Caitlin had never seen Jules like this, and her stomach knotted. Something major must have happened for there to be a meeting on a Saturday night. What was it though? Was some big corporation going to build a supermarket on the village field? Was there going to be a ban on whisky on Skye? Was there a compulsory demolition order on the Coxswain? Whatever it was, it must be serious.
Jules pushed through the doors to the main hall and Caitlin followed. It was all in darkness. Confusion clouded her mind. What the hell?
‘Let the meeting commence!’ Jules shouted, and suddenly the lights came on. A gathered crown cheered and applauded, and Caitlin stood there, stunned. The main hall was festooned with balloons, bunting and flowers and a painted sign hung above the stage that said:
CONGRATULATIONS
MR AND MRS FRASER-SUTHERLAND!
It had clearly been painted by Reid, and each member of the family could be seen in between the letters. It was no ordinary banner, that was certain. What wasn’t certain was who had arranged the party, or how they had found out about the wedding.
Take That’s ‘Rule the World’ began playing from the chorus, over the sound system as everyone continued to cheer and Caitlin looked around for Archie. Had he planned this whole thing without her knowledge? When she spotted him just inside the doorway to the hall, he too appeared stunned. His mouth and eyes were wide as he took in the surroundings.
Amidst the cacophony, he made his way over to her. ‘Did you…?’
She shook her head. ‘I thought you did.’
As the applause and cheers rang out around the room, they turned to where Grace and Sophie stood with Jules. They both wore huge, cheeky grins on their faces and Caitlin gasped. The girls ran towards their parents and hugged them tightly.
‘Did you girls do this?’ Caitlin asked with tears in her eyes.
Grace nodded. ‘You’re not upset, are you?’
Caitlin shook her head. ‘Not at all, sweetheart, just so surprised, that’s all.’
Grace giggled. ‘Phew! That was the idea. We just wanted you to have a proper party and so we talked, Sophie and I, and we decided to get Evin involved, he told his dad and Jules where we were really going this weekend, and this all just happened from there.’
Caitlin pulled Grace and Sophie into her arms. ‘Thank you so, so much, you sneaky wee munchkins. You’re too good at keeping secrets! We had no clue.’ She swiped escaped tears from her cheeks. ‘But thank you so much, this is wonderful.’
‘You girls are so clever! What did we do to get so lucky, eh?’ Archie said as he picked up Sophie and hugged Grace into his side, his eyes filled with love and emotion.
It seemed the whole of Glentorrin had shown up to wish them well, and they were all dressed as if they were attending a royal wedding. There were suits, posh frocks and kilts galore from every tartan imaginable. Morag was wearing a Skye tartan dress, rather like the mother of the bride and a fascinator adorned her hair. Jules and Ruby both looked like movie stars and, of course, Dexter, Mitch and Reid looked handsome in their kilts, too, although in true Dexter style his waistcoat was leather.
Once their shock had worn off, Caitlin and Archie were surrounded by dear friends who congratulated and hugged them. They were handed glasses of sparkling fizz and congratulated yet again.
In the centre of the buffet table, which was covered in delicious-looking food that made Caitlin’s stomach growl, there was a wedding cake.
‘It’ll no be as good as yours, Caitlin, but I did my best!’ Morag told them. ‘I even watched a FaceTube video on how to make little people out of icing. So, there you two are on the top.’
‘Morag, it’s stunning!’ Archie told her with a wide smile.
Avoiding giggling at her mix-up of two social media platforms, Caitlin told her, ‘It’s beautiful, Morag, and I love the little Archie and Caitlin! Aren’t you clever? I’ll be hiring you if you’re not careful!’
But Jules had another surprise in store. ‘I can’t tell you who organised it, so don’t even ask, but someone has arranged for Greg McBradden to come over from Clachan and do a set for you later.’
Caitlin was a huge fan of the singer and guitarist and was thrilled that ‘someone’ had asked him to come and play for their party. ‘Wow, you’ve all done so much and now I feel terrible.’
Jules frowned. ‘Terrible, why?’
Caitlin’s eyes welled with tears once again. ‘Because we ran away to get married and didn’t invite you all.’
Jules placed a hand on each of her arms. ‘Hey, we’re best friends, aren’t we? So, you don’t need to feel bad about anything. You did what was right for the two of you and your girls, and that’s totally fine. But now we get to help you celebrate!’ She pulled her into a bear hug. ‘Grace is so happy you married Archie. She adores him.’
Caitlin wiped at her eyes as relief flooded her. ‘He is rather adorable.’
‘Aww, shucks.’ Archie chuckled, feigning shyness.
Jules whispered, ‘Oh, and to top it off, the girls and the dogs are staying with us tonight. There’s champagne chilling in the fridge at your cottage.’
