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“Nonsense. You’ll stay for dinner,” a man says firmly. I’m guessing it’s Fraser’s father, due to the shock of white hair and familiar, friendly smile. He shakes my hand firmly, a tartan apron tied around his waist. “Lachlan MacKenzie, pleased to meet you.”
“You too,” I murmur faintly. We must have arrived during dinner prep, because the warm, spacious kitchen is covered in pans and half-chopped vegetables. “I’m sorry we interrupted.”
“Ach, nonsense. As you can probably see, we don’t stand on ceremony here,” he says with a wink, and a warm Scottish burr. “Fraser, where are your manners? Introduce us to your lovely friend.”
“Yeah, Fraser, who’s the girl?”
A row of interested faces stares at me. I flush under the scrutiny.
“I’m JJ,” I answer, raising a hand in an awkward wave. “Hi.”
“JJ?”
There’s a beat. The family exchange a lightning-fast series of glances, but then the girl with the pink hair and nose ring steps forward. “Hi! I apologize in advance for my brothers, they’re pigs with no shame or decency—”
“Oi!”
“But it’s lovely to meet you. I’m Kittie,” she adds with a friendly smile on her pixie face. “And that’s Eddie and Kyle, and Eddie’s wife Juno, and the rug-rats, Flora and Archilles.”
She points out people in turn, and my head spins, trying to put faces to names. Fraser’s brothers are like polar opposites: Eddie short and broad-shouldered, and Kyle is tall and lanky, but all three of the siblings share Fraser’s tawny, red-flecked hair and blue eyes.
“Hi,” I say again, less awkward this time. “Thanks for the dinner invite, we’ve been driving all day, with nothing but gas station snacks. Andsomeoneseems to think square meals are a luxury, not a necessity,” I add, giving Fraser a look.
“We were trying to make good time on the road,” he mutters, but then one of the kids hurls herself at him with an excited cry.
“Uncle Fazer!” she lisps, and Fraser grins, sweeping her up into his arms for an affectionate hug, the grumpy act forgotten.
“Well, then it’s a good thing we have plenty of time this evening!” I declare brightly and look around the room again. Now that I’ve had a moment to collect myself, I’m not feeling overwhelmed so much as deeply,deeplycurious.
This is where Fraser grew up? These are his nearest and dearest? I’ve heard stories, of course, but they’re all ten years out of date. Now, I have the perfect chance to fill in the blanks. “Two questions,” I announce, smiling. “One, where can I go wash up, since I’ve been stuck in that VW for god knows how long? And two…. Who’s got the baby photos of Fraser? The more humiliating, the better!”
I get washed up,and help with the dinner prep, and before long, we’re all seated in the floral-papered dining room, passing mismatched serving dishes around. It turns out, we arrived in time for family dinner night, when the entire clan descends on the MacKenzie house every week for a noisy pot-luck meal.
“This is delicious,” I tell Lachlan, slurping up some of the pasta. “Tunnocks teacakes have nothing on you.”
He beams. “Thank you. The brandy cream sauce has been trial-and-error, but—”
“Don’t get him started,” Kyle groans.
“Da only took up cooking in the past few years,” Kittie explains. “And it’s become a passion.”
Lachlan nods. “I don’t why it took me all these years to realize a lifetime of—”
“—Botany research is useful for a cook,” Eddie finishes, apparently quoting a speech that happens often. “Dad’s a professor of Scottish flora and fauna.”
“Flora!” Fraser’s niece cries delightedly. Everyone else choruses, “Flora!” back to her, as if this is a longstanding call-and-response.
I smile, charmed. “Do you still lecture at the university, then?” I ask Lachlan, reaching for another helping of some stewed bean dish.
“Aye,” Lachlan says. “I still keep foot in the research world, and now with this Zoom business, I can lecture without having to even make the trip.”
Kittie smiles. “He even remembers to un-mute himself… Most of the time.”
“So…” Lachlan looks down the table at Fraser. “What brings you up this way? And without any warning, either.”
“It’s an unplanned detour,” Fraser says immediately. “We were off to Skye for a… meeting.”
“But the bridge closed because of the weather,” I add. “So here we are!”
