Chapter Twenty-Four Orkney
Chapter Twenty-Four
Orkney
Amelia came out of the hairdressers and into a beautiful sunny afternoon; heavy clouds fat with rain had threatened to scud in from the west but had held off for now.
She went to the deli to buy essentials for Freya. Fresh crusty bread, butter and cheese, ground coffee and full-fat milk, and was waiting to pay at the counter. Someone tapped her on the shoulder.
“Hello, Evie.” It had taken Ross five minutes of walking up and down the street in front of the shop before he had the nerve to approach the woman he thought was Evie.
When Amelia turned round and smiled, he found himself completely on the back foot. “Sorry to disappoint you, Ross, it’s Amelia. We met at Evie’s gallery. Remember?”
He stuttered his apologies.
“You look so like her, especially with the hair and everything, and that’s just the kind of outfit she would wear.” But not those daft shoes he thought. They are totally impractical for cobbled streets and walking through fields.
Amelia put on a sad face. She knew just how to play this one.
“It’s really nice of you to say that. I just admire her so much and I think she’s so beautiful and I suppose I want to be just like her.
But I don’t think she likes me. I feel so pathetic.
” Amelia managed to squeeze out a tear that trickled down her cheek.
Ross had no idea how to cope with a crying, emotional woman and frantically looked round for help, eventually saying desperately, “Here, let me get your shopping and I can carry it for you.”
“You are so kind,” said Amelia. Ross was busy paying for her groceries so didn’t see her triumphant smile. “Why don’t you let me take you for a drink? I don’t really have any friends here and it would be lovely to get to know you.”
Ross couldn’t think of an excuse and found himself agreeing but only if he paid. In the trendy bar, Ross bought her a glass of red wine and a pint of orange juice for himself which he gulped nervously.
“I don’t drink much,” he said, “To be honest, I’m snowed under with orders. I just came into the toon to get my mum’s favourite sweeties. She’s virtually bedridden now, but she loves her peedie pokes of Soor Plooms and Clove Rock.”
Amelia had no idea what he was on about but she smiled at him and said softly, “I really admire that you take care of your parents, Ross. It must be tough on you.”
“Och, no. It’s fine. They are no trouble at all.
And I get a lot of help from friends and neighbours.
We’ve got cracking carers who come in every morning.
The auld yins want to stay in their own house and that’s not too much to ask after they spent so many years bringing me up and teaching me the ropes. ”
He went on, “My dad was a brilliant craftsman until the arthritis struck him down, but he taught me all he knew. I learned from the very best there is.” Ross was taken aback.
This was about the longest conversation he’d had with a woman that he could remember, apart from Evie, of course.
Usually when a girl chatted him up in a pub, he looked for the nearest exit.
He never opened up like this or talked about his parents, but he felt himself relax with this woman who reminded him so much of Evie.
Amelia gazed at him, her bright green eyes full of admiration. “I have seen your work, Ross, and it’s so beautiful. I’d love to own one of your chairs. Maybe when you aren’t too busy you could show me round your workshop and I could choose the designs that I like best.”
He smiled at her. “Of course. It’s a date.” He blushed and blurted, “Well, not a date. But you know what I mean.” He took a large slurp of orange juice to hide his confusion.
“Course I do,” she laughed teasingly. “Anyway, I am sure you are already spoken for.”
Ross blushed. “I’m not actually. To tell you the truth, I’ve never really had a proper girlfriend. I was always too busy working and I’m not good with women. I never know what to say to them.”
“Well, you know how to talk to me,” said Amelia. “I’ve really enjoyed our conversation.”
Ross smiled again, his cheeks blazing, and looked down at his feet. “You know, I thought there was something between you and Evie, before she put me straight,” smiled Amelia.
He frowned, “I haven’t seen her much recently. Well, not properly. We seem to always be missing one another.”
“Like ships in the night?”
“Exactly.”
Amelia sighed. “Well, there might be a reason for that, Ross.”
“Really? What?”
“I hear she has a new man in her life. Someone from her past. I don’t really know much about it as she hasn’t said anything to me, but I did overhear her on the phone talking to someone and well …”
“Go on,” said Ross.
“And they were making plans to meet up.”
“I see,” said Ross.
“So maybe that’s why she’s been avoiding you?”
“Now you mention it, she may well have been giving me the bum’s rush and I didn’t realise, which would make sense if she had someone else on the go.”
“I’m sorry, Ross. I hope I haven’t upset you. But I thought you ought to know.”
“It’s fine. We were never together. I never even managed to get her to go on a date. I just somehow thought … but clearly, I had my wires crossed all along …” He trailed off.
Amelia realised she had done enough fibbing about Evie and said briskly. “Thanks for the drink, Ross. I’d better get back to Freya. I’ve never known anyone who goes through so much dairy produce. I swear she sits and eats handfuls of butter straight from the dish.”
Ross said, “Let me give you a lift. That was a big glass of wine and it’s more or less on the way, and I can look in on Freya. I know she’s not been well.”
Amelia beamed at him. She could always pick up Freya’s car later.
“That would be really lovely. Thank you.”
When Ross and Amelia come through the door, Freya looked up from working on her jewellery and thought for a moment he was with Evie. It was only when she heard Amelia’s American accent and saw her properly in the light that she realised her mistake.
Amelia was positively bouncing with delight.
“Look, Freya. I bumped into Ross in the deli and he bought me a drink. I feel very naughty having red wine in the middle of the day. He drove me back, but I will go and pick up your car later. He also paid for our shopping, which was so kind. I’ll just put things away in the fridge. ”
Amelia disappeared into the kitchen.
“Can you believe how much she looks like Evie?” said Ross, shaking his head.
“Yes. It’s uncanny” said Freya, wondering how often she’d have to have this conversation.
Ross lent in and whispered, “Amelia is a lovely woman. I’m thinking of asking her out. Do you think she would say yes?”
“Ross. Every woman on this island, married or single, dead or alive, would go out with you. Of course, she will say yes, but are you sure? I thought you and Evie had something going on.”
“Nah,” said Ross. “She isn’t interested in me. She’s made that very clear.”
Freya wasn’t convinced. “Are you sure? You never actually asked her properly did you?”
“I did. That time I delivered the chair to her. I distinctly remember asking her to come out for a drink with me. Anyway, that ship has sailed,” said Ross. “She’s got someone else on the go.”
Freya looked puzzled. Evie hadn’t said anything to her about meeting another man.
She felt hurt. Normally, she and Evie shared everything, but then Evie hadn’t even visited when she’d been ill.
So maybe she did have someone else. She was just about to ask Ross for more details when Amelia came in with a pot of tea, three mugs and a plate piled high with homemade biscuits.
“Not for me, Amelia love,” said Ross. “I need to get back to the grindstone. But if you aren’t doing anything tomorrow night, do you fancy a drink?”
“I’m not. Doing anything, I mean. And I do. Fancy a drink, that is.”
“Where and when?”
“Same place as today? Seven o’clock?”
“It’s a date,” she said, instantly beaming at him.
“See you tomorrow then,” said Ross, grinning shyly.
“Bye, Freya.” With an awkward wave, he turned and left.
“Well,” said Freya when Ross had roared off in his car. “That was something I never expected to see with my own two eyes. Ross agreeing to go on an actual date. Who would have thought it?”
She looked at Amelia seriously, “Be careful with him, Amelia. He’s not a man to give his heart lightly.” Freya remembered saying almost the exact same thing to Evie around this time almost two years ago when Ross had hesitantly asked her out.
She heard Amelia sigh and say, “I reckon I’m the one who will have to be careful.
I think he might just be the most wonderful man in the world.
He’s so kind. Fancy buying our shopping and then taking me for a drink to cheer me up, and giving me a lift home, and now we are going on a real date. I can’t believe it.”
Freya looked at Amelia and saw the excitement in her eyes. Perhaps she and Ross could make a go of it. She remembered what he had told her and asked, “Has Evie said anything to you about meeting a new man?”
“Not a thing,” said Amelia. “But I still don’t know her very well. I am sure if there was someone she would have told you, Freya. She tells you everything.”
Amelia added, “Anyway, where did you get that idea?”
“It was just something Ross said.”
She shook her head, “He might have got it wrong. Nobody can keep a thing like that quiet for long here, everyone would know in a minute if she was serious about someone.”
Then Freya thought to herself, ‘I hope she hasn’t met some clown online and got herself into another mess.
She stayed with that vile ex Jeremy for years and he nearly sucked all the life and happiness out of her.
And I know how much of an oyster she is at keeping secrets.
She kept the most important one of all from me for over twenty years, but I thought those days were behind us and she trusted me.
Surely, she would tell me if she had met someone else? ’
Amelia said reassuringly: “If she is seeing a guy, I am sure she will tell you when she’s ready.”
She looked hopefully at Freya. “But right now, I really need your help. What am I going to wear for my date with Ross? I obviously don’t want to be too overdressed and like I’ve made a huge effort, but then I don’t want to look scruffy either.”
The two of them spent a happy hour chatting about outfits and jewellery, and how to get that difficult ‘I haven’t tried a bit’ look that takes hours of effort.