Page 40 of Badd Baby

Hamish laughed. "You fell in love gradually. I was besotted the moment I laid eyes on you."

Raquel rolled her eyes. "It was only gradually because I had no idea what you were saying, at first. I'd never met a real Scotsman before."

"Well, that's fair, I suppose," Hamish answered. "My accent was a wee bit thicker than it is now." Than et ez noo.

I choked on a laugh. "You're shitting me!"

Raquel turned and gave me a droll look. "When I first met him, it sounded like he was speaking another damn language."

Hamish shook his head. "It's no even Doric. Not even I can understand them lot. My uncle had a mate who was from Aberdeen, and that man's accent was tot'ly mad. Even his best mates just nodded and laughed when he spoke."

Raquel held up her hands. "Okay, I'm tryna play this cool, but I'm freaking out. Duncan, what the hell is going on?"

I shrugged. "They're my aunt and uncle."

Rune pinched my arm. "The Aunt Low who 'works in the film industry,'" she used air quotes here, "is Harlow freaking Grace?"

"Jesus, woman. The pinching!" I rubbed my arm. "Yes. I'm sure you can guess why I don't go around announcing it, though."

She sighed. "Yeah, I guess."

Hamish glanced at me, and then back at the screen. "And…this is your boat?"

Aunt Low nodded. "It is. My brilliant husband designed it himself."

"And…we get to stay on it tonight?" Raquel asked. "But…why? We don't even know you. We just met Duncan barely an hour ago."

"Well, we heard about the Old Toby burning down, and Duncan mentioned you needed somewhere to stay tonight. We’re not using the Argo at the moment, so why not?"

Hamish shook his head. "I just…are you sure? When Rune said she'd ask Duncan to see what he could do, I thought he meant like a friend's flat or somethin’. I didnae think it would be…this."

"We're happy to be able to help, you guys," Aunt Low said. "We love a love story, and you guys are adorable. So please, make yourselves at home with our blessing. Congrats, Raquel and Hamish, and please accept our wishes for a long and beautiful life together."

Xavier smiled, as well, this one more natural. "I echo my wife's sentiments." He blinked, thinking. "I heard a toast at a wedding in the Highlands, once. I believe it goes like this: 'May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be always at your back, may the sun shine warm upon your face, the rain fall soft upon your fields, and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand.'"

"Thank you," Raquel said. "For real, I…when they told us the inn was gone and refunded us the whole thing, I was…I thought…"

"We were determined to make the best of it, but the way things are turning out is better than we could have imagined." Hamish squeezed Raquel's hand. "We really can't thank you enough."

"It's really no problem at all," Aunt Low answered. "Dunc, honey, we love you."

"Love you guys too, Aunt Low, Uncle Xavier," I said. "Thank you for being so awesome about this. You guys are the best."

Aunt Low's gaze fixed on Rune. "You must be Duncan's friend Rune. I have to say, I love your name. It's really cool."

Rune flushed. "Thank you? I…it's so cool to meet you."

"Likewise." She glanced at the smartwatch on her wrist. "Oh, shoot, I have a meeting with Chris in a few minutes, so I'm going to have to go."

I rolled my name. "Smooth name drop, Aunt Low."

"Chris is a very common name, Duncan Badd," she answered.

"But you're not talking about any old Chris," I said.

Aunt Low grinned, putting her finger over her lips. "I'm not supposed to talk about it, but I'm meeting with Christopher Nolan. We're putting together a project."

Hamish clutched his hair in both hands. "You're not really, are you? As an aspiring filmmaker, he's one of my greatest inspirations."