Chapter 77 Summer
SEVENTY-SEVEN
SUMMER
It’s past midnight when I finally finish work for the day. The rest of the village helpers trickled out hours ago with promises that they’d be back tomorrow. I barely noticed. I’ve been sitting at the kitchen table with my focus locked in all evening, working on Lochview’s social media accounts.
The pictures we got were amazing. I have shots of Cameron shirtless and sweating as he splits logs.
Several of Fraser, a sheep under each arm, kilt billowing in the wind.
A bunch of Alec bottle-feeding Crumpet. I’ve been posting the pictures from Lochview’s account and sharing them to my own to get more eyes on them. And it’s working.
I bite my lip as I study the final picture I’m scheduling tonight. It’s of all three men, dressed in kilts and shirts, crouched around Viola in the lambing barn. Fraser and Alec are both focused on the sheep, but Cameron is looking behind the camera, his eyes dark with longing.
My cheeks warm. He was looking at me. He barely took his eyes off me all afternoon. It was…distracting.
I force myself to concentrate, rereading the caption I’ve typed up.
Meet Alec, Fraser, and Cameron, three shepherds who live and work at one of the oldest farms in Scotland.
The local council is trying to take over their land and develop on their property.
Help save Lochview Farm (and the cute sheep who live there) by sharing this post or filling out the survey in our bio. #SaveLochview #SheepDaddies
Lulu suggested that last hashtag. Apparently, it’s working wonders. I hit schedule on the post, shut my laptop, and stretch luxuriously.
Suddenly, something touches my lips. “Cake on a stick,” Cameron says.
“Huh?” I open my eyes. Cameron is looming over me. He’s still in his shirt and kilt, and I can’t stop myself from eyeing the almost indecent way the forest-green tartan drapes over his thick thighs.
“Cake on a stick,” Cameron repeats. “Eat it.”
I go cross-eyed as I try to focus on the thing he’s waving in front of my mouth. “I… Where did you get a cake pop?”
“Made ’em.” He nods to the stove. I see several baking trays lined with greaseproof paper, full of pink and white cake pops. “You were in Summerland. Open your mouth.”
I let him feed it to me, relishing the sweetness of the icing. Cameron watches me chew. “Love you,” he says simply.
I choke on cake.
A light flush touches his neck. “I’m not good at saying shit. And I know you like cake on a stick, so… Aye.” He nods awkwardly. “There you go.”
I wash down the rest of the cake pop with a sip from my giant water bottle, my thoughts scrambled.
Honestly, I’ve been trying not to think about the guys’ confessions in the hotel room last night. I don’t have the emotional bandwidth. But now Cameron is standing in front of me telling me that he loves me, and he’s made me cake pops.
“Don’t overload,” Cameron says, glancing at the clock. “You worked too long. Go to bed.”
Before I can answer, my phone lights up. Lulu’s name flashes across the screen. “I should just take this,” I say, ignoring Cameron’s scowl.
Lulu and I have been calling back and forth all day, coordinating Lochview’s social media campaign. Honestly, I thought she might refuse when I asked her to help. I did just ditch the party she planned for me, after all. But she’s been amazing.
I answer the call. “Hey, how’s it going?”
“Babe?” Lulu’s voice bubbles down the line. “You’re killing it. Killing. It.”
“Yeah?” I let out a sigh of relief. “I haven’t been checking the likes.” I’m still too nervous to look at my analytics.
“Don’t look at the numbers if they’ll freak you out,” she agrees.
“Let me give you the rundown. The account has already hit 30k, and we’re getting a ton of engagement.
I’ve been looping in Scottish influencers to make sure we’re hitting the right crowd.
The sustainable fashion girlies are eating this up.
I’m tracking clicks to the council contact pages, and I think they’re going to have a very full inbox tomorrow.
There’s one picture of the ginger guy holding a lamb like Simba that’s already getting turned into a meme. ”
“Crumpet,” I whisper.
“Yes, she’s a photogenic queen. Oh, the kilty thirst traps were genius, by the way, everyone loves the Sheep Daddies.” She keeps rattling on, and I sit back and let it wash over me.
It’s working. My plan is actually working. I’m going to save Lochview. It feels too good to be true.
“On the downside, your comments are a bit of a mess,” Lulu warns.
“To be fair, publicly canoodling with three giant farmers at your five-mil party, ditching, and then disappearing to Scotland and plastering pictures of said farmers shirtless all over your social media accounts is, like, a choice. A lot of people think you’re in a weird pastoral cult. ”
I sigh. It’s hardly surprising. When Alec, Fraser, and Cameron grabbed me at the club, there were hundreds of influencers filming. I’m sure the clips are going viral online.
I guess it’s only a matter of time before Mum sees them. She’ll be mad. I promised her I’d keep a low profile. I’d say I failed at that pretty spectacularly.
I bite my lip. “Hey, Lulu, about the party…”
I hear typing in the background. “Hmm?”
“I’m sorry I ditched. You worked hard on it. I just… I don’t know how I feel about this job anymore, to be honest.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” I fiddle with my cake pop stick.
“I mean, that article that said I’m bland and have no personality anymore was rude, but it wasn’t actually wrong, was it?
I’ve built my entire platform off showing people what they want to see.
” I frown. “I think I accidentally people-pleased away my entire personality.”
“Masked too close to the sun,” Lulu agrees sagely.
“And now my soul fell out.”
“Nah. It’s in there. Wear something that looks like you’re being swallowed alive by a marshmallow, that’ll perk it back up.” She sighs. “Listen. I’m sorry. I don’t think I’ve been the best friend to you. Or the best manager.”
I blink. “What? Why would you say that?”
“I was too focused on making you as successful as possible. I knew you were overwhelmed, but I just assumed you’d want to push through it for long-term gain.
But maybe that wasn’t what was best for you?
Maybe you’d have been happier, like, not stifling your whole personality and style, even if it meant not growing your platform as fast. I don’t think I gave you as many options as I should have.
I know I’ve pressured you into doing some stuff you weren’t sure about. ”
“Lulu, I wanted five million followers. I wanted the Icons Only collaboration. I was willing to burn myself out to get it. You never made me do anything.”
“Not physically,” she agrees, “but I am incredibly hot and intimidating, so it is hard to say no to me. I should have checked in on you more, and I’m sorry.
I…” I can practically hear her shudder. “God, you know I hate being gooey. I really missed you while you were up in Scotland. And I want you to know, I care far more about you as a friend than as a client. Whatever you wanna do next, I’ll support you.
Even if you are in a farm cult, which I haven’t actually ruled out yet. ’Kay?”
My eyes are burning. “Lulu!”
“No,” she says immediately. “Stop it. I can hear the tears in your eyes. Pull yourself together and tell me about your Scottish boyfriends.”
“They’re not my boyfriends…” I start. As if on cue, Fraser appears at my side holding a cashmere blanket. I watch the folds of his kilt spread over his thighs as he bundles me up in it.
“Thought you looked cold,” he murmurs in my ear. “Didn’t mean to disturb you. Carry on.”
I just stare at his bare legs, slightly hypnotised. They could make a sculptor cry.
Lulu pauses. “Hello? Is that one of them now? God, you’re not, like, getting secretly fingered while we talk, are you? Girl.”
“I’m getting tenderly wrapped in a blanket, actually.”
Lulu makes a retching noise. “God, that is so much worse. Okay, I’m going. I have some more influencers I need to DM. Night.”
“Night,” I say, feeling a warm glow inside as I lay down my phone. Fraser smiles at me fondly.
“You done?” he asks, and I nod. “I’ll set up the guest bedroom for you. You must be tired.” Even though he’s smiling, he looks sad. I know why. A week ago, I’d be sleeping curled up in his bed.
He helps me up. “You did good today, sweetheart. Thanks for working so hard for us. We’re so lucky to have you.”
I stretch, feeling slightly awkward. “May as well use my power for good, right?”
“Aye, that’s what I’ve been saying about my legs, to be fair.” I smile, looking out the window. My eyes catch on something in the darkness. There’s a figure hunched on the farmhouse’s stone step.
“Is…is that Alec?” I haven’t seen him since we finished with the photos. I assumed he was checking on the animals.
“What?” Fraser turns to look. “Oh, aye. He’s just sitting in the dark like an emo. He does that sometimes.”
“Is he upset?”
“Very,” he says frankly. “Can’t say I care much. Not after what he did to you.”
“I’m going to speak to him,” I decide, wrapping the blanket tighter around myself. “I’ll be back in a minute.”