Chapter Thirty-nine
Arrested
‘Careful, careful,’ Nina fussed.
‘I’m fine, honestly,aah!’ Mutt didn’t look fine but he’d made it into the armchair in his old room at the inn.
Beatrice pulled Atholl away from the doorway with a meaningful stare. ‘We’ll leave you to settle back in. Shout if you need anything,’ she told them.
Mutt watched as Nina unpacked his bag and went to the kitchen to make him some tea. It seemed a long time before she finally came back and perched on the edge of his bed.
‘So, there you are. Home,’ she told him.
‘Yup.’
‘I mean, obviously you’re nothomehome, but this should do for now, and it’s near the hospital, and the garage. They said your bike will be fixed by the end of the month.’
‘I’m in no hurry to go anywhere.’ Mutt examined his arm, now in a lighter bandage, his skin impressively scarred and still tender.
‘He’ll be here any minute, I’m sure,’ Nina said.
‘I won’t believe it ’til I see him.’
‘I’m glad I’m not leaving ’til tomorrow,’ Nina said, tentatively. ‘Give us a chance to talk.’
‘Are you looking forward to seeing your mum and your brother?’
Her wide grin told him she was. ‘Listen, I wanted to talk to you before you took your night-time painkillers and you get all woozy.’
‘Best part of my day,’ he lied.
Nina pressed on. ‘About the perfume. I think we really could make a go of it.’
‘We?’
‘It’s our recipe, our little cooperative, isn’t it?’
‘I suppose so, but I helped you make that perfume for you, not for me.’
‘I know. I just think if Mr Cor and Munro stick to their agreement to help us produce a small batch for our product launch, I can sort the industry tests and the licensing and maybe you could speak to your friend the laird about selling a few bottles in the castle gift shop? Atholl’s already said he’d sell it up at the willow school and on his online shop. There’d be a display case in the reception here at the inn too, and at the distillery and Munro’s workshop. That’d be a decent start, I reckon.’
‘You’ve got it all planned, I see?’
‘And we’d all get an equal share, every one of the collective. It has to be fair, or I’m not interested.’ Nina was decided.
‘Fair enough. I’ve had my share of dodgy deals; enough to last me a lifetime. So, what do we do now?’ Mutt asked.
‘We should probably shake on it, partner?’
He raised his good arm and they shook a little awkwardly.
‘OK then,’ she said.
‘That was easy,’ Mutt told her.
‘Now the hard work starts, for me anyway. Once I’ve been home to see Mum, that is. I’ll have to come back here to meet all the suppliers, get some costings going, write the business case, meet the bank…’
‘I’ll be there with you,’ Mutt interrupted.
