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I shake my head. “My da said a lot of things. It could be nothing.”

“Seems a hell of a lot to be nothing,” Blair notes.

I eye my drink, shrugging one shoulder as I add quietly, “Duncan was her da.”

“Duncan? Bloody hell, he’s been gone for, what, three decades?”

“Nearly,” I agree. “Keyanna is twenty-seven, she said.”

Blair’s eyes take on a curious gleam. “Keyanna, aye? So you met her?”

“Found her crawling over the rocks at Skallangal,” I say with a scowl. “Came this close to falling right on her arse if I hadn’t snatched her back.” I shake my head, frowning into my whiskey glass. “Americans, I swear. Signs all over, but of course that means nothing. Traipsing all over the shore like she owns the place, then had the nerve to shout at me for saving her arse!”

Rory whistles. “Oh, boy. The MacKay lass has gotten under our poor Lach’s skin.”

“Seems that way,” Blair agrees.

“She’s done no such thing,” I huff. “She’s just a complication, that’s all. One more nose I have to keep out of my business while I look for my answers.”

“And what does Rhona think of this long-lost granddaughter? My da told us once about the falling-out between her and Duncan. Said it wasn’t pretty.”

I think back to Rhona’s porch in the rain, remembering the lost look on Key’s face and the desperation in her eyes as she pleaded with Rhona to give her a chance. The sympathy I feel is annoying; I haveno business feeling anything toward a MacKay besides suspicion. I blame how bonnie she is. Looking at Brodie for the last few months did not give me any sort of inclination that any offspring of the MacKay clan would look likethat. It’s just as annoying as the sympathy I unwillingly feel for her.

“Rhona didn’t take to her well,” I say finally. “But she did let her stay.”

“That’s sure to put a kink in your plans,” Rory points out.

I snort. “You think?”

“Och,” Blair says with a sniff. “You’ve not found anything in all this time. Maybe there’s nothing to be found.”

I shoot her a sharp look. “You know why I can’t accept that.”

She looks properly chastised, lowering her eyes as her mouth turns down. “Right. I’m sorry. You know I talk without thinking.”

“Are you okay?” Blair asks.

I cock one eyebrow. “What?”

“I just…I know your da and Duncan were close, and I know when he left—”

I wave her off. “I’m fine. S’not like I really knew the man. I can barely remember him.”

I bitterly think that the same could be said for my father.

“Maybe you can recruit her,” Rory suggests.

My brow wrinkles. “Come off it.”

“She’s a veritable stranger, aye? But she’s got an in with the family. Maybe she’d be willing to help you out if you just—”

“You two knowing my business is more than enough,” I cut him off with a slightly bitter tone. “I’m doing good just to keep you two from blathering on about it.”

“We wouldn’t do that,” Blair grumbles.

“Not on purpose,” I counter. I hook a thumb at Rory. “Get thisone good and steamin’, and we both know there’s nary a topic he won’t yammer on about.”

“That’s fair,” Rory laughs. “But I’ve done good so far.”