Chapter 2
Struan’s first-aid skills hadn’t been scrutinised like this since his last annual assessment, and the instructor hadn’t been nearly as gorgeous, or as intimidating, as the woman currently hovering over his shoulder.
Little Rae, all grown up. Last he’d seen her was at one of Martha’s birthday parties, a good while back, a flying visit on her part where they’d barely exchanged two words.
Before that, it must have been the day he’d helped them both move into halls during Fresher’s Week.
Like his sister, it was rare she returned to Belbarrow.
He just hoped she didn’t see the damp patch of sweat where his T-shirt clung to his back. Doug wasn’t the lightest of fellas to escort down a steep hiking trail, and he hadn’t had time to catch his breath.
‘All done,’ he announced, snipping the bandage and taping down the edge. He slipped his finger between the fabric and Doug’s ankle. ‘Still not too tight?’
Behind his glass of water, Doug shook his head. ‘It’s fine. Cheers, Struan.’
‘Good, because I’m not redoing it now,’ Struan joked, then wiped his clammy palms on his dirt-caked shorts as he stood up.
His attention slid to Rae unprompted. She didn’t appear any less concerned than before, plump bottom lip tucked under her overlapping front teeth.
With deep brown eyes and thick dark hair, she’d always been pretty, but he couldn’t remember her being this pretty.
Sunny Sydney had left her with a golden tan and freckles across her nose.
Those curves she used to hide under baggy flannels and plain dresses were now impossible to ignore, striped linen shorts stretched deliciously over her thick thighs and a thin summer shirt unbuttoned over a white camisole that dipped low to reveal her full chest. He even caught a tempting hint of lace where her bra strap poked out.
Jesus. Struan needed to give his head a wobble.
This was his little sister’s best friend, not some woman to try it on with.
Besides, the attraction wouldn’t be reciprocated, since he’d spent the first twenty years of life gangly and socially incompetent.
Not that he wasn’t still those things now; he could just add long-overdue haircut and zero abs to the list.
‘Well, I should leave you to your daughter’s wrath,’ he decided, eager to escape Rae’s distracting presence and perhaps enjoy a cold shower – for two separate reasons, of course.
Rae narrowed her eyes, likely eager to argue, but Doug was quicker. ‘No, no. Stay for dinner. It’s the least I can do after you all but carried me home.’
When he tried to stand, both Struan and Rae rushed to push him back onto the couch, her elbow grazing Struan’s middle. She was still as little as he remembered, her height barely reaching his chest.
Doug blinked as he flopped down a little too hard against both of their forces. ‘Jesus, calm down. You just said I should put weight on it!’
‘Tomorrow.’ Struan cleared his throat and covered Doug’s ankle with the ice again, if only for an excuse to break the proximity between him and Rae. ‘Stay off it today. That’s an order…’ Tough love wasn’t his style, so he ended with a ‘Please.’
Doug clucked his tongue, dragging a hand through his wiry beard.
‘Set Struan a place at the table,’ he instructed.
‘Oh, no,’ Struan was quick to argue, though his only dinner plans involved microwave lasagne for one. ‘It’s fine, honestly. I was just doing my job.’
‘I’ll nae take no for an answer.’ Doug waggled his finger, nails dirt-caked and bitten down to the quick. ‘Besides, you’d be an eejit to turn down a meal from a world-renowned chef.’
Rae let out a quiet groan of embarrassment, and Struan couldn’t help but smirk.
Doug did have a point. He wouldn’t mind seeing what, exactly, Rae had been busy doing for the last few years.
It was better than going back to his wee house – bothy, as Martha called it, despite the fact it had actual plumbing and electricity sometimes, mostly – and trying to waste away the hours until bedtime.
He had just under a week until the busy tourist season officially began, and while he’d had some Mountain Rescue call-outs here and there, he was mostly twiddling his thumbs until fair-weather hikers flocked to The Highlands in droves.
‘All right, then,’ he decided, lifting his brows towards Rae. ‘As long as it’s no trouble.’
‘Nope. No trouble,’ Rae assured. Behind her, half a dozen school photographs littered the panelled walls, documenting her from the blazer-clad teen in her first year of high school to her university graduation.
Only then, with nostalgia swelling inside him, did Struan realise just how long it had been since he was last among family; not just his own, but any.
With Martha lecturing in St Andrews and Mum living with her new boyfriend in Aberdeen, Struan was the only one left in Belbarrow.
His days were filled with people, but at night, he went home alone.
Aye, he met up with his mates in the tavern on occasion, but even they were all settling down, starting families of their own.
It made him feel stagnant. Like he’d been left behind.
When people asked him, ‘What’s new?’ he had nothing to say.
He wondered if Doug had felt the same when his only daughter had moved away.
She seemed just as eager to escape now, vanishing out of the living room with her dark ponytail swinging behind her.
The dogs took the opportunity to hop onto the couch, littering Doug in kisses.
Though he looked happy enough, Struan still worried about how pale he’d been before.
The dizziness. The way Rae had seemed not just to worry, but to panic.
He patted the farmer on the shoulder. ‘You sure you’re okay, mate?’
‘How many times do I have to tell you? I’m bloody fine!’ Doug’s exasperated tone was enough for Struan to hold his hands up in surrender.
‘Yes, sir,’ he replied, and then backed away before Doug set the Spaniels on him.