Chapter Thirty-Five
It was the morning after the night before and Flora was feeling elated.
She’d had a lovely time at Reuben and Jessica’s and couldn’t stop thinking about Brodie.
He was the reason for the flutter in her chest. She still couldn’t quite believe that he’d asked her out, and she couldn’t stop smiling about it.
She also felt as though she belonged in a group of friends — and, if she was honest, in Rowan Bay.
At least in the here and now. Hamish had told her about a makers market the distillery was hosting the following month.
Could she take a stall and sell some of her creations and promote the alterations business?
She could start small and maybe experiment with some scarves.
She wondered if her gran still had her old loom.
It was only a few weeks away but surely that would give her some time to try out some of her ideas.
Her mind was whirring with so many thoughts and ideas and the idea of being alone with Brodie just added to the whirlwind.
A small voice in her head reminded her that she also had to prepare a presentation for the job interview in Aberdeen.
But somehow that didn’t fill her with such excitement.
She shoved that thought away for now, although she reminded herself that would require quite a bit of time, too.
She and Brodie had arranged to go for a drink next Friday which gave her less than a week to focus and get through her massive to-do list which seemed to be growing by the minute.
But she couldn’t stop thinking about him and the nervous look in his eyes when he had asked her out.
He’d taken her by surprise in the best possible way.
She didn’t know how she would get through the week until their date.
Despite it being Saturday, she had been awake since first thing, the morning sunshine flooding her bedroom with light.
Flora padded downstairs and made herself a cup of warm water with lemon and went into the conservatory.
The birds were still asleep in their house, so she sat and looked out the window over the garden and the view across the loch.
There was a breeze today and she could see ripples on the water.
She felt a sense of peace here that she hadn’t for a long time.
Her gran was right — there was something magical about being next to the loch.
The thought of being in the busy city didn’t appeal at all and she was grateful to have this time away from Edinburgh.
She was so glad that Nita had encouraged her to take a break away and found the tenant for her flat.
They’d exchanged a few text and voice messages and it sounded like Nita’s life was as hectic as ever.
Flora had plenty to tell her, too, with everything that had happened since she’d arrived in Rowan Bay.
Although she was going to keep the details of the date with Brodie to herself for now.
It felt like a secret she wanted to guard while she could.
She wasn’t even going to tell her gran, who would be away on her trip to Crail in a few days’ time.
* * *
The days flew by and Flora was a tad excited when Friday night came around.
She hadn’t seen much of Brodie at all as he got on with the garden.
Though she had still managed to steal a few glances of him from the study window.
The new patio was starting to take shape and he’d begun work on the new path, too.
That meant Iris and Flora had to go in and out the front door of the cottage so they didn’t get in his way at the back.
He had also brought in his friend, Ross, to help him with the heavier work and the laying of the slabs.
There wasn’t much opportunity for chit-chat which meant she was looking forward to tonight even more.
Her stomach was fluttering with nerves especially as he had knocked the door earlier as he finished up for the day and said he would come back for her just after eight.
As she blow-dried her hair in gentle waves, she was still wondering what to wear.
It wasn’t really a date. It was a casual drink with a friend, wasn’t it?
Though not in the way it was with Emmet.
This was different and she could practically hear her gran’s voice in her ear, saying, ‘It’s a date, dear.
Trust me.’ Iris was now in Crail with her friends and she’d sent Flora a couple of texts saying they were having a nice time though the weather had been very gloomy and wet.
That was hard to imagine, especially as the weather in Rowan Bay had remained dry and sunny.
Flora hadn’t ever been one for wearing a lot of makeup and she wanted to look as natural as possible so she applied a light coat of mascara and brushed some powder across her cheeks.
She slipped on one of her favourite creations — a blue sundress which had white flower details stitched along the hem — glad it was the weather for a dress.
Then she slicked on some lip gloss, pulled on her white Converse trainers and grabbed her denim jacket in case it got cooler later.
She headed downstairs into the conservatory.
‘I love you,’ called Sidney.
‘Are you okay?’ chirped Scrumpy.
‘I’m fine thanks, boys. I’m just away out with Brodie.’ She shook her head in disbelief. Was she really having a conversation with parrots and telling them what she was up to?
‘Brodie’s scorching hot.’ Sidney stared at her.
Flora groaned. She had nobody to blame but herself. Why, oh why, had she muttered those words in front of them? Mind you, it had been a while since Sidney had said the hot Brodie line. Thank gawd. She popped a few treats into their house and they flew in and got settled.
‘You have a nice night and I’ll see you later. I’ll sing to you when I’m back.’ She could hear a knock at the door. ‘That’s Brodie. Bye, boys.’
‘Brodie’s scorching hot. Brodie’s scorching hot.’
They really were a pair of chancers and she just hoped they would pipe down so that Brodie didn’t hear anything.
She went to the front door and swung it open.
He leaned against the doorframe looking as sexy as ever and then smiled at her which made her feel quite breathless.
She tried to compose herself, but it was a huge struggle and she hoped she wasn’t drooling.
But it was tough when he looked the way he did.
In smart linen shorts and a white shirt, the sleeves rolled up to just above his elbows, he looked annoyingly good.
She felt herself blush at his smile but it was quickly replaced with embarrassment as she heard the familiar chant of ‘Brodie’s scorching hot’ still echoing from the house.
‘Ready?’ Brodie asked with glint of amusement in his eyes; he could obviously still hear the birds too.
‘Yes.’ She kept her voice steady even though she was trembling with nerves inside. ‘Let’s go.’ She firmly closed the door, relieved that the parrots’ shouts — because that’s what they were now — were temporarily muffled. They remained way too loud inside her head.