Then everything changed, and Lachlan was all they had.

It didn’t matter if there were very few years between them. He was the oldest, and it was his natural role to step in as patriarch.

Family mattered more to Lachlan than he could ever say, and there was a selfish part of him that just wanted everyone at Ardnoch, living their lives together. But if he couldn’t have that, then he wanted his family to be close despite physical distance.

Yet somehow, he seemed to have only pushed his two youngest brothers away.

Movement outside on the drive caught Lachlan’s attention, pulling him from his worries. At the sight of Mac walking alone, Lachlan cursed and hurried out of his room to find his friend.

It took him less than two minutes to race to where Mac was strolling as if he hadn’t a care in the goddamn world.

“You want to explain what you’re doing?”

Mac’s head whipped toward him.

Lachlan sucked in a breath.

His friend looked wrecked. Haggard and tired. And there was no hiding the turmoil roiling in his eyes.

“What happened?”

“Robyn. We talked.”

Guilt stabbed at Lachlan. Yesterday, after he’d kissed Robyn (something he was assiduously trying not to think about), Lachlan avoided his friend. He hadn’t wanted Mac to take one look at him and somehow know.

How selfish. “Oh Jesus, Mac. Did it go that badly?”

Mac started to walk again, slow but steady, staring across the estate, watching members play golf in the distance.

Lachlan waited.

Finally, Mac turned to him, his anguish palpable. “It was everything I was afraid of and more.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I don’t know if we can come back from it. I’ve hurt her beyond bearing.” He glared at Lachlan fiercely. “Never do that, Lachlan. Never break the heart of someone you love. It’ll hurt you more that it will ever hurt them. Whatever Robyn’s feeling, I think I must feel it a million times worse. And that’s only right. I deserve it.”

“No one deserves that.”

“You weren’t there. You didn’t watch your daughter—a confident, bright woman—crumble into a wee girl and sob her fucking heart out because you broke it.” Tears glistened in Mac’s eyes, making Lachlan feel doubly shit and awkward. The last time he’d seen Mac this upset was over a decade ago. That had been about Robyn too.

He patted his friend’s shoulder and repeated, “I’m sorry.”

He found he didn’t at all like the thought of Robyn breaking down. Feeling terrible for them both, Lachlan admitted apologetically, “I don’t know what else to say.”

“Nothing to say,” Mac assured him. “I explained my part, my blame, but I took your advice and told her about the letters. I gave her the key to my cottage so she could collect them.”

“Good. That’s good, Mac. She’ll read those, and they’ll bring her a bit of peace. I’m certain you’ll be able to move on from this. Finally.”

“Aye, we’ll see. And if we do … well, how do I be a dad to a woman who is almost thirty? She doesn’t need me anymore.”

Mac hadn’t described a woman who didn’t need her father anymore. “I think we both know that’s not true. Robyn acts tough, but you’re obviously her Achilles’ heel. She still needs you to protect her soft spot.”

His friend stopped, turning his body toward Lachlan.

Lachlan followed suit so they faced one another.

Tension knit across his shoulders at the look in Mac’s eyes.

“Do I need to protect her from you?” he asked.

Fuck.

Lachlan shifted uncomfortably. “Mac, come on.”

“You think I don’t know what you look like when you want a woman? I’ve been with you for nearly two decades.”

“I can’t talk to you about this.”

“What? That you’re attracted to my daughter?”

“When you say it, it makes me sound like a perverted old man. She’s twenty-eight.”

Tense silence fell between them, and Lachlan forced himself to maintain eye contact. He felt like a little boy caught stealing sweets out of his mum’s chocolate cupboard. Except this was obviously much worse.

Finally, Mac sighed. “You can have anyone, Lachlan. I’m not going to tell you not to go there because I don’t feel I have the right to. But think carefully before you do it. Because if it goes south and you hurt her and she needs me and wants me to pick a side … I won’t let her down this time. I will choose my daughter.”

Understanding dawned, and it was cold. A shiver skated down Lachlan’s neck despite the gentle warmth of the spring sun. He nodded. There was no way he would lose his friend over a woman. Lachlan was closer to Mac than he was to two of his siblings. An attraction wasn’t worth losing him.

Lachlan pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed security.

“What are you doing?” Mac scowled.

“You shouldn’t be out here alone. Or did you forget you’re recovering from a knife attack?”

His friend rolled his eyes but didn’t argue as Lachlan asked Jock where Mac’s chaperone was. There was supposed to be security outside Mac’s room at all times, which he sternly reminded his employee.