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Smirking, Jamie adds, “And although I was only your second choice, I’m out as well. There are some folk drinking in the snug—I need to keep an eye on them. But . . .” His grin widens. “I hear Aidan’s free to take you.”

I let out a long, exasperated sigh. It seems the cards are stacked against me today. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but . . . okay, Aidan, you can drive me.”

He beams. “Great! Now that’s sorted, Jamie, grab us some ice from the snug, please. And Lewis, get me a bandage from the first-aid kit. Grace, you’re a yoga teacher, right? That’s perfect: you shouldn’t have any issue raising your foot up onto the dashboard. It’s a bit of a drive to the hospital, so we should do what we can to bring the swelling down on the way.”

“A bit of a drive”? Remembering the endless winding country roads on the journey up, I suspect that’s an understatement. I’d hoped to avoid Aidan during this flying visit. Instead, it looks like I’ll be spending more time with him than with anyone else.

Just my luck.

CHAPTER SIX

AIDAN

A loud rapping at the door. “Aidan, it’s time to get up! In fact, it’s long past time to get up. It’s after nine o’clock!”

With a groan, I force open my heavy eyelids and squint at the bright light streaming in through a gap in the curtains. “Maw, what is it?”

I’m grateful she’s letting me stay here while Ally and I nurture our fledgling business, but is it too much to ask that she let me sleep in on a Sunday morning?

Without waiting to be invited, Maw comes in, to the bedroom that’s been mine my whole life. A couple of years shy of sixty, she’s given up dyeing and has let her hair go grey, but her blue eyes sparkle with a youthful energy, and never more so than when she thinks she’s about to hear some juicy Bannock gossip.

“Well? Out with it! I heard you were a hero yesterday, rescuing Grace Adefope from Bannock Woods and driving her to the hospital. I want to hear the story from the man himself.”

Maw’s the chef at the Bannock Hotel’s restaurant. No doubt either Lewis or Jamie filled her in.

I yawn. “Maw, we had a long wait at the hospital—I didn’t get back till late. Plus, yesterday, I did a ten-mile jog and carried Grace quite a distance. I’m knackered! If I’m a hero, shouldn’t I get to sleep a wee bit longer?”

“Nope!” She perches on the edge of my bed. “Not only am I desperate to hear the full story—and don’t you dare leave out any details—you need to get up because we’re going to go to Johnny MacDonald’s cottage and welcome David to Bannock. I can’t believe I didn’t know he was moving here! I wish I’d had a chance to organise something to mark the occasion. But it’s the weekend—what awful timing!”

Saturdays and Sundays are when Maw is busiest, since on those days the restaurant opens for lunch as well as dinner.

I rub at my eyes. “Er, am I missing something? Why do you feel the need to ‘mark the occasion’?”

“Well, David met Johnny through Emily and Ally, didn’t he?”

“Aye. And . . . ?”

“And if Ally’s mother and father were still alive, they’d have given David a proper welcome. But they’re gone, sadly, and since Mairi and I were best friends, it falls to me to do something in their place. I’d rather have prepared a meal, but the least we can do is pop round and hand in a wee gift.”

I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose. “Honestly, Maw, any obligations you feel to be hospitable are tenuous at best. But aye, sure, if you want to hand in a gift, go ahead. As for me, I’ll no doubt bump into David before long, so I’ll just say hi to him when I see him. Grace may be at the cottage, and she was getting a wee bit tired of me yesterday, so I won’t go around and bother her. I’m going to lie here a while longer.”

Last night, there had been a marked difference in Grace’s behaviour between the drive to the hospital and the drive back. On the way there, I’d chatted away to her, even teased her a little, enjoying how easy it was to rile her up. Considering she’s a yoga teacher and is supposed to be an embodiment of inner calm, or whatever, it’s amazing how quickly I can push her buttons.

At the hospital, there had been good news. The doctor confirmed it’s just a sprain and the best thing Grace can do is keep up the RICE therapy: Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. Despite this, on the way back, she wasn’t herself. I’d hoped for some more repartee—I don’t know why, but I kind of like winding her up. Instead, even though she was beside me in the car, it was as though she were elsewhere in her head.

We actually spent most of the drive home in silence, and that’s unusual for me—I’m never short of chat around women. I suppose she’d had a long day of travelling, and maybe I was getting on her nerves a bit.

Anyway, aye, I think she deserves a break from me today.

“Son, listen to me, you’re going to get up, fill me in on what happened last night, and come with me to Johnny’s place. It’s just good manners.”

“But—”

“I hope you’ve got something on because these covers are coming off!” Maw grabs my duvet.

I do too, frantically. “Maw, I sleep naked!”

“Well, then, I’ll give you two minutes to pull on some clothes. If you’re still in bed when I come back, I’m whipping this off. No time extensions will be granted!”