Chapter 31
Before Paolo finished for the day, he and Holly had gone over to Mandy Lewis’s farm to look at some of her newly acquired donkeys. Mandy, whose frequent acquisitions Hugh had always ranted about, and who Holly diplomatically referred to as ‘well-intentioned’, had recently got two from a sanctuary that was closing down. Her smallholding, a few miles out of town, verged on chaotic, but Paolo knew her, and despite her habit of jumping into things, she was deeply devoted to all of her animals.
‘This is Winnie, and the browner one is Freddie,’ Mandy said, as he and Holly walked through the gate to the field.
The two donkeys began to plod over, coming to say hello to them. They paused, and one came and stood right next to Paolo. He scratched it behind the ears. He was reminded of Wolfie because they were roughly the same size.
‘They’re still young, then,’ said Holly, eyeing them. ‘They’ll eventually get to here or so.’ She lifted her hand up a couple of feet so it hovered by her chin, to indicate the height of an adult donkey.
Mandy beamed. ‘I know. They’re soppy things, aren’t they. Very happy to come and have a cuddle, especially when I bring them a carrot.’
‘Which is the one with the teeth problem?’ asked Holly.
Mandy pointed at the one leaning against Paolo. ‘Freddie. She’s been drooling like anything these last few days. I cannae get my hand in far enough to see what it is.’
Paolo looked down. Sure enough, the donkey was dribbling all over his clothes.
Holly frowned. ‘OK. Me and Paolo will have a go.’
Paolo gave Freddie a pat. ‘Come on, wee lass. Why don’t you come over to the stable and we’ll tie you up and Holly can check you out.’
‘Cup of tea for you both?’ asked Mandy.
Paolo and Holly thanked her, then Paolo led Freddie back across the field and to the stable. The donkey followed him inside, contentedly, as Holly located the switch and turned on the light.
‘She likes you,’ she said, rooting a headtorch out of her bag, and fastening it around her head.
‘Mandy or Freddie?’ Paolo asked, giving the donkey another stroke.
‘Both, but Freddie is the one pressed up against you again. She’s clearly very happy in your company. Hopefully she won’t hate me after this. I’ll suggest to Mandy I give Winnie a quick look over too. They’ve not had a general health check yet.’
Holly opened the donkey’s mouth, and put a gag in. ‘Can you keep her calm while I look?’
Paolo kept a hand on the donkey, talking to it in a low, gentle voice. For a young animal, she seemed surprisingly relaxed.
‘Here it is,’ Holly muttered. ‘It looks like some overgrown back teeth. Let me get the file, and we’ll sort them out. I can’t see any infection or anything else, so no need to remove any.’
Holly was, as was often the case, only half talking to Paolo. ‘Want me to do anything?’
‘Nope. Keep holding her still, and I’ll file them quickly.’
It didn’t take Holly long. At one point, Mandy appeared in the doorway, and Paolo held up his fingers to say ‘five minutes’, assuming Holly would find it easier to continue without Mandy around. Mandy had a tendency to fuss, and it might put Holly off her game. When they were done, Paolo motioned to a hovering Mandy to come in.
‘She’s been a star,’ he said.
As if she was fluent in human, Freddie shifted herself back towards Paolo and gave a great grin. Paolo knew she was really just sniffing the air, but he liked to think she was simply very happy in his company.
‘You will, however, need to have six-monthly checkups for them both. Donkey dentistry needs to be taken seriously. Keep an eye out for these signs . . .’ Holly rattled off a list, as she packed her equipment away. ‘You’ll also need the farrier in regularly. Do you know one? If not, call the surgery — Chloe has a list of useful numbers. Otherwise, she seems very healthy. Can I check Winnie too, before we go?’
* * *
Twenty minutes later, Paolo and Holly were headed back towards the car, Paolo looking around him as they went. Mandy’s farm was far more remote than Auchintraid, but somehow seemed cosier. It was the dinky stone cottage with flowers in window boxes, or Mandy’s extensive vegetable patch which did it. The ever-growing collection of adorable animals probably helped too.
Auchintraid always seemed more lonely, windswept, and — in the depths of winter — harsh. He hoped that Chloe’s meeting tomorrow with the architects went well. It was an ambitious project, and he feared that in moving over to the farm at the same time that building works had gotten underway, she had bitten off more than she could chew.
Thank heavens for Skye, mucking in at the last minute. He chuckled to himself.
‘Something funny?’ asked Holly, giving him a look.
‘Aye. Well, I was thinking how grateful we should be for Skye being at the surgery today, what with Chloe struggling with everything. And then I thought how last night I was cursing her very existence, thinking she and Hamish were together.’
‘I did wonder if you’d lost the plot a bit,’ said Holly. ‘There was clearly never anything going on between them.’
Paolo gave an exaggerated sigh. ‘Hindsight. The pinnacle of smuggery.’
Holly laughed. ‘Yup. That it is. With hindsight, I would have hired a locum. And no I-told-you-sos, please.’
Paolo gave her a sympathetic look. ‘God, when you’re stuck in a hole, it’s hard to know what to do, isn’t it? Plus, even if you do, the fear of failure can hold you back.’
‘But you live and you learn,’ said Holly.
Paolo’s most recent interactions with anyone he found remotely attractive flickered through his mind, and he wondered if they could be categorized as lessons rather than dumpster fires.
‘Fail upwards,’ agreed Paolo.
He had been hoping that with Fabien’s arrival, such improvement might come his way. Not that he would tell Holly, or Chloe, or anyone else. They would all be shocked that Paolo had agreed to meet up with him.
* * *
Four hours later, Paolo was in the pub, enjoying a red wine. Holly, next to him was sipping a lime and soda, and Skye a G&T. Before they’d had a chance to dissect the day, Chloe came bounding in.
‘I’m alive,’ she said, breathlessly.
‘Barely. You’re wearing jogging bottoms,’ said Paolo, his eyebrows raised.
‘Nice to see you too, P,’ she said, pulling over a spare stool from the next table. ‘How was the rest of the day? And those rehydration sachets worked a treat, Skye. Thanks for the tip, not that I’ll ever be drinking that much again.’
The three of them filled Chloe in on the day, and she, in turn, told them about her day spent on the farm: after her hangover subsided, she had a long talk with her mother-in-law about the building work and had — hopefully — cleared the air.
‘So it wasn’t an entirely wasted afternoon,’ Chloe concluded. ‘And you, Skye? Everything OK on reception?’
Skye nodded. ‘I think so. Plenty of cute animals, no major mishaps, and the website’s all sorted. All you need now is some news to put on it. Nice necklace, by the way.’
Paolo looked over at the three seed pearls on a gold chain which hung around Chloe’s neck.
‘Thanks!’ Chloe replied. ‘I got one for my sixteenth, one for my eighteenth and one for my twenty-first. Which was great, because before the third one arrived, I spent three years looking like I was wearing mouse testicles around my neck.’
‘What a delightful image,’ said Paolo. ‘I got this for mine.’ He held up his wrist and showed off an antique gold watch.
‘Very nice. And more than I could ever dream of,’ said Holly. ‘I got a tenner each time to go to the pub.’
‘All three times? The legal drinking age is eighteen!’ said Chloe.
‘Oh yes,’ said Holly. ‘What about you, Skye? What gifts did your parents bestow on you for the milestones?’
‘Seeing as we undoubtedly all know about my turbulent teen years by now, I guess I can be honest and tell you they gave me some hefty advice about straightening myself out, plus funds to access when I was more responsible. Which I was eventually allowed when I was working for the law firm and needed it for a flat.’
‘How are you feeling about going back to work, by the way?’ Chloe asked.
Skye looked doubtful. ‘So-so, although a case of Sunday-night blues is heading my way. Anyway. Let’s talk about something positive. Paolo, now I’m no longer in the way of you and Hamish — not that I ever was — I want to say I think you’d be great together.’
Paolo looked at her. Skye clearly didn’t know about Beauly Man. Hamish had been keeping it on the quiet. ‘Och, well, that’s kind of you to say.’
Skye continued vigorously. ‘He’s the nicest guy in the world. And you’re not too bad either. You’d make a great couple.’
‘Thanks,’ he said again, not wanting to make it awkward.
He took his phone out of his pocket, and put it on the table. ‘Can I get another round in?’
‘Lemonade, please,’ said Holly. ‘God, I can’t wait until I’m no longer permanently on call.’
Chloe snatched the phone up. ‘Hold up. Paolo . . . have you been in touch with Fabien? Actively contacted him?’
Paolo felt his stomach sink. ‘No. Why?’
‘You ought to change your notification settings, you big fibber. It’s here in front of my very eyes. Fabien’s slid into your DMs — I think that’s the correct phrase, isn’t it?’ Chloe flicked him a look of suspicion, then read from the screen. ‘ Weather on Saturday looking up. Perfect for spicy margs on the beach? x. Paolo, why’s that bastard saying that?’
The room had gone fuzzy. Paolo blinked, trying to bring everyone back into focus. He didn’t want to tell them that there was a chance he still had a foothold in Fabien’s heart, because they’d all refute that with gusto. Nor did he want to say that he felt compelled to take chances when they came his way, seeing as Hamish wasn’t as available as everyone thought.
‘Who’s Fabien?’ asked Skye.
‘Paolo’s ex. The only reason we vaguely tolerate him is because he’s my landlord,’ Holly answered. ‘Anybody there, Paolo? What on earth is going on?’
‘Fabien’s the kind of guy with two phones,’ Chloe explained further. ‘Super-hot, but very bad news.’
‘He liked my pictures from the other night,’ said Paolo. He scratched his head. ‘I’d liked one or two of his, recently. He said he was in town, I tested the water. It was boredom. And the obscene jealousy that Hamish seemed to be shacked up with Skye.’
‘He’s bad news. You can’t see him, Paolo,’ Chloe said, with a warning tone.
‘But I can’t not,’ he replied. ‘It would be impolite. He’s in town for one weekend. He probably wants a catch-up.’
The excuses were coming out faster than he could stop them. True, he could see why they thought Fabien was bad news, as Chloe had put it. Heck, Fabien had barely arrived in Switzerland two years ago when he started posting photos of himself with a stream of attractive guys. Not that there was necessarily an overlap, but he had barely broken up with Paolo.
Perhaps Paolo ought to have moved on, and eliminated all thoughts of Fabien from his mind. But when a break-up wasn’t on your terms, when you still wanted them long after you became nothing more to them than a fading memory, a little part of you could hold out hope for longer than was strictly sensible. Maybe Fabien had his reasons for moving on so fast. Long distance was a struggle, maybe Fabien was putting himself out there in an effort to get over Paolo.
And here Fabien was, back in Paolo’s life and, nobody holding him back, other than his overly cautious friends. He wanted to see what Fabien had to say. You never knew what might happen. Even if Skye was no longer an obstacle standing between him and Hamish, there were others, Paolo’s fear being the most glaring.
Chloe thrust her phone under Skye’s nose, and he watched as Skye was scrolled through Fabien’s social media posts, which Paolo knew were exclusively filtered and, without exception, depicted a life being lived to the full.
‘He’s devastatingly good looking,’ Skye said. ‘But it’s a bit style over substance.’
‘Like I say, two phones,’ Chloe said, and folded her arms. ‘At least. How he juggles all his dating apps I do not know. Bet he gets his secretary to do it.’
‘It’s very curated,’ Holly pointed out, reading his thoughts. ‘And don’t tell me that’s what gallerists do, Paolo. Fabien might think himself an aesthete, but I’d say it applies mainly to his face rather than any deeper artistic instincts.’
‘Ouch,’ said Skye. ‘That’s painful.’
‘Can we stop tearing the guy apart?’ said Paolo. ‘Only all the attacks on him are like proxy attacks on me.’
The comments were making his skin prickle, as was the situation in general.
‘Fine,’ Chloe said. ‘Fabien is a lot of fun, I’ll give you that. His thirtieth party was Boogie Nights-themed, and the glitter roller skates he arrived on were amazing. But you’re way more fun than he is.’
‘Yeah. Holly’s party was incredible,’ Skye chimed in. ‘Easily the most stunning set-up of any I’ve attended. And the best cocktails.’
‘Don’t mention the cocktails,’ Chloe said, closing her eyes. ‘Delicious but deadly. Say no more.’
‘Can we say no more about Fabien too, then?’ Paolo snapped. ‘Why shouldn’t he have a second chance?’
He shoved his phone back in his pocket, his face burning somewhat under the three pairs of eyes suddenly staring at him.
‘I’m off home, guys. I’m not in the mood.’