Page 33 of Happiness Under a Summer Skye

A twinge of annoyance squeezed her insides. Had he really just made this situation about him? After remaining silent for weeks, had he seriously just messaged her to say he was having a hard time?

She didn’t bother to reply right away for fear she would say exactly what she was feeling about his selfish message and instead drove home with the silver moonlight lighting her way.

Later that night, after a long chat with her parents about the shop, Angelia lay in bed, exhausted but wide awake. So many things were whizzing around her head, vying for dominance; Josh and his message, what she had overheard him saying to Heath, her feelings for Ed, her future with the band. Sleep evaded her as it had done a fair bit since her diagnosis. So, she lay there, staring at the patterns on the ceiling made by the branches of a tree in the garden as it danced in a breeze, silhouetted by moonlight. She stroked the soft fur of Scrappy’s side and listened to the funny noises he made while sleeping. She was so grateful to have him. He was an excellent distraction and had the knack of cheering her up even on days where she felt like everything was going wrong.

Being wide awake in the small hours of the morning rendered her stuck with her own inner dialogue and she eventually got around to the inevitable thoughts on her relationship status. Everyone seemed to have someone these days. Even the young dog-walking teenagers she had seen in Glentorrin weeks before. Fiona was blissfully happy with Marcus and the eternal bachelor, Ed, had met someone too – although she tried not to picture what Ava might look like. She would no doubt be perfect, beautiful, talented. Simply because that’s what Ed deserved. Meghan was spending lots of time chatting to Ezra and she regularly oozed swoons and sat there all dreamy-eyed as she talked about her new beau. Yup, it seemed everyone was falling in love except for Angelia.

The handsome curate sprang to her mind with his smiling eyes and kind nature. Oh, good grief, she thought, I must be desperate if I’m thinking about a bloody priest. How the hell would that even work? I’m not religious. I don’t go to church unless I have to. And I have been known to swear like a trooper on tour. No, I’m better to just wait and surely my prince will come someday. Won’t he?

Although she knew that in her line of work the men she was likely to meet were either fans, fellow rock band dwellers or actors. She just wanted to meet someone normal, whatever that meant, and down-to-earth. Someone with a regular job who maybe didn’t know her as ‘Angel from Angel and the Fallen’ but as Angelia MacAuley – the… human being? Who was she kidding, though? The band was so well-known she’d have to go to Antarctica to find someone who’d never heard of her. And as much as the cold on Skye didn’t faze her too much, Antarctica just didn’t appeal. Temperatures of minus eighty-five sounded horrendous and she was sure dating penguins wasn’t something she wanted to do, even though Happy Feet had been a fabulous film.

She laughed out loud at her train of thought, making Scrappy jump up and give a single bark. How had she gone from feeling lovelorn to dating penguins? She definitely needed a better distraction. She grabbed her phone and typed in the details for the interior designer from Glentorrin that Ruby had told her about into the search engine. Bella Donaldson had some excellent reviews, and the photos of her work were wonderful.

The images showed a stable block conversion at Drumblair Castle near Inverness, where she had created rental apartments that were little homes from home, with stunning fabrics, gorgeous artwork and beautiful touches that gave a feeling of luxury. And speaking of luxury, Bella had also worked on a refurbishment of a hotel in the north of Skye where William Morris prints had been used. Angelia was surprised to see the manager of said hotel was none other than Carlton Somers, former male model. Angelia shivered involuntarily at the mention of his name. She had encountered him when the band had played at a Nina Picarro fashion show some years earlier. He had been quite a slimy character, full of himself and a bit too leery for her liking. She wondered how on earth he had wound up managing a hotel. Although, if the rumours about his treatment of a well-known makeup artist had been true, perhaps he’d been dropped by his agent.

Angelia was certain, after what she had viewed on the website, that Bella Donaldson was the person for the design of her record shop so, deciding to strike while the proverbial iron was hot, she emailed Bella immediately to ask for a meeting.

15

Angelia shook a pill from the bottle she had been given and made her way down the stairs, closely followed by her canine best friend. She arrived, yawning and drained, to find her dad and Meghan sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee and chatting.

‘Oh, there she is. Good morning, love. Did you sleep well?’ her dad asked as Scrappy walked over to him for his morning cuddle.

She had tried her best to keep the severity of her insomnia from her parents so as not to worry them further. ‘I did, thanks,’ she lied as she ran some water into a glass and swallowed the tablet. This time, thankfully, it went down with ease. Swallowing had been an issue again over the past few days.

‘Ah, that’s good. There’s coffee made,’ her dad said with a smile as she bent to kiss his head. ‘I’m just about to head off for work but wanted to wait ’til you got up to check you were okay.’

‘Thanks, Dad.’ She poured herself a mug and inhaled the steam with closed eyes, relishing the earthy aroma. Coffee was her rescue remedy. She didn’t often eat breakfast but couldn’t function without her first mug of coffee, and her lack of sleep meant it was even more necessary and appreciated. ‘I emailed Bella Donaldson, the interior designer down in Glentorrin, last night,’ she announced. ‘I want her to come and have a look at the shop to see what can be done now it’s cleared out and cleaner.’

‘Great idea,’ her dad said as he stood from the table. ‘I look forward to hearing what she says.’

Angelia took a seat at the table, opposite Meghan. ‘I suppose the decorating is the fun and easy part. What may be trickier is finding someone who wants to either buy or rent the place to run it as a record shop. Maybe I’m being too specific, after all.’ Her heart sank a little as she spoke.

‘Hmm,’ her dad said thoughtfully. ‘Maybe, if you’re so keen on having it converted into a record shop, you could keep the place and just hire in a manager to run it?’ he said with a shrug. ‘That way it can be whatever you want but you’ll own it and simply employ someone. You can choose and source the stock and decide how it’s run. It’s another thing for your portfolio and it’s something that means a lot to you. You’ve been obsessed with records since you learned how to operate my old turntable. And even though it’s a little different for Glentorrin, it’s more of a passion project. You could see how it goes and if it doesn’t work, you could sell it on.’ He shrugged as if it was as easy as all that. But maybe it was. She didn’t need the money right now so it was the perfect opportunity to try such a thing out. Her dad continued. ‘I actually think people would travel to it from the mainland. Like they do for your mum’s bookshop. If you create the right atmosphere and curate a good selection of vinyl, sheet music, maybe band and vintage movie posters, too, I think it could be very successful. You’d maybe need a warehouse as well but we could look into that as and when…’

She loved this about her dad. He was very business-minded and always had the best ideas. A jolt of excitement flipped her stomach. Having her dad’s approval was always something she sought, even as an adult; luckily for her she acquired it on most things. And the thought of owning her own retail business was as enticing as it was terrifying.

‘Yeah… I actually like the sound of that. I could do that. I could own a record shop,’ she said with a nod of affirmation.

‘The fact that you own the place couldn’t hurt with publicity either,’ Meghan added.

Her dad wagged a finger at Meghan. ‘Very good point. You hear about actors owning restaurants and being flocked with people hoping to spot the celebrities. It must be good for business.’

‘Oh, definitely,’ Meghan said with enthusiasm. ‘Mark Wahlberg has a burger joint; Jon Bon Jovi owns a wine company and a community kitchen. So many more famous women have started companies too. I know of a few fashion and beauty brands but none that own a record store. It’s good to be the first.’

‘The more I think about it, the more excited I get,’ Angelia said.

‘The fact that you’re so excited speaks volumes, love,’ her dad said with a smile. ‘It’s good to see you lighting up like that again.’

Angelia sighed. ‘I can’t wait to talk to Bella Donaldson now.’

Once she was showered and dressed, Angelia checked her emails and was delighted to see a reply from the interior designer.

Dear Angelia,

It was lovely to hear from you and to learn about the possibility of a business moving into the old building in Glentorrin. It has such potential. If you’re free this afternoon, I can meet you there around 2 p.m. My mobile number is in the signature section of the email so just drop me a text if that’s easier.

Hopefully see you this afternoon.