19. Edie #2
“So I’m guessing Jamie will be there, too?” I already know the answer. There’s no way Jamie’s missing a party for anything. He might work his ass off on the rewilding project but it’s pretty clear he’s got the work life balance thing sorted out.
Kate runs a finger along her lower lip and glances out of the window for a moment before nodding. “Yeah, definitely. The big question is, will Finn make an appearance.”
Where Jamie’s all sunny temperament and cheerful flirtation and Rory’s his polar opposite, it’s strange to think that somewhere in the middle – literally – there’s this other brother.
“What’s he like?” I think about the framed photo in the hallway where the brothers –maybe ten years ago or so – are standing on the lawn with the castle in the background, dogs sprawled at their feet.
Rory’s staring at the photographer with his habitual haughty glare, as if challenging them to call him out.
Jamie’s grinning in a floppy straw hat, holding the neck of a bottle of champagne.
And Finn, he’s got one hand shading his eyes, looking off into the distance as if he’s focused somewhere else entirely.
It seems apt that he’s across the sea on the island, somehow.
“Finn? He’s a—” Kate stops as if she can’t find the word.
“He’s an acquired taste,” Janey finishes Kate’s sentence. “I love him because he has zero filter.”
“Isn’t that Rory?” I think of his dry observations on the world the night we spent together in New York. The memory makes my stomach contract again, but this time for a different reason.
“Rory’s a pussycat compared to Finn.” Kate grins as I turn to look at her. “Hard to believe, I know. Finn makes his brother look like a diplomat.”
“Well, that I have to see,” I say laughing.
I hate shopping for clothes more than pretty much anything in the entire world but doing it with Janey and Kate feels like that cute montage part of a rom-com movie. I wriggle in and out of satin and velvet and floofy tulle, twirling as I step out into the waiting area .
“This one?” I peek out in a black velvet dress with a low neck and a boned bodice. I tug at the waistband. “I look like a cushion.”
“It’s not the best,” says Janey tactfully.
Kate widens her eyes and shakes her head. “What about the wine coloured one?”
“With my hair?”
It’s the last one on the rack and I’ve left it deliberately, hoping something else would leap out.
It’s not a colour I’ve ever worn before because it feels like it would clash with my dark red hair.
I slide out of the cushion dress and put it back on the hanger, hooking it over the mirror.
Thank God I had these two here, or I’d have chosen something entirely unsuitable.
I genuinely thought balls equalled ballgowns – the Cinderella style.
If I hadn’t known better, I’d have been wandering down the sweeping staircase at Loch Morven like Taylor Swift in her Enchanted dress on the Eras tour…
and there’s only one Taylor Alison Swift.
I pull back the curtain with a little flourish.
“Oh wow.”
“That’s the one.”
“Are you sure?” I turn to look at myself in the full-length mirror and give a little exclamation of surprise.
It’s deep burgundy, made from a soft velvet that feels rich and soft.
The neckline is low enough to feel daring without being dangerous and the waist is boned and nipped in tightly, giving me an hourglass shape with a long full sweep of skirt that skims over my bottom and flares out as I twirl.
“Oh.” I do a little twirl. “It’s quite nice, actually.”
Janey and Kate exchange a look.
“This one then?”
“Definitely.” Kate stands up and stretches, folding her arms behind her head. “And now lunch, I think. We deserve a drink.”
We eat lunch in a cute little restaurant overlooking the river.
“So the other thing you need to know about the ball,” Kate says, her fork poised between her plate and her mouth, “is that something always happens.”
“What kind of something?”
“Well, there’s the night the duke rode his horse into the ballroom with all his dogs at his feet,” she says, laughing.
“And the horse crapped all over the floor,” Janey says, shaking her head. “Oh, and the time he brought in a trained falcon, and it went rogue and got lost in the curtains.”
“And the ice sculpture he commissioned that had melted under the red cloth, so when he did the big reveal it looked like a giant?—”
I raise my brows and indicate for her to carry on.
“The ice penis was the talk of the village for months,” Kate giggles.
“And the midnight fox hunt was insane.”
“Should I ask?”
Janey rolls her eyes and tips the last of the wine into our glasses. She’s on the mineral water and Kate and I have both drunk half a bottle of Sauvignon and I’m feeling very definitely tipsy.
“He got one of the under gardeners to dress up like a—I think they call them furries, don’t they?”
I recoil in my chair. “Go on?—”
“Yes,” says Kate, who can’t stop laughing. “Poor Nick the gardener dressed in a fox suit being chased round the grounds in the middle of the night by a horde of drunk ball guests. He was never the same after that. ”
We head back to the car, my dress over my arm in a zipped carrier and a brand-new pair of heels swinging in my other hand.
“I’d say that was a success, wouldn’t you?” Janey closes the window as the car park barrier rises.
“Definitely.” Kate turns to me. “You sure you’re okay in the back?”
“Of course,” I say. “It’s only fair you take shotgun after I called it first time.”
“I might have to have a power nap,” Kate says, yawning, “or I’ll never get through evening stables. I never drink in the daytime. You two are a bad influence.”
“Next time we’ll get someone to take us to the village for lunch,” Janey says as we head out over the bridge and take the road back towards Loch Morven, “and I’ll have some too.”
“Yeah, then you can tell all your darkest secrets,” Kate says, nudging her with her elbow.
“You know most of them already.” A cloud passes over Janey’s face for a moment. “Well, the shitty stuff, anyway.”
I clear my throat and look out of the window, shifting in my seat.
“Kate’s not just an excellent fashion advisor,” Janey says, meeting my eyes in the mirror when I look up. “She was an angel when I was getting divorced.”
“You’d have done the same for me.”
“I hope I never have to.”
I watch as Janey puts a hand on Kate’s knee for a moment.
“Rory was a star as well. He sorted out the cottage and this—” She pats the steering wheel “And the boys wouldn’t be over in Australia and New Zealand if it wasn’t for him.”
“Remind me of that when you’re sniffling about them being too far away,” Kate says teasingly .
“You know I miss them like mad, but I’d never begrudge them having the adventure of a lifetime.”
Kate dozes off after a while and I sit back, watching the Highland scenery whizzing by.
“So, when am I getting the next instalment?”
“Sorry?” I sit forward to catch what Janey says.
“I loved the book so much. How are you getting on with the second one? I want to know what happens to Lord Godfrey and the Wentworth sisters.”
“Seriously?”
She nods emphatically. “I think it’s amazing. It’s like a whole world and you created it all in your head.”
“And yet I can’t sell it because it doesn’t have any dragons.” I shake my head, laughing.
“You said yourself that the publishers said they didn’t have room for it. That’s not a no.”
“It’s not a hell yes, either.” I make a face.
“I don’t know, it seems a bit weird to me. You’ve written a book I loved reading, you’re clearly talented, but instead of doing what you should be doing you’re writing up the old duke’s diaries.”
I know she’s right.
“At least being here gives you a chance to get the next one done. Maybe you could publish it yourself instead of waiting for a publisher to tell you they want it.”
She’s right in that respect, with no bills to pay besides my rent, which is up to date for once, I’m spending nothing, besides shopping for ball dresses and my slightly out-of-control cardamom bun habit.
It’s weird how things have shifted. It’s like I’ve stopped waiting for someone to send me home. It feels like I’m putting down roots in a part of the world I never expected to .
I swear to God Anna’s got some sort of spy implant in my brain. As soon as I think about rent, she pops up out of nowhere.
How’s it going? Did you get a dress?
I did. I’ll send pics when I get back to the house. Castle. You know what I mean.
About that…
There’s a pause where I see the little dots dancing on the screen and then my phone rings.
“Sorry,” I say, grimacing.
Janey shakes her head “Don’t apologise. Sleepyhead’s awake if you want to take it.”
I accept the call.
“How’s it going in the sticks?”
“Oh, great,” I say, feeling awkward.
“Excellent.” I can hear the sound of her exhaling on her fruit-scented vape. I have not missed the headache-inducing smell of that. “Well, the good news is I’ve got some time off, so I thought I’d come and see it for myself.”
I recoil. “What do you mean?” Anna never takes time off.
“Let’s say I’m at a loose end for a couple of months,” she says briskly. “And you must be bored out of your tiny mind up there in the arsehole of nowhere, so…”
“I—”
“Don’t worry, I can bunk in with you,” she says cosily. “That bedroom’s bigger than my flat.”
“I’m not sure I can invite people to stay,” I say, realising Janey and Kate are both trying their hardest not to listen to the conversation. And failing .
Janey looks back at me for a moment. “Of course you can have a friend come to stay,” she says cheerfully. “You’re not in prison.”
“Even if you were, you’d be allowed visitors,” Kate adds. “Tell your friend to bring a ball dress.”
“Well, that’s that sorted,” says Anna. “I’ll be up on Friday. Let me know if you want an emergency care package from civilisation.”
“Will do,” I say, but she’s gone.
“That’s nice,” says Janey as we take the now familiar single-track road that leads down to Loch Morven.
“Yeah, it’ll be nice to meet your friend.” Kate nods.
I give a thin sort of smile. I don’t like to tell them that I’d have been more than happy to say no.