Page 39 of The Scottish Island Wedding

‘Aww. Matty!’ Heather glowed, looking into his eyes.

‘I mean it, baby.’ He kissed her on the cheek. ‘And I love your family. They’re awesome, and I’m so glad to be a part of the Balhennie clan.’

EIGHTEEN

MONDAY 20 DECEMBER

‘This hardly looks safe,’ Clara Campbell said as she teetered onto the boat.

‘It’d be a lot safer if you weren’t wearing stilettos.’ Primrose held out her hand to help Clara aboard. ‘There was a dress code on the email. Practical, warm clothes. Don’t you think you might get cold?’ She turned to help Estella, who was, at least, wearing some very expensive-looking flat boots.

The boat itself was quite large; a white craft with wooden benches along both sides of the open air deck, with another double-sided bench down the middle. It could have held thirty people, but no-one else was taking seal tours just days before Christmas. Anyway, Heather had booked the boat for a private tour.

‘They’re Prada,’ Clara said, as if that was an explanation. Primrose looked unmoved.

‘Okay, ladies! Are we all on board? Take a seat, take a seat. Blankets and tarps, help yourselves. It’s going to get a wee bit chilly if the sun goes in, but we’ll do our best, and the ship has heaters.’ The captain of the seal tour ship, a middle-aged woman who had introduced herself as Gloria, rubbed her gloved hands together and beamed at everyone. ‘Now, who’s been on a seal-spotting tour before? Show of hands.’

All the Balhennies raised their hands. The Campbells looked blank.

‘Right. So, some of you are new to this and some of you are seasoned professionals.’ Gloria nodded. ‘And I believe this is a trip for Heather’s hen do? Heather? Which one are you?’ She looked around.

‘Me.’ Heather raised her hand.

‘You didn’t fancy strippers and prosecco, then?’ Gloria chuckled. ‘Good choice, anyway. Not the best weather, but good choice.’

It was roughly eight degrees, windy and rainy, but Heather was still excited to go out on the boat.

‘I love animals. I love seeing them in their natural habitats.’ Heather shrugged. ‘I didn’t want to do anything else. Well. Lunch, later.’

They’d planned to go to their friends Dom and Farid’s café in Portree after the boat tour; Dom had planned to close the café just for them, and Heather was looking forward to one of Farid’s amazing fresh seafood dishes. Dutifully, she’d emailed Dom details of Estella and Clara’s macrobiotic diets; his response had been a series of incredulous emojis.

‘Perfect. Well, just to outline what’s going to happen on the trip, then. We’ll be aboard the boat for about one and a half or two hours, and we’ll explore the Sound of Raasay, which is the body of water that lies between the Isle of Raasay and the Isle of Skye. This is our captain, Sandy, my dad, and I’ll be your tour guide.’ Gloria introduced a bearded man in his sixties, dressed in a warm brown coat, scarf and captain’s hat, who waved at them from the front of the boat.

‘You can check out seabirds as we go past the cliffs; we’re hoping we see seals – I know they’re Heather’s favourite. We may see dolphins and sea eagles too, if we’re lucky.’

‘Sounds fantastic!’ Annie said; Heather was grateful for her, once again. ‘I can’t wait!’

‘Wonderful!’ Gloria looked pleased. ‘Now, then. As it’s Christmas, or more or less, I’ve brought some flasks of hot chocolate, and there’s a bottle of the hard stuff for those that’d like to add an extra warmer in. I’ve also got an insulated food bag there with bacon sandwiches, fried egg sandwiches, cheesy potato wedges and other warm food. So, as long as we all stay by the heaters, keep our blankets on and keep stocked up with calories, we’ll be snug as bugs in rugs.’

‘Well, I won’t be eating any of that,’ Clara scoffed. ‘Sounds like a heart attack waiting to happen.’

‘Actually, starving your body is a sure-fire way to serious health issues, including a heart attack.’ Blossom took a thick woollen blanket and wrapped it around herself. ‘Plus, if you don’t eat something when we’re out on the water, you’ll freeze. You haven’t got any heft to keep you warm as it is.’

‘That’s a very personal remark,’ Clara said, huffily, as the boat pulled away from the harbour. ‘I don’t think my weight is any of your business, actually.’

‘You’re right. And I think we’d all kill to have your lovely figure, my darling. But I don’t want you passing out from the cold on my watch.’ Blossom handed Clara a blanket. ‘Don’t argue.’

‘So.’ Elizabeth turned to Heather and looked her up and down, sizing up her new daughter-in-law as Gloria cast off and the boat started chugging slowly into the harbour water. ‘You like outside pursuits. Do you hunt?’

‘Hunting? Do you mean fox hunting?’ Heather asked, appalled.

‘Yes. Hunting, riding, shooting. All the traditional pursuits.’ Elizabeth stared at her impassively. ‘Clara tells me that you don’t ski. You’ll have to take lessons, but it’s never the same if you begin as an adult.’

‘Oh. I mean… I suppose I wouldn’t mind learning to ski…’ Heather began, feeling wrong-footed. She didn’t have anything against skiing in particular; it was just that Matty and she had never discussed it, and now, here was Elizabeth Campbell, telling her that she’d have to do it, as if it was part of her CV as Campbell Wife. ‘I can shoot. But hunting, no. I love animals.’

‘Loving animals has nothing to do with it. I love animals. I love my dogs. Foxes are vermin,’ Elizabeth replied breezily. ‘It’s a country tradition. I wonder that your parents haven’t taught you these things.’

‘My parents let us follow our own interests. I work for an animal charity. I’m opposed to fox hunting. I sort of feel like if I wanted to get dressed up and ride around on a horse, I could do dressage. I’d quite like to learn to ride a horse, though,’ she added, politely. ‘Helpful in the apocalypse if nothing else.’