by Hannah Ellis
“I guess I can organise something. Let me have a think about it. I’ll see what I can come up with. How many people would it be?”
“Not many.” Isla’s brow furrowed. “Just us and Leana and Elspeth …”
“Will your mum come?”
“Aye. I guess she might. I hadn’t thought about it. I could invite Mary too.”
“She’d like that.”
“Six then. Do you think we can organise it for the weekend after next?”
“I don’t see why not. The activity centre is pretty quiet at this time of year. I’ll talk to Tim about it.”
“Great,” Isla said, then stood up. “I’ll leave you to your tidying.” She hovered by the shoe rack, peering into the bag of jars. “I’m just going to take a few more.”
“No.” Nick crossed the room. “I need them.”
“You’ve got loads,” Isla said, gathering a few into her arms.
“I need loads. You can’t just steal my jars.”
Isla gave him an exasperated look. “You’ll collect more in no time. When is jam-making season anyway?”
“It’s not that long away really. And I use them for other things too.” He tried in vain to block her as she moved towards the door with her arms loaded up with jars.
“Do you need a bag?” Lexie asked.
“Don’t encourage her!” Nick snapped.
“The car’s outside. I’m fine.”
Moving around Nick, Lexie opened the door for Isla. “I’ll make a provisional itinerary for the hen party and get back to you.”
“Thanks,” Isla called behind her. “I’m really excited about it.”
“Me too.” She closed the door and turned back to Nick who was glaring at her.
“You could’ve helped me stop her from taking the jars. Logan’s not going to be impressed that he’s collecting jars and we keep letting Isla take them.”
“The more we protest the more suspicious she’ll get. We just need to make sure we keep them hidden away upstairs in future.” She picked up the bag with the remaining jars. “Take those up. Then let’s get this kitchen straightened out.”
They spent the next hour sorting through gifts. The kitchen was almost restored to its normal state when a knock came at the door. Nick answered it to Logan.
“Why do you keep giving the jars to Isla?” he asked when he stepped inside.
“She just takes them,” Nick said. “We’ll keep them hidden from now on. She didn’t come around here for six months and now she keeps turning up.”
“How many jars do you need anyway?” Lexie asked.
“A lot.” Logan lingered near the door. It didn’t seem as though he intended to stay for long. “Isla’s not bothered about flowers so I want everything decorated with candles instead. I’ll have them all around the edge of the room and down the aisle. Then I’ll put them out along the top of the wall in the courtyard.”
“That sounds amazing,” Lexie said.
“What are you going to do with them all afterwards?” Nick asked.
“I thought we could tell all of the guests to take a few home with them.”
Lexie was impressed. “That’s a great idea.”
“How are you going to collect enough sea glass?” Nick asked. “Won’t Isla be annoyed if you clear out all the beaches?”
Logan smiled. “I’m ordering a load of it online. I decided we’d never managed to collect enough. But it turns out you can buy it in bulk. It should arrive at the end of the week, then we can start putting them together.”
Lexie suspected that job would end up falling to her and Nick but she didn’t really mind. It might be nice to get in touch with her artistic side.
“Anyway, I can’t stay long,” Logan said. “I just wanted to ask you a favour.” He raised his eyebrows at Lexie.
“As long as you don’t want me to organise your stag party,” she said dryly.
He didn’t reply but his eyes flashed with amusement.
“Oh, no.” Lexie groaned. “You’re not serious?”
“Isla was telling me about the hen party and it sounds awesome. I want the same.”
Lexie blew out a long breath. “I guess I can organise something for you too. How many people would there be?”
He looked thoughtful. “Probably about twenty.”
“Really?” Lexie asked going slightly high-pitched.
“Well, there’s us.” He waved a finger between himself and Nick. “Alasdair and Rory, Keith, Gary, Craig, all the rugby lads … Probably a few more people. I’m not sure. I need to make a list.”
“Okay. That’s a lot. Let me have a think about it. I’ll call you later.”
“Thanks.” He moved to the door, calling goodbye to them as he left.
Nick walked over to Lexie and rested his hands at her waist. “I think you’ve just agreed to a load of extra work.”
“I know.” She wrinkled her nose. “I might end up regretting this. For Isla it’s easy. A group of six is ideal. But a group of twenty lads is a nightmare. It doesn’t work well for any activity.”
“Maybe you can tell Logan he has to limit the number.”
Her mind whirred as she mulled over possibilities. “How do you think they’d feel about a joint hen and stag party?”
Nick grinned. “What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking of making it competitive. Boys versus girls. Battle of the sexes!”
“That sounds like it could be very entertaining. You’d definitely have to get Logan to cut some of his friends.”
“He could stick to his closest friends in the daytime and arrange to meet everyone else in the evening. He can have a big night in Portree with the rugby lads.” Her lips twitched upwards and she gave Nick a quick kiss. “I need a pen and paper … I’ve already got ideas.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Elspeth couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a decent night’s sleep. Every night she crawled into bed exhausted and then lay awake for hours before she finally drifted off. Coffee was her saviour and she’d taken to drinking a steady stream of it throughout the day.
After only a few hours’ sleep she wasn’t sure how she’d make it through a day of games and competition at the activity centre. She’d almost rather work – at least she could do that on autopilot. Since her whole family would be joining the joint hen and stag party, she was closing the cafe for the day.
“You were up early,” Rory said, yawning as he walked into the kitchen.
“I couldn’t sleep.”
“Are you still worrying about the wedding cake?”
“No. Not really.” She raised her voice slightly as Rory set the coffee machine running. “I’m going to make my original design. I’m fairly sure Isla will love it when she sees it. And Logan really wants me to do my design. He said Isla kept saying how much she liked Lexie’s cake.”
“So you’re not going to talk to Isla about it?”
“No. Logan and Leana both agree it’s best to surprise her.”
“Seems risky to me,” he said. “I’d have thought that after seeing Lexie’s cake, she’d agree to your design if you asked her.”
“Logan’s sure she wants to change her mind but won’t admit to it.”
“So why not talk to her?” Rory asked, bringing his coffee to the table.
“Because we’re Mackenzies and we don’t operate in that way.” She managed a smile. A few days ago, she’d tried to talk to Isla about the cake, but Isla had briskly told her she didn’t want to discuss it. She’d said she had enough wedding stress and she was leaving the cake in Elspeth’s capable hands. As Elspeth had walked away, Isla had called after her, saying that whatever Elspeth made would be perfect and she wasn’t worried in the slightest. Elspeth had thought that was Isla’s way of giving her the green light to do whatever she wanted, but it was hard to be sure.
When she’d woken before sunrise that morning, she’d made the decision to go with her design. The cake would be stunning and she was sure I
sla would love it. She wished she’d had more time to practice the various elements, but she was confident she could still manage it.
“I’m sure Isla will be happy with it on the day.” Rory’s eyes narrowed as he stared into his coffee. “Is everything else okay with you?”
Her heartbeat quickened and she forced a smile. “Yes. Fine. Why?”
“You just seem a bit … distant or something.”
“I’m fine,” she said, standing and taking her mug to the sink.
“Really?” He followed her and put a hand on her hip as he drew her to him.
Her heart rate went haywire and she felt slightly light-headed as she took a step away from him. “I’ve just been busy with work, and I haven’t been sleeping well. Everything’s fine, though.” She smiled brightly as Arran walked into the kitchen.
“I’m hungry,” he said.
“Sit down,” Elspeth said. “What do you want? Cereal?” When he nodded, she moved to get a bowl and spoon.
“Is it the party today?” Arran asked.
“Yep.” Rory ruffled his hair as Arran climbed onto a chair. “Your first stag party! Is it definitely okay for Arran to come?” he asked Elspeth.
“Yeah. I spoke to Lexie. She said it’s a family-friendly event this afternoon. It should be fun.” It would be fun for Arran anyway; Elspeth really wasn’t sure how she’d fare on so little sleep. After pouring cereal for Arran, she turned to Rory. “Do you mind if I go back to bed for an hour or two? I’m done in.”
“Of course. We can bring you breakfast in bed if you want?”
She shook her head. “No, thanks. I just want to try and sleep.”
As soon as she lay down in bed, her mind whirred and she knew she probably wasn’t going to be able to sleep. When Rory had asked her if everything was okay, she’d told him everything was fine, but that was a lie. She wasn’t fine at all and she wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep pretending she was.
Everything felt such a mess. She’d spent so long hating the long-distance relationship when Rory had been living in Edinburgh. Him moving in with them permanently was all she’d wanted. Everything was supposed to be perfect. But it wasn’t, and she didn’t know what to do about it. She wasn’t sure there was anything she could do. Rory was Arran’s father and Arran loved having him living with them. There was no way Elspeth could do anything to ruin that for him.
After lying in bed for a couple of hours, she dragged herself up and got showered and dressed, ready for the afternoon at the activity centre. At least surrounded by other people there would be no opportunities for uncomfortable conversations with Rory.
Lexie was quite proud of her plans for the hen and stag party. Everything had fallen into place easily and Tim had been really helpful in setting it all up. Keith had told her he wanted to pay for it all, but Tim hadn’t charged much, just enough to cover the cost of the two instructors they needed for the afternoon. Marty and Caroline would help with getting everyone in the water for kayaking and getting people roped up on the climbing wall. It was too much for Lexie to manage alone.
“How’s Lilac?” Lexie asked Logan’s friend Gary while they stood in the common area of the activity centre, waiting for everyone to arrive. She’d known Gary forever but always felt slightly uncomfortable around him. They didn’t have a lot in common and only ever stuck to small talk.
“We split up a few weeks ago,” he said.
“Sorry. I didn’t realise.”
“Aye. She split up with me actually, but it’s not so bad. Means I might get lucky with one of the bridesmaids at the wedding.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
“Will you behave!” Logan called, wandering over to them. “I’ve already told you bridesmaids are off limits. In fact, don’t hit on anyone at the wedding.”
“I was joking,” he said. “I’m actually sort of seeing someone anyway.”
“Already?” Logan asked.
“Yeah. I was wondering about bringing her to the wedding.”
“The wedding’s in a week,” Logan said wearily. “Don’t start messing up my guest list.”
“We’ll talk about it later,” Gary said.
Lexie left them to it as she saw Elspeth and Rory arriving. She scanned the room to check everyone was there before getting everyone’s attention to tell them they were going to start out on the climbing wall, then move onto kayaking, which would be followed by coffee and cake. She had more planned for later but she was keeping that bit as a surprise.
At the climbing wall she gave a quick safety talk and explained how they’d be doing races to reach the bell at the top. Marty and Caroline would be on the ground to belay the climbers and also help everyone into harnesses and make sure they were secure.
“I’m going to pick who races against who,” Lexie said. “I’ll go up first to show you how it’s done.” She tipped her chin at Nick. “Get a harness on and let’s see what you can do.”
“You know I can beat you on the wall,” he said as he got his climbing gear on.
“Not today,” she said, then smiled at Arran. “Who do you think will win? Me or Nick?”
“Nick,” he said confidently, then high-fived Nick when he held his hand out to him.
“No chance,” Lexie said as she checked her rope and carabiner, then glanced at Nick’s. She nodded at Marty who counted down from three.
Lexie could see Nick keeping on a level with her the whole way up. Down below, the group divided themselves by gender to cheer them on. Lexie stretched out to ring the bell just ahead of Nick.
She gave him a smug smile. “Told you, you had no chance.”
“I was close!”
“Only because I went easy on you.” She sat back into the harness as Marty lowered her down.
Rubbing her hands together after she’d unclipped from the rope, she scanned the group. “I think we’ll have Logan and Leana next.” Leana had been around the activity centre with Lexie enough that she had some basic skills, and it was fun to watch her beat Logan up the wall.
“I feel like this isn’t fair,” Logan said when he was back on the ground.
“Not fair that the women are better than the men?” Lexie replied cockily. She sent Elspeth up against Gary next, which gained the men a point. Then Christine and Keith had them all laughing as they had a turn. Keith determinedly made it to the top, but Christine only made it a few metres before saying she was terrified and coming down again.
“Can I have a turn?” Arran asked, pulling on Lexie’s harness to get her attention.
“Yes.” She ruffled his hair and looked around. “Who would be a good opponent for you?”
“Maybe you should stick to the bouldering wall,” Elspeth suggested. There was a small wall to one side which he’d been playing around on.
“He’s fine,” Lexie said. “He can give it a go. How about you race against your daddy? I’m sure you can beat him.”
“That’s fine,” Rory said, stepping forward. “That’s a win for the boys no matter what.”
“We’re having Arran on our team,” Lexie said. “To even up the numbers.” Mary hadn’t joined in the end so the women were one short.
“Do you think you can make it up to the bell?” Lexie asked Arran.
He looked suddenly nervous. “It’s too high.”
“This really isn’t fair,” Rory said. “I’m going to look really mean beating a four-year-old.”
“How about I climb with you?” Lexie asked Arran. “I can help you and you won’t be scared. Shall we give it a try?”
He nodded and Lexie called Nick over to belay for her. He’d spent enough time at the activity centre that she knew he was capable and comfortable with the job.
“Pay attention won’t you,” she said when they were all set to climb.
He gave her a quick kiss. “I’m not going to let you fall.”
“I know.” She moved to whisper instructions to Caroline who was in charge of Arran’s ropes. Then she looked down at Arran. “Are you
ready?” she asked.
Marty did a countdown again and they set off at a slow pace.
“Don’t go too fast, Daddy,” Arran called when he saw Rory ascending faster than them.
“It’s okay,” Lexie said. “Slow and steady wins the race. Go as fast as you want,” she told Rory.
“I feel as though you’re up to something,” Rory said as he picked his way up.
“I’m just going to give Arran a few tips. He’ll be much faster when he gets the hang of it.” She let Arran go at his own pace for a couple of minutes, pointing out where he should put his hands. “How about we catch up with Daddy?” she whispered when they were a couple of metres off the ground. “I’m going to get Caroline to help you go faster. And I’ll be next to you so you don’t need to be scared, okay?”
“Okay,” he replied.
When Lexie nodded down, Caroline began pulling the rope so Arran was hoisted gently upwards. Lexie hurried to keep up with him.
“Come on, Rory,” she said when they were on a level with him.
“How did you get there?” he asked Arran.
“He’s very fast,” Lexie replied for him. “And you’re quite slow.”
Arran giggled. “You’re slow, Daddy.” He rose steadily up the wall as Caroline pulled the rope down below.
“Ring the bell,” Lexie told him when he was at the top. Reaching out he rang it enthusiastically.
“That’s not fair,” Rory called up. “I didn’t know you were as fast as Spiderman.”
“I won!” Arran called happily, as everyone on the ground cheered for him, and Logan shouted some derogatory remarks to Rory.
Arran’s smile faded as he looked down at them and his hands clutched desperately at the rope.
“You’re the best at climbing!” Lexie told him in her brightest voice. She sat in her harness as Nick lowered her down beside Arran. “You were even better than me,” she said, keeping up eye contact and a constant stream of chatter to distract him until they reached the ground.
“I won,” Arran told Elspeth proudly.
“I saw you,” she said. “You were great.”
“You did a good job too,” Lexie said to Nick. “Thanks for not dropping me.”