Page 71 of Wild Scottish Love
“This is a pair of scissors. They are a tool used to cut things, from gardening to in the kitchen–”
“Wheesht,” I hissed at him, using my favorite new Scottish word. That and “tetchy.” I loved pointing out when people were tetchy, which, let me tell you, rarely went over well. But it was such a fun word to say, the way it kind of caught on the tongue, and reflected the crabbiness of the mood it described. “Why are you handing me scissors?”
“To cut the ribbon,” Munroe pointed out, a bland smile on his face.
“They can also be used as a murder weapon. Or to maim people. I do enjoy a good maiming, have I mentioned that?” I hefted the scissors, and Munroe’s face paled.
“A time or two, yes. You’ve a bloodthirsty streak in you, don’t you?”
“It’s hard to say if it comes from the Italian or Scottish side.” I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Go on, cut the ribbon, and I’ll tell you.”
“Fine.” I cut the ribbon neatly in two and then pocketed the strips, just in case what he was going to tell me was meaningful. I liked to save little mementos like that.
“Welcome to Common Gin’s newest distillery.”
“No!” My mouth dropped open, and then I launched myself at him. Munroe dodged, quickly grabbing the scissors from my hand, and putting them aside, before pulling me into his arms. I planted a smacking kiss on his lips, my heart bursting with excitement for him. “Munroe! What a perfect idea. This is just fabulous. Of course, what an excellent location. It’s so close to the castle and will just be an added layer of what we can offer tourists. Oh, I’m so excited. Plus we can work closely with each other.”
“I wonder if I can do a grasshopper gin,” Munroe mused, tapping a finger on his lips.
“Mmm, maybe we’ll just stick to making the grasshopper mixed drink,” I amended, suddenly fearful for all the grasshoppers in the area. While I appreciated the full circle nature of the grasshoppers and all, I didn’t need to ingest them in any manner, liquid or solid.
“Probably for the best.” Munroe laughed. He slid the door open and flipped on the light, and I eagerly stepped forward.
“Surprise!”
I dropped to the floor and gasped at where my entire family stood in the middle of the building, wide grins on their faces.Listen, I don’t want to bring up the wetting the pants thing again, but let’s just say it was close, okay?Then I was jumping up and flying across the room, my mom and dad catching me in a three-person hug.
“I can’t believe you’re here! How did you get here?” I shrieked, bouncing up and down in excitement. I turned, hooking an arm around Gio’s head, and kissing Carlo on the cheek. Everyone spoke at once, and I didn’t catch what anyone said, I was so overwhelmed with excitement at seeing them all. I hadn’t realized just how much I’d missed my family, and now tears sprang to my eyes. Turning, I saw Munroe hanging shyly back.
“Was this you?” I asked, suspicion lacing my voice.
“First class, Lia! Can you believe it? Never have I been treated so fancy.” Enzo shook his head. “That’s a good guy you got there.”
“You did this for me?” I walked over to Munroe, tears dripping down my cheeks. “You flew them all here?”
“Of course.” Munroe shrugged. “I know how important your family is to you, and they’re so proud of what you’ve done—”
“You impossibly perfect man.” I threw my arms around him, and to my surprise, my family circled us in one massive hug. Munroe’s body tensed under my arms, and I knew his innate shyness was kicking in. “Just lean into it, Munroe. They’ll smother you with their love.”
“He needs mothering,” Mom whispered in my ear. “I can tell.”
“Have at it, Ma. He won’t know what to do with himself,” I said, and Munroe drew back to look down at me with suspicion in his eyes.
“What won’t I know to do?” Munroe asked.
“Nothing. Oh, I can’t wait to show you everything.” We broke the hug up, everyone talking over each other, and walked back outside. “Where are you guys staying?”
“Hilda’s put us all up in the castle. Can you imagine?” Carlo shook his head. “A real freaking castle.”
“I know. I felt the same way. Can you believe I live here?”
“I’m so proud of you, Pumpkin.” My dad put his arm around my shoulder and took a deep breath, rubbing a hand at his chest. “This air. It’s so fresh and clean. I can’t believe I’m back in Scotland. I’ve missed it here. A beautiful place it is.”
“Did you bring your kilt?” I angled my head up at him, wondering if he’d dress up for opening night.
“Did he? We all did.” Luca punched me in the shoulder. “Your man got us all kilts too.”