Chapter 32
LACHLAN
Lachlan had no idea if anyone else had missed his flight due to inclement weather or their car being vandalised by what he’d now learned were twelve-year-old triplets, but he knew for certain that if they did, it was highly unlikely that, an hour later, they would be sitting in a café, with about one hundred strangers, watching two women standing on coffee tables singing the absolute wonders out of ‘Caledonia’ – with everyone in the room joining in, including two old ladies who were still doing their knitting.
That thought took his gaze to the woman who was sitting next to him at the corner table, because when he’d seen her outside earlier, after Alyssa’s mum had kicked him out of the kitchen, the first thing that had struck him was that she was dancing in the snow on a freezing cold night.
The second thing was that she had two knitting needles dangling from a pink woolly scarf around her neck.
She’d stopped as soon as his voice had snapped her out of whatever song was playing in her head.
‘Yes! I’m fine. Great.’
Damn, she was bonkers. Or wasted. Either way, much as there was something endearing about the huge smile on her face and the mass of copper curls that blew out as she danced, he had tried desperately to come up with a way to avoid her.
And failed. Especially as he’d just realised his plan to sit in the car was a non-starter because he’d left the damn key inside.
She’d continued to walk towards him. Bollocks. Situations like this made him deeply uncomfortable. Maybe there was a medical professional inside that could help.
‘Sorry, you’re probably thinking I’ve lost the plot.’
‘No. Not at all.’ He definitely was.
It was only when she’d reached him that he’d recognised her as the woman he’d spoken to when he first arrived. The one who’d told him where to find Alyssa.
‘Only I just – and please go with me because this will be the first time I’ve ever said this out loud – I’ve just got off the phone to a TV producer-y person in Hollywood and accepted the absolutely most incredible, out-of-this-world, job of my dreams.’
She’d started twirling again. But at least by then he could see that it was pure joy as opposed to pure alcohol. And he was pretty sure he was grinning, so it must be contagious.
‘Congratulations.’
‘Thank you! Urgh, sorry, my manners. I’m Georgie. And you’re the unfortunate bloke who just had his very flash car incapacitated by the evil genius of a bunch of kids who think letting down tyres is hilarious.’
‘Apparently yes, that would be me. I’m Lachlan.’
‘Pleased to meet you, Lachlan. How do you know Alyssa?’
He’d wondered if she knew the circumstances of his meeting with Alyssa, but she wasn’t threatening him with the knitting needles, so he’d guessed not.
‘She’s… she’s… It’s a long story. I only met her today for the first time, but she seems really nice.’
Georgie had agreed with that conclusion. ‘She’s great. It’s my mum’s birthday, retirement and going away party tonight – we like to milk all the occasions – and Alyssa has made her feel really special.’
He’d asked the obvious question. ‘Where’s she going? Your mum, I mean.’
‘Oh. Nowhere. It was supposed to be Tenerife, but she’s changed her mind. It’s a long story. Anyway, why are you out here? I hate to break it to you, but unless you’ve got a sledge in the boot…’
‘I’m waiting for the AA to come blow up my tyres.’
She’d considered that answer. ‘This might be a crazy idea, but have you thought about sitting inside where there’s heat and food, so you don’t die of frostbite before the AA get here? There’s a table at the window right there.’
Even when she was making fun of him, she was amusing.
‘Plus I need to give Mrs Dawson back her knitting needles before she calls out a search party to find me.’
So that was how they’d spent the next half-hour, chatting at a table by the window, watching for the AA until they arrived and sent him to retrieve his car key. When he’d come back out, he’d discovered the tyre situation was terminal.
The AA guy had been shaking his head. ‘I’ve got three of them fixed, but they must have broken the valve on that one,’ he gestured to the one remaining flat tyre, ‘because I can’t get it to reinflate. I can get your vehicle towed for you, but I don’t know how long that’ll take in this weather.’
At this point, Lachlan wouldn’t have been surprised if a tornado had come down the street and created yet another obstacle to his travel plans.
There had only been one way to go with it though, ‘Yeah, if you can arrange a tow that would be great. I’ll give you the address of the car hire place to drop it off. ’
The AA guy wasn’t done. ‘And do you need a lift somewhere? All part of the service.’
Lachlan had glanced back inside, seen Georgie chatting to a bloke who looked uncannily like her, and factored in that he still needed to speak to Alyssa again about the offer he’d made when he’d gone back for his key.
Had he really volunteered to stay here and help her with building work? Apparently so.
‘No, it’s fine. I’ll work something out.’ His flight was long gone, so his best plan was to get a taxi to the airport and get a room there. Or find a local hotel for tonight. He didn’t want to disturb Margaux’s date by crashing at her place.
Fast-forward half an hour and now that his feet had defrosted, and he’d abandoned his plans to drive, he was on his second beer and still sitting with the woman who’d been dancing in the snow, listening to the whole room singing ‘Caledonia’, before they all burst into a round of applause at the end.
‘Grant, why is our mother climbing up there?’ Georgie asked the man on the other side of her. He’d joined them ten minutes ago, and had already informed Lachlan that he was Georgie’s brother, before asking his name, home location and enquiring as to whether he had a criminal record.
Lachlan followed Georgie’s gaze, and watched as one of the women he’d seen in the kitchen took a microphone and tapped the top of it.
‘Ladies and gentlemen. Some of you might have noticed that my earlier speech wasn’t my finest moment…’
That got another cheer, and she took a bow.
‘I might need therapy after this,’ Grant whispered .
‘So this time I promise to hold it together. At least until I’ve made a wee announcement to you all.’
Beside him, Lachlan could see Georgie’s eyes begin to glisten and her smile get wider, and he had absolutely no idea what was going on.
‘But first I need to thank you all for coming here, for being my customers, my friends and my neighbours. I know exactly how lucky I am to have you all.’
Another cheer and stamping of the feet caused the candles on the wall shelves and the fairy lights draped across the windows to flicker.
‘As you all know, tonight was a party for my birthday, my retirement and a going away shindig because Stan and I were planning to leave for Tenerife tomorrow. Well, I just want to let you know there’s been a change of plan on that one.
We’ve decided that we don’t want to leave right before Christmas, so we’re going to stay a bit longer.
In fact, if I get my way, it might be a lot longer, because I don’t know what I’d do without you all. ’
Lachlan saw her eyes go to the tall man who was watching her from the kitchen door, and he nodded at her, as if agreeing to that plan.
‘So thank you all again. Thank you to Loretta and Moira for being incredible entertainers tonight. Thank you to Alyssa, Ginny and Hugo, for the most amazing spread and throwing such a brilliant party. Thanks to my pals, Val and Cathy, for putting up with me all day today, and for the last forty-odd years. Thank you to my Georgie and Grant, who will always be my whole heart.’
Lachlan saw Georgie make the heart symbol with her hands and beam at her mum.
‘And thank you again to every one of you who came to celebrate with me. You’re all bloody marvellous.’
This time, there was applause with the cheers, until the gentleman who’d chased the tyre deflators earlier took the microphone from her and helped her down. The lights were up now, and Lachlan saw on his phone screen that it was almost midnight. Home time for the partygoers. Hotel time for him.
However, before he could catch Alyssa for a quick conversation, Georgie’s mum made a beeline for their table and pulled out a chair.
Georgie hugged her. ‘Mum, you were amazing. How are you feeling?’
‘Relieved. It’s been some day. Your dad and I need to speak to you about a couple of family things, but they can wait until the morning.’ Her focus swung to Lachlan, and he figured she was probably wondering who this stranger was at her party.
‘Mum, this is Lachlan. He’s?—’
‘A pal of Alyssa’s,’ Jessie finished for him. ‘We almost met earlier in the kitchen. Good of you to offer to help Alyssa. Especially given the circumstances.’
The emphasis on her words told him that she knew he was part of the problem too, but she’d seemed to be overlooking that in the light of his offer to help.
Georgie had more news to share. ‘His mum used to work here. In this café.’
‘Really? What was her name?’
Lachlan took that one. ‘Felicity. Her maiden name was McSlay.’
To his shock, Jessie responded by letting out a loud chuckle. ‘Oh, hang on, son. Val! Val!’
A few yards away, the blonde woman he’d been dancing with earlier responded with, ‘Christ on a bike, Jessie, I’m right here, not half a mile down the street.’
Jessie ignored the reprimand. ‘Remember Felicity McSlay from over in Burnbank? ’
‘Red hair, tall lassie, only child, smart, did well at school, worked here on the weekends, couldn’t ride a bike to save her life, married some loaded guy and went off to live in Glasgow.’
Georgie leaned towards him. ‘She has an encyclopaedic memory. It’s slightly terrifying.’
‘So you don’t know her then?’ Jessie quipped to the blonde woman, both of them in on the joke.
Val shook her head. ‘Never heard of her.’ They were both chuckling now.
‘Ach, well. I was just going to tell you this is her son.’
Val immediately took charge. ‘Oh well, you come with me because there’s a few people I’d like you to meet.’
That set off a whole round of introductions to everyone else in the room who would have known his mum, and to his surprise, Lachlan loved every single minute of it.
More than loved it. He realised how much he’d missed this kind of interaction.
Why had he allowed himself to shut out the world for so long?
By the time all the introductions were over, the room had almost cleared, so he went back over to sit with Georgie. As he reached the table, Grant went to speak to one of the singers, so that left them alone.
‘So… Mr Range Rover With The Flat Tyres. My mum told me you’ll be sticking around for a while and that you’ve offered to help Alyssa move this place across to our salon.’
He was impressed. How fast did news travel in this village? BBC News couldn’t relay information this quickly.
‘So now that you’re stranded without transport, do you have a plan on how you’re getting out of here tonight?’
‘Taxi to a hotel. I’m just about to search for one online. I was waiting to speak to Alyssa, but I think she’s probably busy enough now, so I’ll come back in the morning to see her.’
Georgie thought about that for a moment.
‘I have a couch that you’re welcome to. I should tell you – because if I don’t, my really embarrassing brother will – that I got a bit carried away with myself earlier, and thought I could embark on a wild spree of one-night stands, but the truth is, I don’t have the courage for it.
Or, you know, resistance to germs. I’d be too worried about where the one-night stands had been. ’
He tried to keep a straight face. ‘Good to know.’
‘But I do have a very nice couch that folds out into a very comfy bed. It does mean that you can pop back in the morning to see Alyssa.’
‘That’s a very good point.’
She raised her glass. ‘Sofa?’
He clinked it with his beer bottle. ‘Sofa.’
Not long after, the café had been cleared, he’d let Alyssa know he’d pop back in the morning, and all the goodbyes had been said.
When they moved out into the street, Georgie linked arms with him as they made their way along the snow-covered road. That’s when he looked around, took it all in. He couldn’t help thinking that his mum would love this. And she would definitely approve of his decision to stay.
Because as his eyes locked again with the woman walking next to him, he decided there was a very definite possibility that he’d just found one very good thing at the end of the day.