Page 49 of A Highland Family Affair

After the conversation they’d had last night, Olivia felt a little sorry for Charlotte, her desire to be surrounded by family and to belong was becoming more evident. ‘Well, you’re part of the gang now too.’ She inwardly cringed as she heard the words. She wasn’t quite sure why she’d said that, or what she really meant by it. She was simply trying to make her feel welcome, at home in a way. Although she wasn’t sure how serious the relationship was between Kerr and Charlotte, but she did seem besotted by him. And so far, he seemed much more settled with her in his life. ‘You know, you and Kerr should come for dinner one night when we get back,’ she added to remove attention from her earlier comment, which could have been misconstrued, perhaps. ‘How about next Friday?’

Charlotte’s eyes brightened. ‘You mean like a sort of double date? A couples thing? Just us four?’

Olivia laughed. ‘Yes, that’s what I was thinking.’

Charlotte linked arms with Olivia. ‘That would be absolutely wonderful. Thank you! I’ll message Kerr when we get back.’

‘Oh, good grief! It gets better!’ Bella shouted. ‘The latest from Planet Isla…’

The group stopped, eagerly awaiting the next instalment.

Bella tried to speak in between laughs. She held up her hands. ‘It’s official, ladies, Isla and Tam are not seeing other people. They are committed to one another now. In Isla’s words, they are officially in a monotonous relationship.’

18

Sunday came around all too soon and it was time to leave the little slice of paradise that had been home for Olivia’s hen weekend. There had been plenty of giggles, lots of wine and chocolate consumed, much pampering done, and the world had been thoroughly put to rights. Olivia had had the best time and had loved spending it with her friends.

Once the packing and cleaning was all done, Olivia and the others accompanied Bella out to her bike. The friends hugged tightly in turn.

‘I’m going to miss you so much,’ Bella said to Olivia. ‘But the next time I see you it’ll be your wedding day, eeek!’

‘I’ll miss you too, but it’ll fly by, I bet.’ Olivia’s heart skipped when she remembered just how soon her wedding was. ‘I can’t wait, though.’

‘Same! And Granny Isla is so excited. Honestly, it’s all she can talk about. That and Tam,’ Bella said with a roll of her eyes. ‘They’re worse than teenagers. Oh, and I’m sure you already guessed but she has bought a lovely purple dress for the occasion.’

Olivia laughed. ‘I wouldn’t have expected anything different. It’ll be so good to see her. It’ll be great to see Harris too. In fact, I can’t wait to see everyone all dressed up in their finery.’

‘Oh, it’ll be fantastic. I forgot to say, me and Skye have conferred on the bridesmaid dresses, and we have both got the same shade of pale blue, but we’ve gone for slightly different styles that will complement our figures, haven’t we, Skye?’

Skye nodded enthusiastically. ‘They’ll be a nice surprise for you. And I promise we haven’t gone crazy with the designs or anything. They’re very tasteful and classic. I know you’ll approve.’

‘I can’t believe you two still won’t let me pay for the dresses.’ Olivia shook her head and sighed. ‘It really should be my responsibility.’

‘Och, don’t be daft. You’ve enough to think about just now. It was the least we could do. And they weren’t that expensive so stop worrying.’

‘Bella’s right,’ Skye said. ‘Anyway, I forgot to ask, what was Brodie doing for his stag do while we’ve been away?’

Mirren told them, ‘Dougie was taking him to see a tribute band called Don’t You Forget About the 80s. He’ll have been in his element.’

Bella laughed. ‘Good old Dougie. What a star. Well, I’d better be going. I’ll see you all soon. Nice to meet you, Charlotte. Good luck with Kerr. I hope it all goes well for you.’

Charlotte nodded. ‘Thank you, Bella. Lovely to meet you too.’

‘Message me when you get back, okay?’ Olivia insisted.

Bella hugged her again. ‘Yes, Mum.’

Olivia whacked her arm lightly. ‘Cheeky. Love you.’

Bella pulled on her crash helmet and mumbled, ‘Love you too!’ She climbed onto the beast, turned on the engine and took off down the lane.

Once the car was loaded up, the remaining friends climbed in and set off for Drumblair. Olivia couldn’t wait to see Brodie. She didn’t want to be one of those women who couldn’t bear to be apart from her fiancé, but she had missed having him beside her in bed. He had been in touch by WhatsApp a few times and had sent a couple of photos of the dogs but for the most part he had given her the space to enjoy herself.

The friends stopped off, en route, at the Storehouse of Foulis, a lovely restaurant and deli where, in Olivia’s opinion, the best scones outside of Drumblair Castle were made. After sampling the local produce and purchasing tasty treats from the deli, they took selfies with the huge blue-painted anchor on the shores of the Cromarty Firth then got back on the road. They arrived at the castle during the late afternoon. Charlotte hugged everyone and climbed in her car to go home to Will. Skye did the same but was meeting Ben in Inverness for dinner and a movie. Mirren headed over to the cottage to see Dougie. This left Olivia to enter the castle to see Brodie.

‘Hey, I’ve missed you,’ he said as he picked her up from the floor and kissed her tenderly.

‘How was your stag do?’ she asked eagerly as they walked to the kitchen, where the dogs greeted Olivia with wagging tails.