Well, leaving all that aside… I didn’t come here just to mess with you, believe it or not. I think someone did come over your wall, and I’m pretty sure you had a break-in. Seriously, are you and your granddad all right? I worry about the pair of you, all the way out here. Especially now you’re on your own.”
I watched him thoughtfully. He’d always been leery as hell about letting anyone know we were lovers, and ultimately that had finished us, but that had been his sole cowardice. He was a good man. His concerns for me and the old man were genuine.
“We’re managing. The last few months have been tough, but once we get through lambing we’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure? I heard in town you had to turn off Joe McKenzie.”
I made a face. “Good news travels fast. Just tightening our belts a bit, that’s all.”
“Mind you don’t run out of buckle holes. Er…did you hear about Shona Clyde, by the way?”
I frowned. A twinge of anxiety touched me. Shona was our neighbour, or the nearest thing we had to one, the owner of the wealthy dairy farm inland across the hill. She was a lovely woman, a real West Isles flower, who like many a one before her had allied herself to a mutton-headed brute of a husband whose idea of fun was to get himself leathered in the Brodick pubs on Saturday, drive home and knock her about. “No. Jimmy hasn’t hurt her, has he?”
“Not at all. He’s done her a great big favour and dropped down dead of a stroke.”
“No way. You’re kidding me.”
“Serious. Happened last week while he was on the rampage in town. Shona gets everything—the farm, the house, the livestock. You want to think about her, Nicky, once her natural grief has subsided a wee bit. She’s a wealthy widow. And the land adjoins your own.”
I swallowed my reflexive shout of laughter. In fact I managed to school my expression to an earnest mask, a mirror of Archie’s, as if I were giving the proposal thought. “Well, I will,” I said at length. “Only—I don’t want to shock you, mate. It’s just that I think I might be gay.”
“Oh, funny.” Archie picked up a Biro from the table and flicked it accurately in my direction. “All right. If you won’t marry money, will you take a loan off me? Just to tide you over, let you hire a replacement for Kenzie till the lambing’s finished?”
I pushed down off my perch by the sink. My throat was hot and sore. I couldn’t keep up with the melting of my permafrosted world, the places where the tundra was breaking into flowers and streams. Archie got up before I could reach him, his expression apprehensive, but he caught me as I walked into his arms. I did kiss him then, just once on the cheek, like the brother he was trying to be to me.
I held him tight. “Don’t be soft,” I whispered. “I don’t want your hard-earned police pennies.”
“I mean it. What are you living on? You can’t run this place by yourself.”
I eased him back. I wasn’t much of a strategist, and I knew the chances were I’d never see Cameron again, but this seemed like an opportunity. “I won’t be. I forgot to say—one of the farming colleges is sending me a student out. A free one, believe it or not.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I’m expecting him any time, unless he’s thought better of it. So we’ll be okay, especially now spring’s coming. Now, aren’t you late for somewhere?”
“What?” He glanced at his watch. “Oh, bloody hellfire. The ferry. I’m going to miss the two-fifteen.”
“Not if you run for it now. Put your blue light and the siren on. Go.”
He returned my kiss, swift and sincere, a warm press to the corner of my mouth. “All right. I love you, Nichol. We won’t be strangers, eh?”
“No. We’ll stay in touch. Now go.”
I followed him out. I stood in the yard and watched while he scrambled back into the Rover, and gave him a wave as he drove off. The sound of his engine gradually died, and there was only the song of the
I watched him thoughtfully. He’d always been leery as hell about letting anyone know we were lovers, and ultimately that had finished us, but that had been his sole cowardice. He was a good man. His concerns for me and the old man were genuine.
“We’re managing. The last few months have been tough, but once we get through lambing we’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure? I heard in town you had to turn off Joe McKenzie.”
I made a face. “Good news travels fast. Just tightening our belts a bit, that’s all.”
“Mind you don’t run out of buckle holes. Er…did you hear about Shona Clyde, by the way?”
I frowned. A twinge of anxiety touched me. Shona was our neighbour, or the nearest thing we had to one, the owner of the wealthy dairy farm inland across the hill. She was a lovely woman, a real West Isles flower, who like many a one before her had allied herself to a mutton-headed brute of a husband whose idea of fun was to get himself leathered in the Brodick pubs on Saturday, drive home and knock her about. “No. Jimmy hasn’t hurt her, has he?”
“Not at all. He’s done her a great big favour and dropped down dead of a stroke.”
“No way. You’re kidding me.”
“Serious. Happened last week while he was on the rampage in town. Shona gets everything—the farm, the house, the livestock. You want to think about her, Nicky, once her natural grief has subsided a wee bit. She’s a wealthy widow. And the land adjoins your own.”
I swallowed my reflexive shout of laughter. In fact I managed to school my expression to an earnest mask, a mirror of Archie’s, as if I were giving the proposal thought. “Well, I will,” I said at length. “Only—I don’t want to shock you, mate. It’s just that I think I might be gay.”
“Oh, funny.” Archie picked up a Biro from the table and flicked it accurately in my direction. “All right. If you won’t marry money, will you take a loan off me? Just to tide you over, let you hire a replacement for Kenzie till the lambing’s finished?”
I pushed down off my perch by the sink. My throat was hot and sore. I couldn’t keep up with the melting of my permafrosted world, the places where the tundra was breaking into flowers and streams. Archie got up before I could reach him, his expression apprehensive, but he caught me as I walked into his arms. I did kiss him then, just once on the cheek, like the brother he was trying to be to me.
I held him tight. “Don’t be soft,” I whispered. “I don’t want your hard-earned police pennies.”
“I mean it. What are you living on? You can’t run this place by yourself.”
I eased him back. I wasn’t much of a strategist, and I knew the chances were I’d never see Cameron again, but this seemed like an opportunity. “I won’t be. I forgot to say—one of the farming colleges is sending me a student out. A free one, believe it or not.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I’m expecting him any time, unless he’s thought better of it. So we’ll be okay, especially now spring’s coming. Now, aren’t you late for somewhere?”
“What?” He glanced at his watch. “Oh, bloody hellfire. The ferry. I’m going to miss the two-fifteen.”
“Not if you run for it now. Put your blue light and the siren on. Go.”
He returned my kiss, swift and sincere, a warm press to the corner of my mouth. “All right. I love you, Nichol. We won’t be strangers, eh?”
“No. We’ll stay in touch. Now go.”
I followed him out. I stood in the yard and watched while he scrambled back into the Rover, and gave him a wave as he drove off. The sound of his engine gradually died, and there was only the song of the
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