Nia bit into her lip, trying not to smile. In one, the plaid of Farlan’s kilt filled the wing mirror of the supercar, and in several others Nia could see herself and Farlan reflected in the flank of the car.
Diane was frowning at Farlan. ‘I wanted photos of the two of you, all dressed up and looking beautiful, and you took these.’
Farlan grinned. ‘What can I say? I’m a creative—I went for the artistic shot.’
Leaning forward, he put his hand around Nia’s and tilted the phone towards Tom. She felt her body tingle from the contact.
‘This is a great one of the brake callipers.’
Catching sight of Diane’s face, Nia burst out laughing. ‘Oh, please don’t worry, Diane. He did take some of us, I promise. And Andrew had a couple of photographers there, and they took absolutely masses of photos.’
Farlan was pulling out his own phone. ‘Come on, Dee. You know I wouldn’t let you down. Here. Take a look at these.’
Gazing down at the screen, Nia felt her heart twist. She could vaguely remember Farlan handing the phone to someone as they’d walked into the ball. But so much had happened the memory had gone adrift. Now, though, staring down at the screen, she could almost feel the weight of his arm around her waist as he pulled her against him.
It was a great photo.
A fortuitous, few seconds when everything had conspired to capture them both in a perfect moment in time.
She was almost as tall as him in her heels, so her head was only fractionally tilted back. In the background of the photo people were milling about, but even from the static one-dimensional image, anyone could tell that they were completely unaware of anyone but each other.
She heard Diane gasp.
‘You both look so lovely!’
Nia felt the catch in the older woman’s voice resonate through her body.
‘Oh, Tom, I wish we’d stayed.’ Diane was looking up at her husband, her eyes bright with tears.
Tom squeezed her shoulder. ‘Now, Dee, don’t you start, or you’ll set me off.’
Sighing, Farlan pushed the tray of coffee out of the way and sat down on the table. He leaned forward and smoothed the tears from Diane’s cheeks. ‘There’s going to be other balls. This is the Highlands, Dee. There’s one kicking off round here practically every weekend.’
‘But not while you’re here.’ Diane sniffed. ‘You’ll be back in LA next week.’
Nia felt her pulse twitch.
There was a short silence, and then Farlan smiled. ‘Actually, I won’t be. I’ve decided to stay on for a bit longer—’
He yelped as Tom yanked him to his feet.
‘I knew once you got here you’d want to stay. A true Scotsman can’t resist the pull of the pipes.’
Grinning, Farlan shook his head. ‘The way you play them, he can.’
After Burns Night Tom had bought some bagpipes and practised enthusiastically.
‘Oh, hush, you.’ Diane smiled at him. ‘So, are you really staying?’
‘If that’s all right with you, Dee?’
‘I’ve never been happier about anything,’ she said.
As Farlan pulled Diane into a hug his eyes found Nia’s, and she felt her muscles tighten in a sharp involuntary spasm.
And in the confusion of tears and laughter that followed his announcement neither Tom nor Diane noticed the way their gazes locked, or the flicker of hunger that passed between them.
Later, as they lay in bed at the cottage, Nia knew that she too had never been happier about anything than Farlan staying on in Scotland.