Curry-induced honesty
Had he really walked away, just like that?
With nothing more than a brief ‘you’re welcome’, Kendrick had disappeared as if the devil was after him.
Shona was surprised, but only a little. Her emotional capacity for stronger feelings was depleted for the day.
It had been kind of Kendrick to help her, and she was glad she didn’t have to return to her cousins’ cottage or ask another family member for help anytime soon.
Her new life would start with immediate effect. Right now.
She returned to the tasting room to get another bag.
As she had started, she might as well unpack her belongings and make herself comfortable, as best she could in this monk’s cell.
Shona scolded herself silently for never making more of an effort with this room, but her da had been very clear that this space only needed to be practical, not pretty.
Never mind, that was not her top priority right now.
Her two dogs were lying on the carpet in front of the fireplace, and the sight warmed her heart.
Kendrick was right: it was clear as day that the two of them already felt at home here.
Or maybe they were just exhausted after such an exciting twenty-four hours.
She dragged the bag to the bedroom and stowed away her clothes in the wardrobe and drawers.
Tomorrow she would stop by the swap shop and see if she could find another shelf and maybe some pretty knick-knacks to brighten up the room a little.
Shona had pottered around for half an hour when a loud bark interrupted the silence.
Alarmed, she rushed to the tasting room.
“What’s going on?” she asked her wolfhounds, who were standing and staring attentively at the entrance.
Was there someone at the door? A visitor?
Nonsense! Who would come round at this time of night?
Apart from Kendrick, nobody even knew she was camping out in the distillery. Or were there burglars after all?
There was a knock, and a familiar voice said, “It’s me again. May I come in?”
Kendrick was back?! With two quick steps, she was at the door and opened it a crack. Sure enough, there was the vet, a large, covered basket in one hand and a bulky bag in the other. Shona’s heart leapt as she pushed the door wide open and invited him in.
“Lucky me! Your bodyguards are allowing me onto the premises,” he remarked with a smile at the dogs, who were watching him closely but wagging their tails.
Higgins even approached and gave the basket a curious sniff. Which was not too surprising as it smelled delicious, even to human noses.
“You brought food?” she asked the obvious, clearly delighted.
“I did.” He put the basket down on the counter and pulled three large plastic bowls from the other bag. “I thought you might need these until you get around to shopping for them,” he explained and placed two bowls on the floor. He took the third one to the sink and filled it with water.
“Thank you,” she replied, hardly knowing what made her happier: that he had brought food for her or that he had thought of the dogs as well.
“Sit down,” he requested, pointing to a table. “Dinner will be served in a minute.”
She took a seat, and a moment later he put a cloth napkin and a spoon in front of her, followed by a large bowl of chicken tikka masala. Then he sat down across from her with his own food. “Dig in!”
Shona closed her eyes as she put the first bite in her mouth and savoured the rich flavours. She was obsessed with the curry from Jon’s pub and touched that Kendrick had brought her a serving. “You are a lifesaver,” she exclaimed after gulping down half her food.
He chuckled. “If that’s all it takes! So, are you going to tell me what happened tonight?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure,” she replied after a few more bites. Shona was almost done with her food while he had hardly touched his. “Aren’t you hungry?” she asked curiously.
“I had a big bowl of fish stew earlier,” he admitted. “If you still have room, you’re welcome to finish mine.”
“Really?”
“Sure.” He pushed his bowl across the table and leant back.
As Shona polished off the last morsels from her bowl, she wondered if it were wise to let it all out.
She glanced at him. Kendrick was waiting patiently.
Sitting in a delicate, mustard-yellow armchair from the 1960s, he seemed even larger than usual.
The sight made her smile. Perhaps his company was exactly what she needed right now.
Then again, she didn’t want to share all the things her cousins had complained about.
She couldn’t help but think he might agree with Kristy and Hailey.
Mainly because they were probably right about most points.
It was true that she was used to being pampered and sometimes acted thoughtlessly.
But certainly not out of ill will! Well, why then?
No, eating was a lot easier than talking – or thinking – and so she picked up her spoon again and dug into Kendrick’s bowl.
“Family can be pretty tough sometimes,” he eventually said. “I know that only too well; better than most people I’d say.”
She snorted quietly into her curry but remained silent.
She knew that Kendrick had an extensive family too.
His parents had founded the animal hospital in Inverness, and he and all his siblings worked there.
Or rather, all used to work there, as he was now here in Kirkby.
There was probably an interesting reason for that.
She remembered the rumours she had heard only this morning: that his ex was now dating his older sister and the two wanted him as the biological da for their child.
Pretty wild! She hadn’t thought more about it all day – or about the frustrating course Saturday night had taken when the two had crashed the village party.
After all, the day’s events had left her with little bandwidth for anything else.
But now she had to admit, if only to herself, that she was rather curious what was going on with Kendrick.
“If you want to hear it, I’m happy to tell you my story,” he said as if he had read her thoughts.
“You never know, it might make you feel better about yours.” As she nodded, he continued.
“Maybe you’ve already heard the gossip, and for once it’s actually true.
Glenna, my ex, left me in the spring and told me she had fallen in love with my eldest sister, Davina.
I don’t need to tell you what a shock that was.
We were together for ten years, and it would never have occurred to me that Glenna was unhappy with me, let alone that she was into women. ”
“Maybe she’s bi,” Shona suggested. It was the most noncommittal comment she could think of on the fly.
She had a hard time imagining how you could not notice if your partner had completely different needs in a relationship, especially sexual ones.
Then again, when she thought of a certain night in Inverness ...
More importantly, she didn’t have the first idea what it was like to be in a committed relationship.
“Maybe. She may only be exploring that herself. But looking back on our years together, there were a few red flags,” he replied with a shrug.
“In any case, I couldn’t see myself staying in Inverness and working closely with them day in, day out.
Glenna is also a vet at my family’s clinic.
I’ve always been our only general practitioner who specialises in livestock, so I’ve done most of the farm calls anyway.
That made moving further out into the countryside the logical next step.
I asked around a bit and Collum found me my new place.
That’s how I ended up here. But what can I say?
Moving hasn’t helped as much as I had hoped.
Because the main problem is here, and here.
” He put one hand on his chest and the other on his forehead.
“It took me a while to get over the whole thing. If you think about it, I was cheated on twice, by my girlfriend and my sister. And on Saturday I learnt that their secret affair had been going on for much longer than I thought. Well, and now the icing on the cake is that they want a child and think it would be a fabulous idea if I fathered it.”
Wow! So the rumours were indeed true. “That’s a tough one,” she mumbled. She wished she could come up with something more meaningful to say but couldn’t for the life of her think of anything. “I assume this is the Cliff Notes version of the story.”
“It is, but it’s really what it comes down to.
” He gave her a quick smile and she was surprised that he looked rather relaxed.
She had never seen him so calm and grounded.
Most of the time, he radiated an air of tension she couldn’t understand or explain.
She had assumed that it was because she made him nervous, but apparently that was just another self-absorbed thought she’d entertained.
Now that she knew his story, this assumption seemed more than silly.
“That’s rough,” she added and cleared her throat. “So what are you going to do now?”
“That’s the million-dollar question.” He shrugged. “I’ll give myself some time to think it all through. Would I be okay with my ex and my sister raising my child, and what role would I want to play in this family set-up?”
“Sounds like you’re very level-headed about it.”