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She may as well have been speaking Wookie for all the sense it made in my head.“I’m pretty sure he was avoiding the hassle of phoning an ambulance if I fell to my death. He’s tolerating me. A fact he’s made pretty obvious.”
She was already shaking her head.“No. I’m telling you, this is just Mal’s way. If he didn’t like you, you’d be pretty much invisible to him.”
“You make it sound so complimentary,” I deadpanned, making June snort into her coffee, before I went on.“Heather, I am well past the age of deluding myself into believing if a boy pulls your pigtails on the playground, it means he likes you. If a guy’s into you, he shows interest. Not that I even want him to be interested—or anyone for that matter. I’m only here for a few months, remember?”
“Okay, okay.” She held her hands up.“I’ll let it go. I don’t agree, but I’ll let it go.”
I released a breath.“Thank you.”
“How’s the B&B going?” I asked June.
Her lips pulled down.“It’s fine. Busy as always… it’s great, but me and Mum can’t agree on anything right now. I think we’re making enough money to redo the bathrooms so we don’t have to call a plumber out once a week and discount rooms, but Mum’s so tight she doesn’t want to spend a penny on anything that isn’tnecessary.”
Heather and I winced.“Working plumbing seems pretty necessary.”
“I love the job, more than I ever thought I would when I first came back, but sometimes I wish it were all mine, so I could make all the decisions without her breathing down my neck because it isn’t how she would do it. Does that make me awful?”
“As someone who has a very complicated history with their mum, absolutely not. Mothers get to us like no one else can.” Or in my case—my mother’sabsencehad moulded me into the woman I was. As an actress and singer on a cruise ship, she’d travelled to every corner of the globe. When I was a child, I’d thought the world began and ended with her. I would stand out on the bank for hours, staring at the water and imagining her sailing back to me. Once it became clear that wasn’t going to happen, another craving took form. If she liked to travel… well, I’d travel even further. She was an actress, I’d become a better one.
“Don’t forget the cat,” Heather cut in, drawing me from my thoughts.
“Cat?” I questioned.
“Oh, I’m fostering a cat for Kelly, the veterinary nurse. They’re looking for a permanent home for her, but I’ve been watching her for a few weeks and my mum is now allergic to cats apparently.”
I thought back.“Didn’t you have a cat as a kid?”
“Yep.”
I huffed a laugh. There were times I wished I had a better relationship with my mum, but this wasn’t one of them. We’d formed a tentative relationship over the years, something more like friendship than mother and daughter. I no longer felt that wrench of resentment in my gut every time I thought of her. That’s as good as it was going to get.
As we finished our coffee, the topic moved on to Heather’s job at the Sheep’s Heid Pub in the village and she recalled a rude customer she’d served the night before.“He said any reputable pub would serve Jameson’s and so I told him,‘That’s Irish whisky, pal. You’re not in Ireland.’I don’t think he liked that.” She snorted at the memory.“I managed to sell him Kier’s whisky eventually. Well, Mal’s now, I suppose.”
I brightened.“That’s amazing. You sell a lot of it at the pub?”
She shrugged.“Some. Mainly to locals.” That meant no.
A worried wrinkle marred her brow that reminded me so much of her brother.“How is it all going? I worry about Mal and I know Callum does too. He’s sunk so much of himself into that place and he was the only person keeping it running for so long, I don’t know what he’d do without it.”
Guilt. Anger. Worry. They all rolled together, all of it aimed at Kier.“If this all works out, we won’t have to find out. Let me show you what I’ve been working on.” I pulled my phone from my bag, opening up my emails first to show them the new label I’d had a designer friend create for the bottle. I’d wanted to keep it traditional, so it was a simple white label with“Kinleith Old Scottish Whisky”in gold writing, and the outline of the Isle of Skye below.
“That looks incredible,” June said.
“Have you showed Mal?” Heather asked.
I shook my head.“It only came through a few hours ago.” I wouldn’t admit I was nervous to show him. I didn’t want him to think I was trying to take over his business.“We’ve been working on a website too.” I loaded it next, handing it over so they could flip through the site I was really damn proud of.“I’m setting up a social media page, but I need to nail down our ideal content, so I’m still in the researching phase.”
“You’ve been working really hard on this.” Heather handed my phone back.
“I care about it.” I shrugged. It had become about more than Kier’s legacy or keeping my family’s home. I wanted Malcolm to succeed, too, because even if he was a total grump, he deserved this.“A designer friend of mine owed me a favour, he did most of the work on the website and label. I’ve also been thinking of something else… I want your opinion before I take it to Mal.”
“Sounds ominous,” June quipped.
I stuck my tongue out.“Remember the old tasting room?”
“Vaguely.” Heather tipped her head.“Your grandparents used to throw parties there.”
I nodded.“It’s not in use anymore, it’s filled with broken casks and equipment. But I was thinking, if I cleared it all out we could throw a little launch party for the new whisky label.” I wiggled my fingers in excitement.
