It takes two to tango
Shona gave Hailey and the two girls a furtive glance.
They still had five minutes until they were up, and she was suddenly terribly nervous.
A bout of stage fright? Probably. But wasn’t that a little silly?
She had performed with groups countless times when she was young and had never been particularly anxious about it.
And here in Kirkby, people were as good as family, so why was her heart racing like this?
She smoothed down her pleated skirt and tried to take a few deep breaths.
Which wasn’t easy, because the bodice of her old dance costume was quite snug.
Apparently, she had put on a few pounds since she had last worn it eight years ago.
Hailey also looked nervous, while the two high school girls seemed totally chill as they stared at their phones and giggled.
Different as they were individually, they looked well together as a group.
Shona wore red, Hailey a bright shade of blue, and the other two yellow and green, respectively.
Phyllis had agreed that they would wear their own dresses to save them the trouble of finding matching costumes literally overnight.
The star had personally made sure that the dancers’ hair was perfect too, and Shona was beginning to remember why she had stopped dancing.
Wearing long hair down was a big no-no, so her thick, black mane was up and in a tight bun.
It had taken her so much hairspray to cement it in place that now it would probably take a major earthquake to make anything move.
“You alright?” asked Hailey.
“Hmm.”
“That bad?”
“No, no, I’m good. It’s just ...” She hesitated.
Why was she so anxious? Even if she knew, she wouldn’t talk about it now, with the two teens looking in their direction, curiosity written all over their fresh faces.
“My bodice is so tight, I’m afraid I’ll either burst a seam or pass out from lack of oxygen.
” That wasn’t quite the truth, but it wasn’t a lie either.
“And here I thought you were nervous to dance in front of our vet.” Hailey winked at Shona.
Last night she had pressed for every little detail of the Inverness encounter over the first glass of whisky and speculated at length how tonight’s meeting between Kendrick and Shona would go over the second.
She even made a few suggestions on where to find a dimly lit corner in the Old School. Not funny!
“The vet? You’re talking about Kenny?” asked the blonde girl in the yellow dress. “He’s a total snack.”
“Adorbs,” her friend gushed. “I helped him castrate our young bucks the other day. He has such masterful hands, and I think he felt sorry for the boys. Maybe he imagined ...”
“Ladies, are you ready?” Phyllis called out, and Shona was glad she no longer had to think about Kendrick’s – or rather, Kenny’s – masterful hands castrating goats.
“I can imagine it’s the type of activity that makes a man self-conscious,” Hailey whispered in Shona’s ear and giggled before Phyllis shooed them out into the event space. The good-humoured mayor, who emceed the event, was just about to announce them as Kirkby’s Highland Roses. No pressure there!
Shona kept her gaze straight ahead as they crossed the room to the stage, but she couldn’t help noticing a few familiar faces.
The event had started only an hour ago and the early performances had been by children, but people were already in great spirits.
No doubt thanks to the generous drinks policy.
The ridiculously low admission fee included all-you-can-drink soft drinks, beer and cider, and Shona reckoned people were taking full advantage of it.
One group of adolescent boys apparently had enough liquid courage already that they sent lewd comments and gestures in their direction, which were well received by the two teenage girls.
“Were we like that back in school?” Shona asked Hailey quietly.
Hailey smirked. “Were we? Do I need to remind you of a recent backroom incident ...”
Before Shona could reply, they reached the stage and climbed the few steps.
All four of them got into position and waited for Phyllis to give the band their cue.
By now, heart pounding wildly, Shona was sure she had forgotten their choreography and would ruin everything.
But when the music began, they bowed and made their first steps, her anxiety eased as if by magic and she snapped into full focus.
The choreography wasn’t particularly complex, but Phyllis had taught them a few uncommon combinations and sequences yesterday.
Surprisingly, everything went swimmingly, nobody fainted due to lack of oxygen, and when the music stopped a few minutes later, Shona was just as radiant as the other three and enjoyed the frenetic applause.
From the stage, she saw her father smiling proudly and giving her a thumbs-up.
Alex and Colleen were standing next to him, clapping vigorously.
The foursome took another bow and then cleared the stage for the next dancers, a professional couple from Phyllis’s school. That meant Kristy’s solo would happen right before Phyllis’s own performance. Shona was impressed, but Hailey interrupted her thoughts by holding out a large glass of water.
“We did well, didn’t we?” She too was still a little out of breath and took a big sip from her own glass.
Shaking her head good-naturedly, her gaze followed their two fellow dancers as they made their way to the group of boys who had cheered them on earlier.
“Those were the days,” Hailey said pensively and gave a mischievous grin.
“In my day, boys weren’t interested in Highland dancing,” Shona replied.
“Neither are those lads, but they are interested in seeing the girls’ knickers as their skirts fly up. That never seems to get old.” Hailey chuckled. “But I guess it’s not that different the other way round. Don’t we always wonder what’s going on under their kilts?”
“Are you serious? I’d rather not know for most people here.
” They had moved into a window alcove which gave them a good view of the whole room.
Without exception, all the men present – from two years old to ninety-five – wore a kilt.
When Shona had been a teen, they had welcomed an exchange student from the USA two school years above her, and this Alison had almost fainted from excitement when she had seen kilt-clad boys at a party for the first time.
She herself had never given it much thought – whether it was outrageous, sexy or daring, whatever Alison had called it.
For her, it had been nothing out of the ordinary, used to the sight as she was.
But on that far-gone day, a switch had flipped for her, and she’d come to see men in kilts in a different light.
Not all of them, of course, but some ...
“I’m sure you would care to know for the bloke at twelve o’clock, wouldn’t you?” Hailey implored and pointed directly at Kendrick, who was standing across from them on the other side of the hall and watching them with interest.
“Are you out of your mind?” Shona hissed when Hailey beckoned him to join them. “I’m not ready for ...”
“Sex in this window nook? I’m glad to hear it. There are way too many children around. But the poor bloke is over there all by himself and has no one to talk to.”
That was a shameless lie. Kendrick had been talking to a farmer, and it took him five minutes to cross the room because he was held up by a new person every few steps.
That gave Shona enough time to inconspicuously assess his outfit.
She had been blown away by how suave he looked in his blue suit, and she had liked the jeans and shirt he had worn in Inverness.
But seeing him in a kilt and a shirt with the sleeves rolled up fuelled her imagination even further.
He kept the traditional sporran, an ornate bag, strategically positioned at the front.
As he wasn’t wearing a waistcoat or jacket, he looked rather casual.
Then again, he wasn’t wearing the rough boots many other men donned with their kilt but more dressy leather shoes.
The type of shoes perfect for dancing ...
Hailey seemed to have come to the same conclusion. Unfortunately, she didn’t keep it to herself. “He’s wearing dancing shoes, and I bet there are at least three condoms in his sporran. He looks like a man determined to regain territory after losing the first battle.”
“Shut up!” hissed Shona, but her cousin’s words fired up her imagination nevertheless. Could Hailey be right? What if Kendrick really did have a ‘counterattack’ in mind?
“Spare me! Don’t pretend you haven’t thought the exact same thing.”
“I’m regretting telling you what I did. And cut it out, he’s coming.”
“Already?! That would be even faster than the first time ...” Hailey burst out laughing and gasped when Shona elbowed her in the ribs.
Fortunately, the music accompanying the current dance performance was loud enough that Shona was certain neither Kendrick nor anybody else had heard Hailey’s pun.
“Come to blows already, have you?” Kendrick asked as he joined them. He gave them an amused smile that didn’t hide his tense expression.
“Better watch out with her,” Hailey said. “Shona’s a beast and shows no mercy.”
Shona threw her cousin a warning look but kept it at that, even though Hailey was practically begging to be clocked.
“I wanted to compliment you on your prowess. You lasses were certainly frisky up there.”
“What would you know about us getting frisky?” Hailey looked confused, and now Kendrick was frowning too.
“On stage!” Shona snapped at her. “Kenny meant our dance.”
“Oh, I see ... Well, thank you very much, Kenny.” Hailey laughed. “We gave it our all.”
“You were fantastic. But let’s stick with Kendrick if you don’t mind,” he replied.