Page 9 of A Highland Family Affair

Bella hugged Olivia and Skye one last time before climbing into the car, turning on the engine and pulling away along the long tree-lined driveway.

The friends watched until the little red car disappeared out of sight then Skye hugged Olivia. ‘We’re going to go on home. We’ve got a sofa being delivered this afternoon.’

Olivia beamed. ‘How exciting. Isla’s so happy that you bought her house. And at least you know it’s in great condition since the wiring and everything was redone after the flood.’

Skye hunched her shoulders up to her ears and grinned. ‘We absolutely love it. It’s just so perfect for us and we can’t wait to put our own stamp on it. I’ve got a gazillion Pinterest boards set up, but the trouble is I can’t seem to settle on one design style.’

‘Aye, and I think she’s collecting bloody colour charts,’ Ben said. ‘I keep finding them in weird places. The shelf in the shower was the latest one.’

‘Well, I do my best design planning when I’m in the shower,’ Skye said with a grin.

‘We’ll have enough to use them as wallpaper at this rate,’ he said with a grin and a nudge to Skye’s shoulder.

‘Aww, I’m so glad you’re having fun. And whatever design you go with it’ll look amazing,’ Olivia said.

‘Send photos of the sofa when it’s in,’ Brodie said as he shook Ben’s hand. ‘And give me a shout if you need any help with anything, okay?’

‘Aye, I’ll be taking you up on that, cheers, pal. I hate flat-pack furniture and of course Skye has chosen loads of the damn stuff. Right, come on, Skye, let’s get going.’

‘We’ll invite you around for dinner soon,’ Skye told them as she walked over to their car. And within seconds they were driving away too.

Brodie enveloped Olivia in his arms and she snuggled into the softness of his teddy bear fleece. ‘It’s just us now, Liv.’

Olivia glanced over at the entrance to the castle where Kerr stood, hands in his trouser pockets, looking a little forlorn. ‘And Kerr.’ She sighed.

Brodie turned his head to look at her brother. ‘Aye, and Kerr. I wonder why he didn’t come and say goodbye to Bella.’

‘Probably because Isla would have hit him with her handbag again.’ She smiled at the memory of the last time it happened and shook her head.

Brodie grinned. ‘Aye, she’s a feisty one for an octogenarian.’

The couple walked back towards the house. Kerr had headed off into the grounds with Sir Lancelot, his head hung low, and his tatty old beanie pulled down over his ears. Olivia wondered what was going through his mind at the knowledge that another of his mistreated exes was leaving to start a new life with a new love while he remained alone and single.

4

Olivia and Brodie sat snuggled up on the squashy burgundy sofa in the drawing room, Olivia’s favourite room in the whole castle thanks to the fond memories of family times that the old stone walls held. The fire was roaring, and the flames danced around the huge logs that had been stacked in the grate by Dougie earlier in the day.

Brodie had suggested an eighties movie marathon which had surprised Olivia. They had already watched St Elmo’s Fire and Some Kind of Wonderful.

‘You never cease to amaze me, you’re such a romantic,’ she said as they were part way through the film Say Anything with a fresh-faced John Cusack playing a gawky but cute Lloyd Dobler.

‘They don’t make romance movies like they used to,’ he replied. ‘There was something so wholesome about John Hughes films and directors of that ilk.’

‘I just never would have taken you for an eighties movies kind of guy,’ she said with a shake of her head. ‘You weren’t even born when they came out.’

‘No, but my mum was a sucker for Rob Lowe and John Cusack, so we used to go to the cinema whenever they showed old movies. I suppose they remind me of happier times when my mum and dad’s marriage hadn’t started to fall apart.’

Olivia squeezed his arm. She had been lucky that her parents had always adored each other, whereas Brodie had known what it was to watch his family crumble. He had been moved to Edinburgh when his parents had split and that’s when she and he had lost touch. Until that point he had lived with his parents in the groundskeeper’s cottage in the boundary walls of the castle.

Lloyd Dobler was now standing outside Ione Skye’s character Diane Court’s house holding a boom box over his head.

‘Ahhh, I love this song,’ Brodie said with a sigh as Peter Gabriel accompanied Lloyd’s attempts to win the girl’s heart with the ridiculously romantic song ‘In Your Eyes’.

It brought back memories for Olivia too that made her eyes sting a little. ‘Oh, yes, me too. My dad used to play Peter Gabriel’s “So” all the time in the car. It’s a beautiful song. Very emotional,’ she agreed as she listened to the heartfelt lyrics.

Brodie stroked her arm. ‘At the risk of sounding soppy…’ He paused, clearly unsure about speaking his feelings.

‘I love soppy, go on.’