Caitlin burst out laughing. ‘Aye, you’re doing a grand job of holding back your eagerness, Gracie, well done.’
* * *
After an impromptu afternoon shopping trip to Inverness, Caitlin and Grace arrived home at half past six. Cleo skipped and yipped as soon as they walked through the door with their shopping bags and Grace crouched to greet her canine best friend.
‘Have you missed us? Have you? We bought you an ickle treat. Yesh we did.’ She riffled through the bags until she found a box of dog biscuits. Opening them, she took one and held it out. ‘See! We didn’t forget you.’
Cleo took the biscuit and proceeded to crunch it loudly, creating a pile of crumbs on the floor.
Grace turned her attention to her mum. ‘Which outfit are you going to wear for the pub and which for the dinner at Cora’s?’ she asked as they took their purchases upstairs.
Caitlin pursed her lips. ‘I think the black lace top might be nice for dinner with my black pencil skirt. So, then I can wear the pale blue kimono and vest top with my jeans for the pub. What do you think?’
‘I think you’ll look gorgeous, and he’ll propose to you straight away with a giant diamond ring and some doves.’
Caitlin shook her head. ‘Doves? And what did I say about jumping the gun, missy?’
Grace scoffed. ‘Ugh… boring.’
‘Come on, let’s take Cleo out for a nice walk. I’m stuffed from all that pasta we had earlier.’
‘Me too!’
With their new clothes put away neatly, they went downstairs and Caitlin clipped Cleo’s lead on. The little black dog jumped around in excitement as they headed out into the village. It was a balmy late June evening, and they were greeted by the sound of birdsong and children playing on the church field.
As they walked, they met with Jules, Evin and Chewie. Cleo and Chewie greeted each other like old friends and proceeded to jump around and play as the women and children talked.
‘We were just on our way to see you as we missed you earlier,’ Jules said. ‘What have you been up to on your day off then?’
‘We had a wee run out to Inverness to get some new clothes. Grace has had a growth spurt, so she needed a few bits, and I treated myself too.’
‘Sounds lovely. I hear you’re going on a date soon?’ Jules grinned and nudged her.
‘Aye, I can’t believe it after all these years of being single.’
‘Me and Cora are hoping that they’ll get married so we can be sisters,’ Grace interjected.
Jules widened her eyes and laughed. ‘Oh! You’ve got it all planned then?’
Caitlin huffed. ‘Aye, I keep trying to rein her in, but it’s not working.’
‘Aw, it’s nice to dream though.’ Jules gave a half-wink.
Evin eagerly blurted, ‘Hey, Grace, do you want to come to our house for burgers tomorrow night after school? My dad’s doing a barbecue. And I’m camping in the back garden on Saturday night if you want to come to that too! It’ll be great fun. I’ve got torches and snacks and everything.’
Grace looked up at Caitlin with a hope-filled expression. ‘Can I, Mum?’
Caitlin shrugged. ‘If it’s okay with Jules and Reid.’
Jules smiled. ‘That’s actually what we were coming to ask you. We thought we’d pop round rather than ringing, seeing as we were going out with Chewie.’
‘That’s fine then. Sounds like a great plan.’
‘Can me and Evin go over to the field? Just while you two are talking about boring grown-up stuff?’ Grace chipped in.
‘Aye, go on.’
The two children and their dogs headed off in the direction of the expanse of green that lay between the new village hall at one end and the pretty, stone-built Victorian church at the other, surrounded by trees.
