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“You wee bastard! You know how word gets around in Bannock. You three better keep your mouths shut, all right?”

Aidan grins, popping the rest of the pastry in his mouth before waltzing over and patting me on the back. “Emily, eh? Good man. Still, it’s not exactly a shock. Maw’s had her eye on the two of you. She was sure there was something going on between you.”

“Wait, Elspeth figured it out?” Jamie says. “How come I always miss these things?”

“Because you spend your life staring at a screen?” Lewis suggests. “Or maybe because you’re a naive little boy for whom the ways of the world are still a mystery?”

At this, Jamie delivers a firm kick to Lewis’s arse. Lewis’s retaliation is swift: he grabs a dirty dish towel and chases Jamie around the kitchen, trying to flick him with it, while Jamie shouts out in protest.

Aidan, chuckling, watches them for a while then turns his attention back to the leftovers. He helps himself to a raspberry yogurt, peeling off the lid with his teeth then grabbing a spoon. “You and I are almost thirty, Ally, and your brothers are getting older too, but sometimes it’s like we’re all still teenagers.”

“Hmm,” I say noncommittally.

Does it feel like that? Maybe for Aidan, but not for me. The carefree existence of my teens, when Maw and Da were still here and I didn’t have a hotel to run . . . that feels like a lifetime ago. I keep my disagreement to myself, though.

“I suppose Emily’s the reason you’ve not had much time for me lately?” Aidan, eyeing my brothers’ ongoing shenanigans, takes a spoonful of yogurt. “I want to get moving with our business idea.”

“The business idea I’ve not yet agreed to,” I point out.

“You know you want to do it! Anyway, this thing with Emily . . .” He gives me a sideways glance. “It is just a casual thing, aye? You’re not going to go settling down on me?”

“Jesus! It’s only been a little over a week. Of course it’s casual!”

But as soon as I say it, it feels like a betrayal. True, Emily and I haven’t been together for long, but a connection is forming between us, and it’s growing stronger every day. The way I feel about her . . . well, it’s special.

Still, a worry niggles at the back of my mind. I voice it now, trying to sound casual.

“Besides, she’s only here for another few weeks. She’s a London girl, and me? I’m a Highland lad. There’s no way it could work. We may live on the same island, but Emily could travel to Paris, Brussels, or Amsterdam quicker than she could to Inverness. The travelling time involved, and my schedule at the hotel . . . it just wouldn’t work. When the month is up, things will come to an end.”

I try hard not to show it, but the truth of this hurts. We’ve already done a holiday romance, she and I—as kids, all those years ago. This time, I think I want something more.

But Aidan nods in agreement. “True. It makes it easier, really, to have an end date. Well, make the most of it, mate—have fun while it lasts.” Another clap on the back. “You’re less glum than usual, so it’s doing you some good. But don’t forget, you need to have a think about our business. In between working and shagging, could you find time to chat about it today?”

“No, I’m busy today.”

At this, Lewis and Jamie—who have obviously been listening in, despite still fooling around—snigger.

“Busy working,” I add. “Not . . . the other thing.”

All three of them look at me with wide grins.

“Bloody hell!” I say. “It’s a Sunday—weekends are always busy. Oh, and Emily’s friend is arriving later. I genuinely don’t have time today.”

“Fine, but let’s chat soon, aye? I just want to sit down and talk about things, to see—if we did start the business—what it would look like. I don’t need a firm commitment from you at this stage.”

“All right, you’ve worn me down, Aidan. We’ll talk this week—but like you said, it’s just a chat. I’m not making any promises.”

He beams. “Good man! Well, I’d stay to help, but I reckon you guys have this under control.” He finishes his yogurt then plucks up an apple. “By the way, if you want to have me over for a sit-down breakfast sometime, my diary is wide open. My maw may be head chef around here, but you do a mean breakfast, Lewis.”

“Do I?” Lewis turns his attention from Jamie to Aidan. “And I heard you’re excellent at scrubbing dishes.” He nods at the pots and pans still waiting to be washed.

“Aw, mate, you know I’d love to help, but I don’t want to go stepping on your guys’ toes. You’ve probably got some sort of system, and I wouldn’t want to mess with that. Besides, it’s kind of hard to scrub a pan with one hand, so . . . aye, I’ll be going now. See you later!”

With a grin and a wink, Aidan leaves.

“Cheeky bugger!” Lewis complains. “He takes our food and helps himself to pints in the snug, but he never does anything to help. Ally, he’s your best mate—sort him out!”

Jamie creeps up behind Lewis while he’s grousing and claps him across the back of the head. He then races off around the kitchen island.