Puzzling urges
After kendrick had departed and Cameron and Lila had gone back to Monroe Manor where they were staying for the night, Shona, Hailey and Kristy also made their way home.
The three had been sharing a small cottage in the centre of the village since the beginning of the year.
During these months, their place had earned a reputation as the town’s party hub.
Not that it took much to be considered a party hub in Kirkby, as far as Shona was concerned.
But she had been thrilled about the invite to share digs with her cousins when she returned to the Highlands from London.
It certainly beat returning to her childhood bedroom in Harriswood House, which she had left at age eighteen.
She got on really well with her two cousins and felt comfortable in their shared cottage, or ‘the chicken coop’ as her da called it.
Nessie also benefitted from the arrangement, as Hailey and Kristy were almost as fond of the alpaca as Shona and spoilt her rotten.
They had built a small shelter for her in the garden, but if the weather wasn’t great, Nessie usually slept in the living room, even if she wasn’t fully housetrained yet.
Still, Shona was proud of how well she was doing.
Now the three women were in the kitchen preparing for tonight’s spontaneously scheduled barbecue.
“I love that Cameron and Lila are still so happy together,” Kristy gushed as she kneaded the dough for buns.
“Aye, they’re cute together. I didn’t expect they would last this long.” Hailey chopped veg for a salad almost as fast as Isla would.
Shona had been tasked with inviting more guests and getting the drinks sorted.
She’d completed her first task with a few group texts before asking Jon to show up at Rupert’s farm at seven o’clock with beer, soft drinks, ice and two of the last bottles of gin for the party.
She would bring a bottle of whisky for the naming ceremony and two bottles of champagne for the toasts.
Both bottles had been gifts from guys she’d dated; a strange thing to give to a woman whose dating profiles prominently featured her whisky expertise.
But finally, the bottles had come in handy!
“Why didn’t you think they would last?” Shona asked curiously as she grabbed a slice of pepper.
“Because Cameron is such a womaniser. Have you ever checked out his socials? I mean, there are at least fifteen women on his feed over the past few years. And those are just the ones he dated long enough to show up in public with.” Hailey lifted the knife as Shona tried to sneak another piece.
“Erm, no, I didn’t. Why would I stalk him?”
“I wasn’t stalking him either. Just perfectly normal curiosity in an old friend,” Hailey claimed.
“Old friend, really?! They were high-school sweethearts, Hailey and Cameron. Until he dumped her, that is,” Kristy informed Shona.
“Oh really? I can’t remember any of that.” Shona’s eyes widened in surprise. “In fact, I don’t remember Cameron living here in Kirkby at all.”
“You were just out of nappies,” Hailey said dismissively.
This was a huge exaggeration: Shona was a mere five years younger than her. But of course that was a big age difference at school, and she had no recollection of any heartbreak drama around Hailey. Not that it mattered.
Hailey continued: “When he came back last summer, I just wanted to know what he was up to. Well, apart from show jumping.”
“You were obsessed with him,” Kristy interjected once more.
“Whatever. Cameron is in the past. We’re getting on well these days and I’m happy he’s with Lila. I like her a lot.”
“She’s a relative of ours, right?”
“Sort of … not really. She’s Uncle George’s niece or second cousin or something by marriage, so it’s not a close connection.”
“Right. And is she the one with a twin sister? I seem to remember a big birthday party at Monroe Manor … George’s aunt’s maybe? I must have been eight or nine at the time, and there were two blonde girls my age. They were the first twins I’d ever seen, and I was fascinated,” Shona recalled.
“Sounds about right. Speaking of which, do you realise that we are turning into our parents and their friends? We’re chatting about family relationships when there are so many more interesting things to discuss.
” Hailey had finished her staccato veg chopping and cast a challenging glance first at her sister and then her cousin.
“I know I’ll regret this, but I’ll bite,” Kristy sighed. “What are you talking about?”
“The real question is who am I talking about? And the answer is obvious: the new vet, of course!”
“Not again!” Shona moaned. She really didn’t feel like another conversation about him, though she had a pretty good idea what Hailey was getting at.
And yes, objectively speaking, Kendrick McIntosh was a good-looking fellow.
Very good-looking, in fact: tall and broad-shouldered, sturdy as a rock to lean on when you needed support, with chestnut hair, hazel eyes and a chiselled chin.
Then again, she had no intention of being objective when it came to this self-righteous, surly moron who had almost killed her poor wee baby.
Handsome or not, she didn’t want anything to do with him!
“What’s your problem? I think he’s hot, and it looks like he’s single.” Hailey smiled suggestively.
“You think every new guy in town is hot,” Kristy replied exasperated.
“So what? Maybe one day someone will reciprocate, and I can finally stop driving to Inverness for my dates.”
Kristy rolled her eyes but wisely kept her mouth shut as she formed the dough into small buns and placed them on a baking tray.
“I wouldn’t go near him if he were the last man on earth,” Shona claimed cockily.
“Ha, and that from you of all people,” Hailey mocked. “You are just about the only person who’s dated more people than Cameron Sinclair!”
“Not true. I haven’t been exclusive with anyone since I came back to Kirkby.”
“Who’s talking about exclusive? I’m thinking more about hooking up with hot guys. That’s all I’d need at this point.”
Shona shrugged. She certainly was no expert when it came to romantic commitments. Her longest relationship had lasted six months total. Of that, her investment banker boyfriend had been travelling for work half the time. But as they had been exclusive, she felt the entire time counted.
Was she missing out on anything by refusing to commit?
Shona doubted it. She had always preferred fun while it lasted over the compromises a twosome required.
Compromises! The word alone sounded exhausting.
Finding all that middle ground sounded just too cumbersome and tedious.
And in the end, nobody got really what they wanted.
Thank you, but no thank you, Shona thought.
I’d rather be single and happy and have fun flirting and hooking up.
Thanks to the dating apps, finding someone for a little fun had become so easy, even in the remote Highlands.
What sometimes gave her pause, though, was seeing how happy her sister Isla was with Jon and her brother Alex with Colleen.
These two couples didn’t seem to have the kind of exhausting, cumbersome, tedious relationship she abhorred.
On the contrary, they seemed intimately connected and happy with their respective partners. But also so grown-up!
Shona supposed that may be the problem: in her private life, she preferred to keep adulting to the bare minimum.
It was more than enough that she had to make all these big decisions at work.
Heavens, she had basically just made a decision that would affect her entire life by opening her own distillery.
So was it too much to ask for a commitment-free private life?
“If you think he’s so hot, why don’t you shoot your shot,” Kristy asked her sister.
“Oh please don’t,” Shona exclaimed. “I can’t face running into him here in our kitchen or bathroom. I’d have to move out! Just imagine how upset the humourless sourpuss would be if he found Nessie sleeping in front of the fireplace.”
“I wasn’t planning on marrying him,” Hailey laughed, shaking her head. “Just let me have some fun, will you?”
“How do you even know he’s single?” asked Kristy. “Men that handsome rarely are.”
“As far as I know, he used to be in a long-term relationship with a colleague at the animal hospital. Now he’s here and lives by himself. I’d say the facts speak for themselves, wouldn’t you?” Hailey finished up the dressing for her salad.
“Can we change the topic? A few days ago, I read an article by some feminist author complaining that in almost all blockbuster films, women have virtually zero relevant scenes in which they don’t talk about guys.
I found that pretty upsetting, and now here we are and I realise, it’s just reality.
” Shona stared down her two cousins, who returned her gaze with incredulous expressions.
“Seriously? Now you’re pulling the feminist card?
” Kristy finally blurted out. “When usually you don’t spare us any details about your latest conquest. But never mind, I’m happy to change the subject.
There are plenty of interesting things to discuss: my bakery, your distillery, this mystery event I’ve only heard rumours about, Hailey’s career ... ”
“What career?” Shona interrupted.
“Exactly! It’s high time we talk about how long Hailey is planning to clean cottages and fry eggs for Alex’s guests instead of seriously following in Da’s footsteps!
I’d find any of these topics more interesting than all the TMI on guys I get from you two.
From you even more than from Hailey, by the way. ”
“Woah, hold your horses!” Shona was a little taken aback by Kristy’s unusual outburst, especially when she had simply tried to change the subject. “I just meant to ask what you guys are planning to wear later anyway.”