Chapter 8
When Ciaran called to collect Roxie for the dinner dance, he came in to see his mother before they left.
Amy greeted him drily. ‘I know you’ve come in to check up on me, Ciaran, but Roxie has made sure I have everything I could possibly need.
You’re looking very well tonight. Go and enjoy yourself for once.
I don’t believe you’ve had a good night out since Donald and Jenny were married, and that’s nearly two years ago.
’ She broke off as Roxie came into the room.
‘Aah.’ She caught her breath. ‘You look wonderful, my dear!’
Ciaran turned to look at Roxie. His eyes widened, then darkened in admiration. ‘You do look lovely, Roxie. I can see I shall have a job fighting off the competition tonight,’ he said, unusually serious.
‘You leave me breathless, Ciaran Baxter. I was not expecting a handsome man in a kilt as my partner tonight,’ Roxie murmured demurely.
‘There will be quite a few in kilts tonight.’ Ciaran laughed. ‘It is Hogmanay, remember.’
‘The pair of you make a lovely picture.’ Amy sighed. ‘Could you fetch me my camera, please, Roxie?’
‘Now there’s an idea.’ Roxie retrieved it from the sideboard. ‘I need a picture of you in your kilt, Ciaran,’ she said gleefully. ‘I shall send one to my friend, Lucy. She keeps asking if I have met any men in kilts yet.’
‘But I would like one of you together,’ Amy said.
Ciaran grinned happily and clasped Roxie around the waist, drawing her close while his mother clicked several pictures on her small camera.
‘Now, away you go, the pair of you. Have an evening to remember and welcome in the new year.’ Amy sounded a little husky and Roxie glimpsed the sheen of tears in her blue eyes. On impulse, she bent and kissed the elderly woman’s cheek.
‘I shall look in on you later,’ she said softly.
Ciaran helped Roxie into the passenger seat. He tucked the material of her dress in carefully.
‘That colour does suit you, Roxie. Are you pleased now that Jenny organised it all?’
‘I love the dress and the colour, and I know it was kind of you all to buy it for me, but I feel a fraud accepting so much.’
‘As far as I’m concerned, you are worth every penny. I’m proud that you agreed to be my partner for tonight,’ he said as their eyes met and held for a moment. ‘Why should you feel a fraud?’
‘We-ell, I would never have expected any of you to make me so welcome so soon, even less pay as much as you did for a Christmas present. You have only known me for a few months.’
‘The way you fit in so well, we feel as though we have always known you,’
‘I feel a bit like that too, but if Jenny had told me about the dinner dance I would have considered payment of my ticket was a generous gift in itself. You see, apart from earning a generous wage from your mother, I do have some money of my own since m-my f-father died. I ought to have paid for the dress myself. I know you want to spend any spare cash on grading up your herd and my father would have approved of that wholeheartedly. Then Jenny and Donald will have their baby this year and it costs a lot by the time they’ve bought all the equipment and baby clothes. So . . .’
Ciaran took one hand off the steering wheel and clasped hers for a moment. ‘We all know you are not a fraud, Roxie,’ he said quietly.
‘Will it repay you a tiny bit if I offer to drive us home tonight? Presumably everyone enjoys a few drinks when it’s New Year’s Eve.’
‘That’s true. Hogmanay has always been a great time to celebrate up here. Surely you will enjoy a drink or two yourself, though?’
‘Jenny will not be drinking on account of the baby so she will drive Donald home. If I have a small glass of white wine with my dinner, I don’t think that will do me any harm by the time we’ve danced the night away, do you?’
‘No, but we all have a drink at midnight to welcome in the New Year, as well as several as the evening goes on. I wasn’t going to drink so I didn’t book a taxi for us.’
‘There’s no need as I am happy to drive us home. I will have something non-alcoholic for the toast. So, are we agreed?’
‘You’re a wee gem. I didn’t expect you to chauffeur me.
I was prepared to abstain for this Hogmanay so long as you agreed to be my partner.
There will be lots of fellows wanting to claim you for a dance, but I hope you will save at least the first and last dances for me.
’ Roxie was sure his blue eyes darkened with desire in the dim street lights as they passed through one of the villages.
‘Of course I will, if that’s what you want, Ciaran. Anyway, you forget I shall not know anyone else except you and Donald.’
Ciaran gave a crow of laughter. ‘Looking as gorgeous as you do, most of the fellows will be queuing for a dance regardless.’ Roxie blushed. Ciaran chuckled. ‘I do love that delightful flush.’ Returning his eyes to the road, he asked, ‘Did you have a serious boyfriend down in Derbyshire?’
‘How serious is “serious”?’
‘Someone you considered as a husband, seriously considered, I mean?’
‘No, not seriously. I knew lots of pleasant men, but . . .’ She frowned. ‘Sometimes, in retrospect, I think I was subconsciously looking for someone modelled on my father.’
‘From what you have told me about him, I don’t think that’s a bad thing, is it?’
‘Maybe not, but not many men are as dedicated as he was to his farming and his animals, and I found I shared his interests. He was devoted to his family too. He missed my mother dreadfully when she died. Fortunately sharing his interest meant we were never lost for things to discuss, or to plan.’
‘I reckon that’s the best kind of relationship to have.
Too many young folks disparage their parents, especially if they can’t get their own way.
I was lucky with mine. They truly cared about each other and they cared about me.
I know my mother must have grieved terribly over my sisters, but she never made me feel I was less loved.
They always welcomed my friends. Jenny is actually my second cousin, but Mum has always treated her like her own well-loved niece.
Jenny’s father and mine were cousins. Ah, we’re here already.
Now to search for a parking space . . .’ It was a large car park, but there were a lot of people already there.
They circled slowly down one side and back up another.
‘There’s one over there, beside that wall, under the trees.’ Roxie pointed.
‘It’s a bit dark over there. Are you sure you don’t mind?’
‘Of course not. That’s probably why there’s a space and it looks fairly wide so I shouldn’t have too much trouble getting out to come home.’ She gave a little cough. ‘Ahem, especially if you’re drunk as a lord and can’t remember where we parked!’
‘I shall remember that cheeky remark — expect comeback before the night is over,’ Ciaran said with a chuckle. ‘I will reverse in while there is plenty of room, though. That will make it easier to get away.’
Ciaran came round to the passenger door to help her out, then tucked her into his side, holding her close, not that Roxie minded. She felt warm and safe. She knew she was getting far too aware of Ciaran’s charms.
‘Are you still sure you don’t mind driving us home?’ he asked, so close his breath tickled her ear.
‘I’m quite sure. I feel honoured to be here at all, and my ticket paid too.’
Ciaran switched on the torch on his phone so they could see where they were putting their feet.
‘It’s a long while since I’ve been out and about, so I haven’t seen most of the old crowd for a bit.
I hope I don’t get offered too many drinks to make up for lost time, even though I know I can rely on you to get me safely home, Roxie. ’
‘Presumably you had your reasons for not socialising?’ she murmured thoughtfully, wondering if it was due to losing Amanda.
‘Not really. I have known them all well enough for years, but it was not the same after Don got married. I suppose he was always more sociable than I was. He made arrangements and I usually went along with them, the same as he bought the tickets for tonight. We’ve been friends since we were at the academy — school — together.
We joined the Young Farmers’ when we were old enough and went to most events.
That was until I invited Don to stay at Oaklands for a weekend when he was home from university.
Jenny happened to be staying too. The rest is history, but they do seem happy together. ’
‘They’re a lovely couple. You can’t regret bringing them together?’
‘No, I don’t, not a bit. We’re still good friends.’
As they emerged from the shadows into the lights from the hotel, Ciaran switched off the torch and put his phone away.
Someone called his name and he half turned, but kept her firmly at his side.
They were surrounded by a group of laughing people around Ciaran’s age, all wanting to know where he had been for the past year or more.
Three persistent young men, all in kilts and already a little merry, wanted to know the name of the lovely lady and why he was keeping her so close.
Laughing good-naturedly, Ciaran parried their questions but told them nothing about his partner, except to keep their hands off.
The dinner was delicious and the company lively, with a great deal of repartee.
A few couples and several single men swapped tables between the courses, often confusing the smiling servers.
It was obvious to Roxanne that both Donald and Ciaran were popular, and that their company at some of the gatherings had been missed.
Jenny knew a lot of people, but not all of them because she had been away at university and a member of a different Young Farmers’ Club before she’d met Donald.