‘Och, none taken,’ said Dolly.
‘I was expecting more men in kilts though,’ said Liv thinking out loud.
‘It’s more ceremonial these days,’ said Dolly.
‘Does Fraser have one – a kilt?’ Liv’s mind was painting interesting pictures.
‘Of course,’ said Effie. ‘He’s got a sporran and asgian-dubh.’
‘What like a jet ski but for snow? They look cool,’ said Liv now picturing Fraser on a snowmobile with his kilt blowing in the wind.
Effie got a fit of the giggles. ‘No, silly. Not a skidoo, asgian-dubh. That’s a knife. All the men have them.’
‘Ri-ight,’ said Liv. Things were quite different this far north.
Dolly did a lap of the room. ‘You’ve done a lovely job here, girls. But you know what this room needs?’
Dolly was looking towards the large window at the end of the room. ‘A Christmas tree,’ said Liv and Effie together.
‘Goodnight, girls,’ said Dolly, kissing first Effie and then to her surprise she wheeled over to Liv and held out her arms. Jock’O eyed her suspiciously as she tentatively leaned over him to accept the hug. As she pulled back she saw Jock’O had a sock under his paws.
‘Hey, is that my sock?’ said Liv but Jock’O quickly lay down.
18
Liv slept better than the previous night and was woken by the sound of Kacey either being strangled or hitting a particularly intense orgasm. Liv unkindly hoped it was the former. She was single and facing Christmas alone, but that wasn’t the biggest of her issues. She walked over to the window, pulled back her Campbell tartan curtains and looked out. It was exactly the same as the previous day – wall-to-wall snow. She puffed out a sigh. She hoped Robbie was right about the snowplough getting through, otherwise it looked like she was going to be stranded with Fraser Douglas for a bit longer. Although she had to admit she’d warmed to Effie and Dolly, so it wasn’t all bad, and the area was incredibly pretty even when it was covered in a few feet of snow and ice.
In the kitchen Effie and Fraser were preparing breakfast, so Liv mucked in where she was needed.
‘You okay?’ asked Fraser.
‘Yep, not been pillaged by Janet for my soul.’
‘Yet,’ said Fraser with a wink. ‘Almost like you’re settling in.’
‘I could certainly get used to the view from my room. It’s out of this world. I thought the scenery on the way up here was impressive – all hilly and green – but out there is spectacular.’
‘Trossachs,’ said Fraser.
How rude,thought Liv. She was about to argue with him when the door opened and Dolly came in on the scooter. ‘Slight problem,’ said Dolly. ‘There’s no sign of our guests.’
‘I hope they’ve all left,’ said Fraser stroking his beard like a Bond villain.
‘You’re not the greatest host given you want to be a big thing in the hospitality industry,’ said Liv.
Fraser blinked at her. ‘Who said anything about a big thing?’
Liv smirked at the innuendo and was pleased to see a little colour come to Fraser’s cheeks. ‘I understand you’re building up to a big launch. And you want to beat your… um… rival restaurant.’ She pointed like she knew where Lizzie and Callum’s place was although she hadn’t a clue about the geography of where she was. In her head there was no north, south, east or west; only abandoned car, mad cow, loch or mountains.
‘It is quite a big thing,’ said Effie and Liv failed to hide her grin.
‘Could you have this discussion later?’ asked Dolly drawing everyone’s attention. ‘I think the guests have all slept in and as we didn’t give them a time for breakfast we had better tell them that it’s almost ready.’
They all looked at each other, hoping one of the others was going to be the first to volunteer. Eventually all eyes were on Liv. ‘Fine. I’ll get everyone up.’
The others were visibly relieved. Liv pulled back her shoulders and headed out of the kitchen. ‘Wish me luck.’ There was no reply. As she walked up the hallway she was met by a sound she could only imagine was the result of a cat playing a recorder out of its bum. There was a brief interlude when the front door slammed open and the awful noise restarted, but now much louder and shriller. Liv stuck her fingers in her ears and approached with caution to find a red-faced Robbie puffing into bagpipes in the entrance lobby. She waved at him to stop.
‘Was it “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go”? Am I right?’ asked Liv.
