Chapter Forty-Four
Brodie had completely forgotten how busy he was going to be this week.
It had slipped his mind that he had rescue boat training and then had to go and talk to a few potential clients about work.
He hadn’t yet had a chance to catch up with Flora, other than a few very snatched conversations here and there.
And now it was Friday and he was hoping that she would be free to do something with him later.
Thoughts of Flora had completely dominated his head since those kisses last weekend.
‘Hey, Brodie,’ greeted Jessica as he pushed open the door of the bakery. He was in desperate need of coffee before he started work this morning and smiled at Jess who stood behind the counter, arranging a basket of freshly baked scones.
‘Hi, Jess.’ He stifled a yawn.
‘You look knackered.’
He laughed. ‘Thanks. I knew I could rely on you to call a spade a spade. I’m sure I’ll be fine after I’ve had one of your coffees.’
‘The usual?’
He nodded.
‘Coming right up.’
As he waited for his drink, he perched on a stool at the window and scrolled through his phone. Frowning, he opened a text from his sister sent a few minutes ago. It was unusual for her to message him when he’d seen her so recently.
Help! A long shot I know. But the babysitter tonight has cancelled. It’s Jack’s work do. Can you help????? Please. Chaz xxxxxxx
Brodie knew how much his sister had been looking forward to tonight.
She and Jack didn’t go out much and she’d been talking about the event on Sunday when he was there visiting.
Before he could panic himself out of agreeing, he started to type.
It was the least he could do given that she never normally asked.
Sure thing. What time do you need me there? Xx
‘Here you go, Brodie.’ Jessica placed his coffee on the counter.
‘Can I get you anything to go with it? A blueberry and lemon scone perhaps? Or some of our raspberry ripple pastries?’ He looked across at the counter and felt his mouth start to water.
‘Sure. I’ll take two of each. It’s about time I took something in for Iris and Flora. ’
Her mouth twitched into an almost smile. ‘How’s it all going?’
Brodie wondered if her question was loaded.
Had Lily mentioned seeing him and Flora the other night at the inn?
Or was she genuinely keen to hear about his progress at Iris’s house.
He decided to go with the latter. ‘All great thanks and going just the way I hoped it would.’ He held her gaze for a moment, wondering if she might try to delve deeper.
But she simply smiled and bagged up the pastries and scones.
‘There you are. Enjoy.’
‘Cheers, Jess. See you soon.’ As he made his way towards Iris’s cottage his mind was elsewhere, thinking about how much he would need to do today so he could be in Crieff in time for his babysitting duties.
‘Brodie,’ called a voice from behind him.
He turned to see Flora, in shorts and sports vest; she’d clearly been out running.
Sweat was beading on her forehead, tendrils of hair had come loose from her ponytail and her cheeks were flushed.
He didn’t even think twice before leaning in and kissing her.
Because in that moment, she was the most beautiful and radiant thing he’d ever seen.
Flora blinked, surprised and he heard her breath catching just slightly as his lips met hers. But then she smiled against his mouth, her hand instinctively reaching for his.
When they pulled apart, she looked at him with a mix of amusement and lust. ‘Well, that was unexpected,’ she said, still a little breathless.
‘I couldn’t help myself,’ he replied, grinning. ‘You look . . . hot.’
She laughed. ‘I’m a sweaty mess.’
‘Just how I like you.’ And he kissed her again. ‘Good run?’
‘I’m not sure I would ever call running good. But it’s a nice morning for it.’
As they walked towards the boathouse, she tucked a loose curl of hair behind her ear, and Brodie couldn’t take his eyes off her. He longed to kiss her again. And again. ‘I’m sorry we haven’t caught up properly yet.’
She smiled. ‘That’s okay. It’s been a busy week . . . are you free later?’ She raised a brow suggestively.
Brodie groaned, remembering his promise to his sister.
‘I’m not.’ He pulled a face and felt awful when he saw Flora’s expression fall.
‘I have just promised my sister that I’ll go to Crieff to look after the wee ones.
Her babysitter has cancelled.’ Could he suggest she come as well?
Or was that too keen? He hesitated, his hand gripping the paper bag from the bakery as he thought.
He cleared his throat. ‘I don’t suppose you’d like to come along? ’
She looked at him in surprise. ‘You want me to come with you?’
Great. Now he just felt like a self-conscious idiot who had completely jumped the gun.
Why on earth would she want to help him babysit two four-year-olds?
What sort of chaotic date was that going to be?
He may as well have asked her to swim with sharks.
‘No pressure though,’ he said quickly. ‘It’s fine.
It was just a thought.’ He took a gulp of coffee.
She nodded. ‘I’ll come. That sounds fun.’
He raised both eyebrows doubtfully. ‘Seriously?’
‘I’d love to.’ She gave him a playful nudge. ‘I mean, what could possibly go wrong?’
He smiled weakly as he thought about the paint explosion, glitter messes and baking experiments that had all gone a bit chaotic previously on his watch. ‘With us in charge, nothing at all,’ he said as confidently as he could. ‘Can you be ready to leave at five?’
‘Sure thing,’ she said, reaching over to kiss him again. They were nearing the gate of the boathouse and she gave him a cheeky wink. ‘I’m looking forward to it.’
* * *
‘I’m sorry this is the first chance we’ve had to talk properly,’ said Brodie as they pulled away from the boathouse that evening. ‘How are you? Is everything okay? Apart from the thought of being in charge of two danger tots for the night?’
Flora laughed despite the worry that had been pressing on her mind since her gran had told her about her secret sister.
‘I am positively looking forward to it,’ she said firmly.
It would at least make a change from trawling the internet looking for answers that she couldn’t find.
She looked out the window, watching the glimpses of the loch she could see through the trees as they left the village.
‘To be honest, I’ve been a bit worried about Gran. ’
Brodie gave her a sidelong glance. ‘Would it help to talk about it?’
She looked back at him and sighed. Where to even begin? Despite her best efforts she hadn’t been able to make any progress on her mission to find her gran’s long-lost sister. She opened her mouth to start explaining but then closed it again. This was far harder than she thought it would be.
‘You can trust me, Flora.’ Brodie reached over to clasp her hand.
‘Whatever it is, I promise it will go no further than the insides of this van. And you don’t need to tell me anything.
If you’d rather enjoy the view, I can put on some Spotify .
. . or the football round up on the radio,’ he added with a mischievous grin.
‘Please don’t do that,’ she said with a small chuckle.
‘It’s just that . . .’ Her voice faltered as she tried to work out what to say.
She took a deep breath to steady herself and looked straight ahead.
‘Gran told me that she has an older sister who was adopted. This was years before she was born. She didn’t find out about her until her mum was dying, years ago, and it was a huge shock.
She didn’t do anything about it back then.
I think she was so overwhelmed she didn’t know where to start.
Then I found a box in my grandpa’s study which brought it all back to her.
She now wants to try and trace her.’ She paused before quietly adding, ‘Although realistically it might be too late.’
‘That must have been a huge shock for her. You too.’ His voice was even as he looked across at her.
‘Yes, it was, although to be honest I’m more worried about Gran having carried that secret for so long.
I had no idea.’ Flora still couldn’t believe Iris hadn’t told anyone other than her grandpa about the family secret.
Even Flora’s dad didn’t know about it. ‘Sorry, that was another of my huge info dumps. You seem to have that effect on me, Brodie.’
‘That’s okay. Please don’t apologise. I’m glad you’re telling me . . .’ He shrugged. ‘It does explain why she’s been a bit out of sorts lately. It’s obviously been weighing on her mind.’
Flora blinked back a tear, only now realising the weight and responsibility she had felt on her shoulders since her gran had told her.
‘I said I would try and help. But so far all I seem to do is stare at Google and wonder where to start. I’ve been trying to search online but it’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack and Gran keeps looking at me expectantly every day even though I’ve told her it will take some time.
’ The words seemed to tumble from her mouth and she was worried that this was a bit too much information to share with Brodie who she didn’t know that well.
But, as though reading her mind, he took a hand briefly off the steering wheel and clasped one of hers, gently squeezing it. ‘I’m glad you’ve told me.’
‘Really?’ she said unconvinced.
He nodded. ‘Yes. A problem shared is a problem halved or something like that. And I might just be able to help.’
She tilted her head and looked at him questioningly. How on earth could he help unless he had a crystal ball?
‘My sister used to work for the National Records of Scotland. If you’re comfortable talking to her, then she would definitely be able to point you in the right direction.’
Flora started to rub her neck to ease some of the tension that had been building since her gran’s revelation. Was this man too good to be true? What were the chances? She swallowed hard feeling her insides flutter. ‘That would be amazing. Working alone, my head feels like it’s going to burst.’
He glanced over and gave her a wry smile. ‘Just wait until the end of tonight after being in charge of the twins.’
Flora didn’t mind at all. Brodie was right, sharing the problem had been really helpful. Not only did she feel lighter and more confident, she could now get more answers to help her gran. And having Brodie to talk to made her realise she wasn’t alone in this.