Adulting 101 #2
“Well, I get where she’s coming from. Our cottage is bloody small, and we’ve just got rid of the alpaca when she turns around and gets two giant dogs.
Anyway, tempers flared, with the result that we ...
er ... asked her to move out. Kristy stayed here for the night and I went back to my ...
boyfriend’s, and when I got home this morning Shona was gone.
She left everything neat and tidy and all her stuff is gone.
You wouldn’t happen to know where she is? ”
“I suppose at the distillery.”
“Did she sleep there?” Hailey slapped her hand over her mouth.
“I think so.”
“Oh dear. I feel really terrible about that. I shouldn’t have let the situation escalate.” Hailey shook her head. “Sorry, TMI. We should really sort family stuff among ourselves.”
“Don’t worry. With three sisters, I am no stranger to family drama.” He smiled wryly. “And I can tell you from experience that it’s never just one person’s fault. Having an alpaca as a pet must have been a nightmare.”
“Shona seriously believed that Nessie was housetrained,” Hailey went on and shook her head. “But Kristy’s meltdown when she saw those dogs was also next level ...”
“Well, those two are something else,” he conceded.
“I just hope we can work it all out. I’m embarrassed that it went down the way it did.” Hailey looked uneasy.
“I’m sure you’ll figure it out. Sometimes we all need a little wake-up call,” he replied diplomatically, hoping she wouldn’t ask how he knew that Shona had spent the night at the distillery.
Given all the talk about his unusual family situation, he had no desire to be the subject of more local gossip.
His phone vibrated again, but this time it wasn’t Shona.
The lab had the test results for the Henderson sheep: as it turned out, they were indeed suffering from a massive parasite infection.
Which meant he would spend his afternoon deworming an entire flock.
Aye, it would be a rather tedious endeavour but certainly better than the alternative.
“I’m afraid I have to be off,” he said to Hailey. “There are more than a hundred sheep waiting for me to deworm them.”
Shona couldn’t believe how good she felt only one day after her life had been turned upside down.
When Kendrick had left last night, she had gone to bed and, surprisingly, fallen asleep quickly and deeply.
She hadn’t expected that because even though she wasn’t ready for a relationship, she would have appreciated a little physical comfort …
But perhaps it was for the best that she had got a full night’s sleep.
What she had told him last night really was true: she had to build a relationship with herself first – ideally a positive one – before she could think about building one with another person.
That, and a bunch of animals, of course.
When she woke, she found herself in high spirits and truly refreshed.
The fact that Orla and Higgins had not been up to any mischief and behaved impeccably was another positive surprise.
She had quickly slipped into some clothes and set off with her dogs.
As of today, morning walks would be part of her routine.
On this first of many, she had run into Isla and Polly.
The young Newfoundland had been delighted to meet the two new arrivals, and they had strolled through the meadows together before dropping into the pub for breakfast.
There, Shona told her sister that she would no longer live with Kristy and Hailey.
Even though she would have liked Isla to be more astounded by the news, she was proud that she had told the story without badmouthing her cousins.
Actually, she had been quite self-critical.
Isla had welcomed her decision to finally take full ownership of her life and to grow up.
She had been so eager about Shona’s decision to stay at the distillery for the time being that Shona wondered if Kristy’s outburst had really been entirely spontaneous …
Maybe she had floated the idea with the entire family in advance.
Was it a coincidence that Marlin had talked her into getting a dog so she wouldn’t be alone only yesterday?
And his remarks about her opening her heart also fit with him knowing beforehand what was coming ...
The old Shona would have been furious at this realisation, but her new and improved Self agreed wholeheartedly with her loved ones.
It was time for her to stand on her own two feet and fill the role she had chosen for herself.
Kendrick had given her a lot of food for thought, and she already felt comfortable acknowledging that she was so much more than a carbon copy of her mother and the spoilt baby of the family.
After breakfast, she had gone to the swap shop and told her story again, this time to Colleen, who responded as she wished Isla would have done: full of compassion and empathy.
She had invited her future sister-in-law and the dogs to come to Harriswood House until she found her own place.
But in keeping with her new resolution, Shona had declined.
She would chart her course, and she would go it alone.
Nevertheless, Colleen comforting her had done her a world of good.
The swap shop itself turned out to be a real treasure trove, and Shona found a pretty bookshelf, a cool lamp and a few fun items to decorate her current bedroom as well as a few pots and pans and so on for the tiny kitchenette.
That would tide her over for now. The only thing she lacked to be completely self-sufficient was a washing machine, but that was a bigger investment if she didn’t know how long she’d be there.
For now, she could do her laundry at her da’s or Isla’s or at the laundrette in Inverness.
It would be a bit of a drive, but she was planning to go there regularly anyway.
Starting this afternoon. She needed to head to a pet shop to pick up beds, bowls and nicer collars and leads for Orla and Higgins.
That would require a bigger car than Isla’s tiny old Mini, which she usually used.
On the spur of the moment, she texted Kendrick to ask about his afternoon plans.
They had been texting all morning, and last she had heard from him, he had sent her pics of her alpacas and Azzedine.
Perhaps he was still at the stables. Perhaps he could take the rest of the day off and join her for a little shopping trip?
Gotta go to Dundreggan and deworm a hundred sheep, was his reply, followed a moment later by: How about you and the dogs come round mine tonight?
I’m great at cooking rice and putting meat on the grill.
She stared at her phone for a while – with a blissful smile on her face – and considered her answer.
Of course she wanted to see him later, but she also wanted to be witty in her response.
Apparently, she was taking too long because she got another text.
Please say yes! I need something to get me through the next few hours of wading through sheep shit. 7pm work for you?
She laughed and stopped overthinking. Yes!, she texted back and felt her heart go all warm and fuzzy. Suddenly, the two dogs outside started howling loudly enough to cause hearing loss, but fortunately they didn’t keep it up for long.
“Wow, those two are taking their job very seriously,” Marlin commented as he stepped into her office, Orla and Higgins in tow.
“It’s what you wanted, isn’t it?” Shona beamed at her father. “But we’ll need to work on that. If they go off at this volume every time someone comes to the door, I won’t have any customers.” She scratched Orla’s ear, who looked very pleased with herself.
“No problem, tha’s easy,” claimed her father. “Other than that, how are things going with the two of them?”
“Great. And I don’t think they’re afraid of men either. They let Kendrick pet them yesterday, and this morning when we went to the pub, they were all over Jon.”
“All the better,” Marlin said happily and scrutinised her. “There’s something different about you. You look radiant.”
“Do I? Oh, and Nessie has already met her new friends. They are in the paddock together.” She brought out her phone and showed Marlin the photo Kendrick had sent earlier.
“Looking good. The alpacas are why I’m here,” he said. “I took the liberty of getting a few people together. We’ll start converting the barn into a stable today.”
“Perfect! Would you like me to help, or could I borrow your car while you’re at it?”
“Whatever you prefer. Do you have plans?”
“I appreciate you pretending that you’re not in the know yet,” she replied with a laugh, and when he raised a questioning brow, she continued: “Come on! Someone must have told you that I moved into the little room here last night. Who was it? Isla, Jon, Colleen or Alex? Everybody seems to agree that I need to take charge of my own life, and that’s what I’m doing.
I need a car to get a few things I picked out at the swap shop earlier, and then I wanted to drive down to Inverness and buy a few things for Orla and Higgins. ”
Marlin rummaged in his trouser pocket and passed his car keys to Shona. “We’ll take care of the stable. You make sure you get what you need for yourself and the dogs.”
“Thanks, Da.” She hesitated for a moment. “This probably sounds strange given that I handled such a huge project as starting my own business, but this right now is a bloody massive deal for me.”
“I know. And I’m proud of you.” Marlin quickly bridged the few steps to his daughter and gave her a big hug. “You can do it,” he whispered in her ear, his voice choked with emotion. Then he pressed a kiss to her temple and let her go. “Enough of that. I’m going to join the men in the barn.”