in town. Soon everyone who lived here would be in the square.

  “I’m excited to announce I’ve signed to play a role in my first feature here in the United States.” This time his smile was for the cameras, and Janie saw why the press were hungry for his picture. The guy could turn it on all right; publishers probably sold a ton of magazines when they had that smile on the cover. But he turned his attention back to her, and his bright blue eyes sought out her soul and gave it a warm squeeze.

  “I wanted to announce this here so Janie could see that I was serious. I’m here. I’m here for her, and I’m here for the future I’m hoping she’ll allow me to build with her. I still need to apologize, to her and this whole town. So that’s what I’m going to do.

  “I’m not deserting any fans of The Highlander’s Cure—I’m hoping to start shooting the new season soon. I just want them to know that I’m committed to something bigger than my own ego. I’m committed to love. And I hope that they, and you”—here he looked at the press—“understand that and see the value in it.” Now he swung his blue eyes back to hers and Janie couldn’t have looked away if she’d wanted to. “I’m here for you, Janie. I love you. Every piña colada–throwing, snake-charming part of you. Deep down I’m just a guy looking for someone to share this mad world with. Looking for someone to love. So, I’m sorry. Can we please start over?”

  The three Milan brothers started a slow clap, and the other residents of Little Acre who had gathered joined in, including Aunt Alexia, who gave her a quick thumbs-up. The reporters swung their cameras over to them.

  Every part of Janie’s body ached to go to him, but her heart was still hurting.

  “Go on. Guy’s nuts for you,” Tony hissed not so quietly. His nudge this time was less than subtle too, and Janie staggered forward a step. In an instant, Blaine was by her side. “Is there somewhere we can go that’s more private?” he asked, and she nodded uselessly.

  Blaine thanked the few journalists for coming and promised to answer follow-up questions if they emailed them to his agent. Then Janie led him, silently, toward her home. As they walked into the family room, every nerve in Janie’s body was alive to having him next to her, and acutely aware of the cup rings from the coffee cups her brothers always forgot to clear. What do I do now? Shit, shit, shit.

  He took her hand and, boom, the sensation that had been there from the very start was back as if she’d freshly thrown a piña colada at him.

  “Maybe I should make us cocktails, get things on an even playing field so you can throw one at me,” he said.

  He had to read her mind too? Janie put her hands on her hips to give herself something to do. “It was a shitty thing to do, blaming me for everything. Only thinking about yourself.”

  “I know. I’m sorry.”

  That was it. No excuses, no trying to back out of it. Just a clean, clear apology. Hunter might have been right—maybe he was legit. “What am I supposed to say now?” she said, looking at the ground. “I don’t know how to get past it. I got over your lying about who you were, I get that. You had to protect your brother. But when you tried to lay the blame on me like that, and disregarded what it would do to me back here, how I would live among all my friends and coworkers when they’d seen all that online, and didn’t trust me, and almost destroyed the trip of a lifetime I’m never going to get to have again. And didn’t seem to know me at all after…after…”

  “After we fell in love?”

  She looked up sharply. “Who says I’m in love with you?”

  “Are you?”

  Pressing her lips together tightly, Janie had to force herself to speak. “It do
esn’t matter.”

  “It does. It’s the only thing that matters.”

  Right there, Janie’s resolve melted with the way he looked at her. She had nothing left except honesty. “What about Stephanie? Your brother?”

  “Turns out the breakup did Stephanie’s reputation more good than harm. She’s been milking the jilted-lover thing for the press and has managed to land a reality TV slot off the back of it. And my brother told me to stop pussying around and come after you. His debt with Stephanie’s family is repaid, and he’s been going to a couple of gambling groups. He’s got support. The right sort of support, rather than me just sticking my oar in and trying to fix everything myself. But who cares about that. I asked you a question.”

  “Maybe I love you a little bit.”

  “A little bit will do me for now.” He took her hand. “I’d discounted ever feeling like this, so I’m not going to give up on it just because I have to wait. I’m serious about being here for you, for us. And I’m serious about not caring what people think. You were right, and so was my brother. The press will get bored of me real quick if I don’t feed them.”

  “And they’ll get bored even quicker if they decide to stay around here.”

  Blaine smiled and like it had the first time, it made her insides wobble like brand-new jelly. Hell, it made them want to turn to ooze and pour themselves over his deliciousness. He took her hand and gently tugged her toward him. “You’re good for me. You make me be my best self. And I almost messed it all up. I want it all, the whole deal, marriage, maybe even kids, definitely growing old together.”

  She pulled back. “Them’s big words.”

  “I know.” He hauled her back in. “And I’m ready to stand by them.”

  “I thought I knew what I wanted, but now that everything might be possible I…I guess I’m scared I’ll mess it up.” The statement was out before she thought it and when it was there, lying flat and potent in the room, Janie was shocked by it. All this time she’d been fighting what she thought she had been dealt when she’d been fighting herself.