Page 42 of Snowy Surprises in the Highlands

Caitlin stood with her hands clutched under her chin and on hearing Bella’s words she huffed out her breath. ‘Phew! I’m so glad you like it. It’s quite basic, really.’

Bella put her arm around Caitlin’s shoulder and kissed the side of her head. ‘No, honestly, it’s absolutely perfect. Thank you so much.’

‘You’re very welcome, honey.’ She glanced around the room. ‘This place is looking fabulous. Hardly recognisable. I’d better go get my glad rags on.’

Once the balloons were all blown up, ‘congratulations’ bunting had been strung around the room, confetti had been sprinkled on every available surface, and flowers had been placed in the centre of each table, Bella stood at the edge of the room with her mum and dad to assess what they had achieved in only a few hours. She was feeling quite excited now the panic had subsided.

Her dad put his arm around her shoulder. ‘I have to say, Arabella, for a usually functional space you’ve worked miracles on this place. It rivals those posh venues that people pay thousands of pounds for.’ He shook his head. ‘Seriously, your talents know no bounds, darlin’. I hope you know how proud of you your mum and I are.’

‘Your dad’s right, my lovely. It really does look wonderful,’ her mum said, kissing her cheek.

Reid arrived with the finished banner and Harris returned from a quick detour via the police station and together they put the banner up over the makeshift stage area. He had painted Tam and Isla holding hands and smiling at each other right in the centre and had surrounded them with a variety of thistles and other purple flowers; Isla’s favourite, and seeing it brought a lump of emotion to Bella’s throat.

‘Oh, Reid, it’s absolutely gorgeous. Thank you so much. You’ve really captured them both.’

‘The idea is that when the party is over, they can frame the centre part as a memento of their day. In fact, I can do that for them when they’re ready. My wedding gift to them.’

‘They’ll absolutely love it. It’ll make the occasion so special for them.’ She hugged Reid.

‘You’re welcome. I’m an old romantic myself,’ he said, blushing and rubbing bashfully at the back of his neck where a flush of embarrassment was creeping.

‘I can vouch for that,’ Jules said as she walked over and linked arms with her husband. ‘The banner really does add a lovely finishing touch to a beautifully decorated room. Well done, Bella.’

‘No, thank you all. I couldn’t have pulled this off by myself.’

Olivia and Brodie had sent a huge bouquet of flowers which were placed on the table that had been set aside for the bride and groom and now all they needed was said happy couple to arrive.

The other members of the Glentorrin Four arrived and set up their instruments and a small PA system in readiness and little by little the other residents of Pabay View arrived in the lounge; each one had made an effort to look like they were attending an actual wedding, which made Bella’s heart swell. She quickly headed to her granny’s apartment to change and returned a short time later to find the place buzzing with chatter, and an air of excitement hummed around the room.

Evin was on watch at the window and at just after half past five he called, ‘Everyone! They’re here!’ as he watched the car pulling into the car park.

‘Has everyone got a glass of fizz?’ Bella shouted and a mumble of affirmation could be heard. Dorothy was waiting for them at the entrance to the building under the guise that she wanted to have a word with them about their antics. Dorothy could be quite stern when she wanted to be.

* * *

Instead of shouting ‘surprise’, which Bella didn’t want to risk with the newlywed couple being well into their eighties, the Glentorrin Four played the opening bars to the ‘Wedding March’ and everyone applauded.

Isla and Tam were suitably stunned. Isla stood with one hand over her mouth and the other clutching Tam’s arm. Tam was open-mouthed and shaking his head and Maeve joined in with the applause as soon as she realised what was going on. Isla was dressed in her favourite lilac and purple kaftan, and her hair was tied neatly in a chignon. She looked lovely and so very Isla-ish. Tam was sporting his usual bowtie, but this one was perfectly matched to the colour Isla was wearing. Bella had to force herself to stay rooted to the spot and not run and scoop her granny into her arms out of relief. But she would be giving her a stern telling-off later, that one thing was certain, she had decided. Instead, she watched as Beau did the very thing she had wanted to do. The little beagle ran towards his owner, his whole body wagging and his deep bark echoing loudly above everything else. Bella was sure he was telling Isla off for leaving him. Isla bent to hug her canine best friend and her eyes welled with tears as the dog licked at her face and couldn’t get quite close enough to her.

Once the applause died down, one of the residents shouted, ‘Speech!’ and everyone laughed.

‘Well, this is a lovely surprise,’ Tam said as he glanced around, taking in the decorated surroundings. His eyes sparkled with emotion and for a moment he looked like he might shed a few tears. He composed himself, however, and said, ‘You know, people often think that when you get to our time of life you should be on the shelf, in the background, seen and not heard and all that rubbish, but this lady here,’ he took Isla’s hand, ‘has taught me that us oldies should do no such thing. That regardless of how long we have left on this earth we should make the most of every second. Just because we’re closer to the end than the start doesn’t mean that our remaining life isn’t worth living. If anything, it’s worth making every second count even more. And I’m so grateful that she moved here to Skye because she has given my life so much purpose. And she does make me laugh.’ He shook his head as he turned to look lovingly at her. ‘Sometimes it happens when she’s trying to be serious, which I know annoys her.’ He chuckled. ‘But every day for the rest of my life I have time with my Isla to look forward to and I couldn’t ask for anything more… well, apart from maybe even more time with her, but I’ll take what I’m given, and I’ll be eternally grateful.’

Bella dabbed at her eyes with a hanky that Dorothy had thrust into her hand. She glanced at Dorothy, who was already blubbing. And when she checked the rest of the room, she realised there was hardly anyone that hadn’t been moved by Tam’s words, even her dad and Harris were sniffling and swiping moisture away from their eyes. Applause and whistles travelled the room.

Isla waved her hand in the air and the applause subsided. ‘I really can’t follow that, but I just want to say firstly that I’m sorry we scared you all half to death by interloping.’ Bella giggled at her choice of word.

Tam touched her arm. ‘I think you mean eloping, dearie.’

Isla nodded. ‘Aye, that’s what I said.’ Tam smiled and shook his head and Isla continued, ‘And secondly that we’re so grateful that you’ve all gone to so much trouble. But can I just check, will there be food because I rang Giovanni’s on the way home and they couldn’t do us a pizza until nine tonight because they’re doing a massive order for someone?’

Everyone laughed and Isla scrunched her brow in confusion.

Harris took his place at the microphone. ‘Okay, everyone, please take your seats for a moment and we’ll get this party started!’

Everyone did as he requested, and Dorothy and Bella went around to make sure all the guests had a drink in their hand. Bella showed Tam, Isla and Maeve to their ‘top table’ and once everyone was settled Harris spoke again. ‘Now I know maybe it’s not traditional for the entertainment to make a speech, but I just want to say a few words.’ He cleared his throat. ‘I’m sure you’ll all agree that seeing how happy Isla and Tam are together gives us all hope. Tam mentioned earlier about finding love in later life but from what I’ve witnessed it’s that love that’s given them a whole new lease of life. And how special is that? They’re both incredibly lucky to have found this kind of love twice and I want to wish them happiness for their future. May it be long and filled with laughter and love. Please raise your glasses, everyone, Tam and Isla!’

The rest of the room shouted in unison, ‘Tam and Isla.’

‘Now, don’t worry, Isla, Giovanni’s big job is actually your wedding reception, so you’ll be getting fed soon enough.’ Isla’s eyes lit up and she clapped as everyone laughed. ‘But in the meantime, we thought we’d play you some tunes. If you feel like dancing then go ahead, we’ve cleared a space. This first one is a nice gentle one to ease you into things. I’ll be leading the vocals on this one, “Wild Mountain Thyme”.’

Dex began the introduction on his guitar and within one verse of Harris singing, the rest of the people in the room had joined in with the beautiful old song and before long Bella was a swathe of swaying old folk. Tears streamed down her face but this time they were tears of happiness and ultimately relief. Her dad put his arm around her and gave her a squeeze and a kiss to her head. She wiped at her face and smiled as the voices in the room sang of blooming heather.