‘Let’s get you home.’ Eilidh started up the car. ‘Mum’s made up the bed for you with an electric blanket in case you find the temperature change a bit much.’
‘Oh, she’s so lovely. Do all the Aussie visitors get one of those?’
Eilidh laughed. ‘He did not. He can get over himself if he’s cold. Aw, Carls, it’s so freaking good to have you here. Can’t wait to catch up with you properly when you’ve slept off the flight.’
As Eilidh drove, Carli tried to steady her nausea by staring out the window, eyesight levelled on the horizon and the captivating wild beauty of the land. Kintyre was dramatic and alluring, but it could be unsheltered and unforgiving if the elements were off the leash. She sincerely hoped with this unexpected bombshell that her holiday wouldn’t be that way.
The journey from the airport took ten minutes and soon the enormous gates of the Butler residence were gliding open and the car was moving down the winding, tree-lined driveway, leading into the sprawling grounds of Butlers’ whisky distillery and the huge family home. Carli opened the window and inhaled. Everything was wet from rain, a familiar occurrence in Scotland, but the air was temperate, and the damp earthy scent from the wooded glade invaded her senses. Immediately, she was cast back to summer here with Niall. Kissing deep in the foliage, hidden by the trees, the sweet smell of his skin intermingling with the natural forest scent. She could still remember the light graze of his teenage stubble on her face and how it had thrilled her.
What did he look like now? she wondered.
Hopefully bald and weather-beaten.
One person who was certainly not affected by age was Eilidh’s mother, Amanda. She emerged, bustling, from the large stone house almost as Carli had remembered her, except with a few more fine lines: a good-looking woman in her late fifties with soft, ash blonde hair falling in gentle curls across her shoulders. Her light blue eyes lit up with the rest of her face at the sight of Carli before she enveloped her in a warm hug that felt like coming home.
‘How are you, darling?’ Amanda held onto Carli’sshoulders and examined her at arm’s length. ‘You’re no less beautiful, are you? My goodness! Isn’t she stunning, Eilidh?
‘Aye,’ agreed Eilidh. ‘She is beautiful.’
‘And don’t worry,’ Amanda added. ‘Niall’s made himself scarce for now.’
‘Oh, that’s fine!’ Carli affected a breezy, carefree laugh, hoping to sound like she’d be entirely unbothered if Niall came to greet her himself and told her how beautiful she was.
‘Leave your case in the boot,’ said Eilidh. ‘Jamie or Nate will get it.’
‘Are they here?’ asked Carli.
‘Yes, it’s amazing how little work we all seem to do that we managed to sit around chatting all afternoon. Kidding, they’re here for tea after a busy day and I wangled a bit of extra time off by taking compassionate leave cause of Dad. There isn’t normally time for teachers to swan off during term.’
Knowing that some of the Butler clan were in the huge family home made it even more welcoming. Carli had loved coming to this ancient, comforting place when she’d been with Niall. Their family had always seemed so solid, so immovable, even though they were comprised of fragments and came with their own problems. Besides their father, Jimmy, actually being the biological uncle of Cal, Jamie and Niall, Eilidh, Cara and Nate were triplets adopted shortly after the birth of Sean.
The house smelled of fresh wood smoke with traces of fresh home baking, and the moodily painted walls were warmly lit from the upwards glow of table lamps resting on furniture which had known many more generations than the present incumbents. It was all as Carli remembered.
‘I’ve gone mad making scones since all my boys arehome,’ Amanda admitted as they walked through the hall towards the kitchen, the beating hub of the family home. ‘And brownies for my girls, I should add. Nobody gets left out.’
Carli would have loved nothing more than to sit and devour brownies and drink decaf coffee with the Butlers. The warm kitchen was abuzz with chatter and laughter, and immediately she was swept back up into Butler family life as Cara, Jamie, Nate and even Jimmy Butler, who was clearly very unwell, welcomed her back to their family home. This family. Once upon a time, they’d been her family too. Something slotted into place when she was here, as if it made her whole. It was strange because it was so at odds with her desire to keep herself in a safe, cosseted bubble back in Melbourne, but Kinshore put her on a sure footing. She was welcome, safe, loved.
It was strange without Niall, though.
‘Thank you, by the way,’ she said to Jimmy, ‘for the flight upgrade. That was so kind of you, but I couldn’t accept it.’
Jimmy shook his head and Carli wasn’t sure if this was part of his condition or he was telling her she was barking up the wrong tree.
‘Oh, that wasn’t us,’ said Amanda.
If it hadn’t been Jimmy, then who was the Mr Butler who’d paid for the upgrade?
Luckily, Cara wasted no time putting the pieces together and announcing her deduction to the room like Columbo. ‘Well, I think we know what Noo Noo’s mysterious phone call was about.’
Carli had no idea what the phone call was, but it seemed Niall may have paid for her flight upgrade.
Turning it down had never been soright.
As wonderful as it was being back in the warmth of the Butler family, an aching threaded its way through Carli’s bones and her attempts to sit upright and chat convivially were being destroyed by her head’s inclination to loll like a marionette. Was this more than jet lag?
‘Right, Carli, we need to get you to bed,’ Amanda declared. ‘You’re clearly exhausted and you might have caught a bug on the flight.’
Carli smiled, tired but grateful for Amanda’s insight. The soothing tones of this woman created a visceral relaxation in her, and she couldn’t fight her body’s desire for rest any longer.
