AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Yeah. She’s great.’ Carrie nodded. ‘And that makes sense, about the cottage, because I was thinking it was quite modern, décor-wise, for Gretchen. Not that she isn’t modern in her way. But you know what I mean.’
‘I know what you mean. All Zelda’s work. She’s actually gone on to work at one of those glossy interiors magazines. I think she does interiors fer people too, sometimes. Livin’ the dream.’
‘Sounds amazing.’ Carrie looked around her. ‘But this is your little empire. That’s amazing, too, having your own business.’
‘Aye, I’m proud of it.’ Fiona nodded. ‘The Laird helps small businesses in the village. It’s only because he’s givin’ me such a good deal on the rent, as well as a grant, that I can operate. Still, business has been good. I cannae complain.’
‘That’s really nice of him. The Laird. When I used to come here as a kid, my great-aunt took us up to the castle one day and I remember an old man with a white beard. He sort of appeared at one point when we were having a tour around the castle, like he didn’t want to talk to us but knew he had to. I always remember that.’
‘Ach, that wouldae been the current laird’s faither. He passed some time back, an’ the estate went tae Hal Cameron. Cameron land, this is.’
‘Oh, I see. That would make sense.’ Carrie nodded. ‘So the Laird owns… the whole village? And the castle?’
‘Aye. He’s the landowner. Been that way for hundreds o’ years,’ Fiona sighed. ‘When ye look back at Scottish history, it isnae maybe the best way to have organised things. But, it is what it is. Lots o’ families sold off their land, so some of Scotland’s now owned by people from other countries. At least the Laird kept it in the family. It’s hard work fer him, aye. He does a lot o’ the work himself.’
‘Hmm. I guess so. And at least he helps the villagers out, like you said, with the grant and the low rent.’
‘Aye. He does a lot fer us.’ Fiona ran her hand along the top of one of the rails of skirts that hung to her left. ‘So, what else d’ye need?’
‘I could do with a couple of nice dresses. Practical for work, but pretty,’ Carrie mused. ‘I’m working at The Fat Hen, in the kitchen. I just feel like I always turn up for work looking like I got pulled through a hedge backwards. But nothing too warm, as it gets hot in there, with the ovens.’
‘Hmm. Rory McCrae’s place?’ Fiona started flipping through a rail of brightly coloured tea dresses, buttoned down the middle. She pulled out a couple and showed them to Carrie: one green, with a small white flower design, and one red, with polka dots. ‘These would look nice on you. Green’s always nice on a redhead. And red on red’s also fun.’
‘I like both of them. Can I try them on?’ Carrie asked, reaching out to touch the fabric.
‘Sure thing. Dressing room just here.’ Fiona hung both dresses on a hook in the cosy little room at the back of the shop and gestured to Carrie. ‘Come in. I’ll get you a few more. You’re a size fourteen?’
‘Yes. Good skills,’ Carrie laughed.
‘All part o’ the service.’ Fiona smiled.
Carrie closed the door to the dressing room and started to change.
‘What d’ye think o’ Rory, then?’ Fiona called through the door. ‘Good-lookin’ fella.’
‘I suppose. I don’t think of him in that way,’ Carrie lied, shrugging off her jumper and jeans.
‘Then you’d be the only one in the village,’ Fiona laughed. ‘Even the auld ones talk aboot Rory an’ his looks. He’s easy on the eye, I cannae deny it.’
‘Do they?’ Carrie unbuttoned the red polka dot dress and eased it up over her thighs. She’d been trying not to think about Rory McCrae. He’d been super professional at work every night since they’d had mac and cheese after hours; there hadn’t been a repeat of his oddly mixed signals.
‘Aye. He seems nice enough, but he keeps himself to himself,’ Fiona continued. ‘No’ one for bein’ overly friendly. I’ve barely said more than a few sentences tae the man since he arrived here a few years back. Get the impression he doesnae like people that much,’ she sniffed. ‘He’s been known tae be rude. No amount of attractiveness makes me forgive that, I’m afraid.’
‘Rude? In what way?’ Carrie buttoned up the dress and twirled a few times in front of the mirror so that the knee-length skirt spun around her. She remembered her first meeting with Rory in the village shop, where he had practically barged her out of the way for some fresh parsley. She’d thought he was rude, then.
‘Ah, just here an’ there. Demandin’ things in shops, bein’ rude tae people on the high street when they ask how he is. I heard him makin’ fun o’ the May Day party the Laird holds every year. He seems tae think he’s above all of us, ye know? With his posh restaurant. No one from the village goes there. All tourists.’
‘That seems a shame.’ Carrie admired the dress: it fit around her waist very well and flared out over her hips nicely. She took it off and tried the green one. ‘He seems fine to me, but I guess I don’t know him that well.’
‘Ah, well, maybe he’s a nice guy. I just heard he had a bit o’ a shady past in the military, an’ what with him keepin’ himself to himself, I guess people dinnae think anythin’ else.’
‘What shady past?’ Carrie frowned, buttoning up the green dress. It was just as nice as the red one: she wasn’t frowning at it, rather the idea that Rory had done something awful in the past.
‘Dunno.’ Fiona lowered her voice. ‘But I heard it was somethin’ tae do with a woman.’
‘Oh.’ Carrie looked at herself in the mirror. Rory did seem reluctant to talk about his time in the navy, and she wondered if that was why. Maybe he’d had his heart broken. Or broken someone else’s heart. Or, maybe there had been something worse. You heard stories about bullying in the military. It could have been anything, or nothing.
‘Well, I guess that’s his business,’ she said, feeling a little sorry for anyone in Loch Cameron who tried to keep a secret. She was well aware that her business had already most likely been splashed around the village. If Rory had a past, then that was up to him, wasn’t it?
