Page 80 of Love Bomb

And yes, she’d missed it desperately. Since she’d come back, she’d begun to question why she hadn’t returned a lot earlier. Fear, she supposed. She’d always been worried that everyone had forgotten her, or that they didn’t want her anymore. A warm feeling spread through her chest as she realized just how wrong she’d been.

“Do you want to know what I found out or not?” Margaret asked.

“Absolutely.” Rona reached for her coke.

“Well, as far as I can gather, Bain has only been away on business a couple of times a year since he moved back here for good.” She shuffled closer. “Now, assuming that half of those jobs kept him too busy to socialize, that only leaves about half a dozen where he was free to romance the ladies.”

“Huh,” Rona said. “I’d have thought it was more.”

“I was shocked too,” Margaret said. “But not as shocked as I was at hearing that Bain hasn’t dated anyone in Invertary for over a decade.” Her eyes widened. “Word on the street is that he’s very careful about keeping his distance from the local lassies.”

“Huh,” Rona said again because she didn’t know what to make of the news.

“Also,” Margaret leaned in closer, “there are no rumors of him with any of the local lassies in Fort William either. As far as I can tell, the most he does when he goes there is buy a couple of drinks for the girls. That’s it.”

“I hate to play devil’s advocate,” Kirsty said. “But it could just be that Bain is better at hiding his affairs than he was when he was a teen.”

“Still,” Margaret said. “Fort William isn’t that big, and a man’s reputation has a way of making itself known. Plus, I remember what it was like when Bain was younger. Girls had no problem telling everybody when they’d visited his bed. They almost treated it like a rite of passage. There was a lot of boasting.”

Again, Rona wanted to wash her ears out with bleach.

“He could be sleeping with tourists when he’s in Fort William,” Kirsty said. “That population is transient, and wouldn’t hang around long enough to boast about bedding Bain. Which means the locals wouldn’t necessarily know if that’s what he’s been up to.”

“True,” Margaret said. “But the new K.O.D members in Fort William asked around their hotel contacts, and nobody remembers seeing Bain. So at least we know that if he has been bedding the tourists, he isn’t doing it often enough to stand out.”

“In other words,” Rona said. “If Bain was a regular guest of tourists at different hotels, someone would remember him.”

“Exactly,” Margaret said proudly.

“I hate to say it Rona,” Kirsty said. “But taking all of mum’s intel into account, it sounds like Bain’s reputation has been inflated.” She sipped her drink.

“I have to agree,” Margaret said. “It all seems to hinge on the few years he ran wild as a teenager. And you must admit, from the age of about seventeen to twenty, when he left to get some training in munitions, he was the bane of every father in Invertary. I lost track of how many times he’s been chased off by one of them.”

Margaret leaned over and patted Rona’s knee. “I don’t know if this puts your mind at ease of not, but I hope it gives you something to think about. Bain hasn’t been living like a monk, but I don’t think he’s been tearing a streak through the highlands either. A lot of the stories about him are just that—stories. It seems the boy grew up,” she said softly. “Just like you.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

“I’m going to go out on a limb here,” Darach said, “and say this might set back your plan to convince Rona to marry you.”

The brothers stared at the baby, who sat in his car capsule thing, on top of their kitchen table. Considering he’d just been abandoned on a stranger’s doorstep, and his mother was nowhere in sight, he seemed pretty cheerful. He held a plastic ring in one hand and clasped a stuffed rabbit in the other. Periodically, he waved both at the brothers while grinning widely.

“He looks well cared for,” Bain said. “And the bag that was left with him has food and nappies and such. Why the hell would Sandra leave him here?”

Kade held up the note they’d all read several times. “She wants you to bond with your son and figures this is the only way she can make it happen.”

Bain narrowed his eyes at Kade. “He isn’t my son.”

Kade backed up a step. “I’m just repeating what the note says.”

“Don’t. I have no idea why the paternity test is taking so long, but I never slept with his mother.” He dug his phone out of his pocket. “I’m calling the cops.”

He didn’t bother with the emergency number, instead he dialed the local station. There was only one police officer in Invertary and he answered on the second ring.

“Bain,” Officer Matt Donaldson said wearily. “Why am I not surprised? You’ve made up around fifty percent of my calls this week.”

“That seems a bit high,” Bain said. “I think you’re exaggerating.”

“There was the call about the break-in that turned out to be a false alarm, so I’m assuming it was Rona. Then a call from Darren Shaw saying you assaulted him at the cèilidh.”