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Someone is thrilled to bits. I hope Mum doesn’t change that. Tarquin hopped behind the steering wheel and shivered, yanking his door closed. “There’s plenty of wartime history here, along with all the Viking and Neolithic stuff.”

“So much to see!” said Leia, clicking her seatbelt. “A week won’t be enough.”

“We’ll pack a lot in. I’ll make sure you see all the Orkney highlights: Skara Brae, Maeshowe, the Ring of Brodgar.”

“Balfour?”

“Yes?” Tarquin started the car’s engine and pulled his seatbelt across his body.

“No, silly.” Leia giggled. “I don’t mean you. I mean the village of Balfour on Shapinsay. Is it true your family owned the entire island at one point?”

“Someone’s been researching on Google.” Tarquin cranked up the heat as the wipers did a waving swoop across the windshield. “Only the village name remains. We don’t even own Balfour Castle anymore.”

“But hello, Balfour Hospital! Your last name is synonymous with the islands. And you’re descended from lairds!”

“Yeah. Balfours have been tied to Orkney for hundreds of years.” Tarquin checked the Land Rover’s mirrors and pulled out of the parking space. “They came from Fife in Scotland originally—”

“—and changed the course of farming on Shapinsay in the mid-1800s! I’ve been doing my homework! So, is that where Rupert’s farm is located?”

“No, he’s in the parish of Stenness on the West Mainland, where we’re headed now, you big swot.” He laughed, taking a right. The two-lane road sliced through a panorama of never-ending farmland dotted with grazing sheep. “Good news, though: we’ve got some free time before you’ll be overrun by Balfours tonight. Fiona’s taking Ava to Poppy’s four-month checkup, and Rupert is meeting with the agricultural society.”

“I love that photo you texted this morning of you and Ava wearing unicorn onesies.”

“The hood makes it, right? With the glittery horn?”

Leia clasped his hand across the center console, giving it a squeeze. “No wonder you’re her favorite uncle.”

“Well, Nick tries, bless him, but he’s never been big on kids, even when he was a sprog himself. Mum says Nico bawled his eyes out when Rupert was born and demanded she send him back! By the time I arrived, he knew Mum loved him most, so I didn’t get it in the neck.”

“Your mum plays favorites?”

“Shamelessly. Nick is—and I quote—‘Kiki’s number-one son’. And not just by birth either. His childhood acting, his preference for city living, his looks…they’re similar in many ways. Farm-loving Rupert, on the other hand, is the oddball, and I’m the troublemaker.”

Leia winced. “That must be hard, feeling second best.”

He shook his head. “Not really. After twenty-seven years, I’m used to it.”

“How’s Ava been with baby Poppy?”

“Really good. She even gave her sister her teddy.”

“That’s love, that is.” Leia’s gaze followed a flock of sheep lumbering along a rock fence. “If Ava is teddy-less, she won’t be for long. I bought her a Paddington Bear.”

Paddington? Alex had one, I think. Tarquin smiled into a nod. “Aw, Leia! Ava will love him.”

“I also found her a Tessa Virtue Barbie.”

“There’s a doll?!”

“Yeah. Dad couriered her over from Canada last week.”

I couldn’t adore you more. Tarquin’s eyes darted from the road, taking in her soft lips turned up in a grin. “You are amazing, Leia Scott! Ava will be doing cartwheels.” He lifted her hand, giving her knuckles a sweet kiss. “So, what would Ava’s new bestie like to do this afternoon? We could go into town, grab lunch, or go exploring before the sun goes down—your call.”

“How early does the sun set?”

“It’ll be dark around half three. Today we get only seven hours of light.”

“Wow. We are north!”