‘I’d scratch her eyes out with a sharp pencil.’
Kirk laughs. ‘You’re so feisty. I can see why Bailey likes you.’
Feeling a bit better about telling him, I relay the horror of the viral TikTok, my fleeing from Edinburgh, and bumping into Bailey in Kingussie station. ‘It was the worst–my nemesis, standing right in front of me. I couldn’t escape.’
Kirk snorts derisively. ‘Rather dramatic.’
‘Do you want to hear this or not?’
‘Sorry, continue.’
‘He insisted I come back with him because Crumpet needed looking after.’
‘Smooth move, switching focus to the dog. Nice one, Bails.’
‘Anyway’, I say, ignoring him, ‘your dad assumed I was his girlfriend, and he asked me to go along with it. Later, at the house, he said it was because the house was full and the only spare space was in his bedroom.’
Kirk cracks up. ‘Wow, I really need to get some dating advice from him. These are great moves.’
‘I assumed it was genuine,’ I say stiffly. ‘I don’t think he was putting “the moves” on me.’
He says gently, ‘Holly, you’re a pretty girl—kind of angry and scary, but pretty. Of course he was putting the moves on you.’
‘Oh.’ That checks out with Bailey neglecting to tell me about the annexe.
‘But then you left to visit Grandma?’ Kirk prompts.
‘Yeah. So Grandma was fictional. I’d booked a guest house in Inverness, but it was dire. Bailey followed me and climbed into the room through the window. He thought I might have been running away from an abusive relationship.’
Kirk raises his eyebrows. ‘Did you not think to tell him about the TikTok then?’
I shake my head. ‘I didn’t want to involve him. Then everything got muddled because now our relationship isn’t pretend. It’s real—for me anyway.’
I leave out the details about our night of passion.
‘I’d only just relaxed about everything, but then Lewis and Moira turn up with Andrea in tow. It seems Bailey invited her but forgot ... It’s all a bit much.’
I’m expecting Kirk to empathise, but he says, ‘Aren’t you a project manager? Bailey mentioned you were ...’
‘What’s that got to do with anything?’
‘Well, I’m sure you have to deal with personality conflicts in your job. Can’t you just manage the situation like you would at work?’
That’s not a bad idea actually. I need to take a step back and view this more dispassionately. I do work with Andrea after all. Lewis is a client, and Bailey works with him. If I can see them as colleagues, then it will remove some of the angst.
‘Thanks, Kirk. That’s actually a great piece of psychoanalyst advice.’ I smile at him for the first time since I arrived, and he smiles back.
‘Though it doesn’t excuse you from showing the TikTok to the kids. That was nasty. What’s your problem?’
His smile drops, and he hangs his head. ‘Confession—I actually do have a therapist. I’m trying to work through some painful stuff that happened with my ex, though you’re right, it doesn’t excuse my behaviour. That was a dick move on my part, sorry.’
My animosity towards him lessens slightly. I get the feeling he’s genuinely sorry. And don’t we all have a painful past?
‘It’s OK. It’s probably for the best that you did. Bailey had to find out at some point, and it was pretty great that he confronted Lewis ...’
All of a sudden, I really want to see him. ‘Shall we go back in now? My feet are freezing.’
Kirk nods in agreement, and we climb down the tree and head back to the house. I’m about to follow him into the lounge when I see Bailey sitting next to Andrea on the couch. Moira, Lewis, Sarah, and Mirabelle are there too. They’re all drinking mulled wine, chatting, and tucking into Christmas cake.
