Page 27 of Chasing a Highland Dream

‘Yes, but⁠—’

Skye continued, ‘And a police sergeant. That’s quite sexy. Quite heroic.’

Bella scrunched her brow. ‘Not really.’ Did you hear him say he watches birds?

Olivia gasped. ‘I’ve realised who he reminds me of.’

Bella sighed, oh, here we go. ‘Bill Oddie?’

A crease formed between Skye’s brows. ‘Who?’

Bella turned to Skye and crumpled her face in incredulity. ‘Really?’

Olivia continued. ‘I’m being serious. He has a look of Tom Hardy when he was in that film with Reese Witherspoon and Chris Pine, only with a beard. Same cropped hair and same kind of build by the looks of him too.’

Skye nodded vehemently, wagging her finger for good measure. ‘This Means War.’

Bella again turned to Skye. ‘Isn’t that taking things a bit too seriously? She’s entitled to her opinion.’

Skye paused for a moment then shook her head. ‘No, the film is called This Means War, you melt. And she’s right; only your sergeant’s teeth are straighter. I think you’re in there, Bells.’

Bella huffed and rolled her eyes. ‘He’s not my sergeant and can we please change the subject?’ she asked sulkily, wondering if she really had just agreed to an actual date with Harris.

15

When they had finished their lunch, Ben collected Skye to visit a potential wedding venue on the outskirts of the city and Brodie arrived at the restaurant to ask if Olivia fancied seeing a show at the Eden Court Theatre; he invited Bella too but she didn’t feel like interloping on their date, meaning she was left to drive back to Drumblair alone.

Thinking back to the start of her lunch date with the girls, she shook her head. How on earth had she let herself be cajoled into riding pillion on the back of a far too strait-laced police sergeant’s motorcycle? Okay, the girls were right, he was quite handsome, but her granny had made him sound far too perfect with his lack of bad habits; a little boring even. He’s a twitcher, for goodness’ sake! Not that she was looking for craziness. But a little excitement wouldn’t go amiss, although she didn’t mean the excitement of peeing her pants on the back of a motorbike going at a hundred miles an hour along the back lanes of Inverness. She would think of an excuse to get out of it. She’d have to.

As she drove along listening to her Harry Styles CD, Bella sang along to ‘As It Was’, getting carried along with the lyrics, and didn’t spot the huge pothole until it was too late. There was a loud thunk as her tyre dropped into the hole and she ducked as the CD shot out of the player, flew past her head and hit the rear window before disappearing out of sight.

Bella screamed, ‘Shiiit!’ as her heart almost leapt from her mouth and the car came to a sudden, dramatic halt. With her eyes wide, she glanced around but luckily there were no other vehicles in sight. Then she realised the car was standing at a lopsided angle. ‘Oh no, no, no, Fifi, what have I done?’ She tried to start the engine again, intent on moving to a safer spot, but Fifi was clearly not going anywhere. ‘Come on, old girl, please!’ She turned the key in the ignition again but the engine sputtered and stopped.

‘I don’t bloody believe this. Why can’t one thing go right for me at the moment?’

She grabbed her bag and climbed from the car; steam was now billowing from the bonnet; at least she hoped it was steam. She grabbed her phone and went to dial, but of course there was no signal at that precise location. Why would there be?

‘Aaaaarghhhhh!’ Bella growled and stomped her feet like a toddler in the midst of a tantrum. She paced up and down, trying to decide what to do. She could walk into the next village but that meant leaving Fifi in a hazardous place. She could wait for a while but who knows how long it would be until someone came along?

She was still pacing when she heard the roar of an engine. She stepped into the road and waved her arms in the air to alert the oncoming driver of her own vehicle and its unhelpful position, and the driver came to a stop.

She recognised the lightning stripe down the side of the helmet worn by the rider and wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or horrified.

‘Bella, are you okay?’ Harris shouted as he removed his helmet and placed it on the seat of his bike. He jogged towards her, a concerned expression furrowing his brow.

‘I’m fine but I think Fifi is damaged.’

Harris glanced around. ‘Fifi?’

Bella gestured at her vehicle. ‘This is Fifi.’

Harris raised his eyebrows and almost smiled. ‘Oh, right. I see. You… erm… you named your car.’

Bella nodded, feeling a little silly for the first time when admitting it.

‘But you’re not injured?’

Bella shook her head. ‘Not physically, no,’ she replied with a sad glance at her beloved vintage Citroen. ‘Emotionally, maybe.’