seemed incredible.
“I know,” said Priscilla sympathetically, although he had not spoken, “it takes some getting used to.”
“It’s been quite a day,” said Hamish awkwardly. He felt desperately shy of her for the first time.
He fought to find a topic of conversation and then remembered that Sean’s mother was due to arrive on the following day and that Ian Chisholm at the garage had promised to make her an offer for the bus. When he had exhausted that topic of conversation and ordered the meal, he sat in a miserable silence.
Priscilla stood up with one graceful fluid movement, came round the table and kissed him full on the mouth.
“Better?” she asked as she sat down again.
Hamish’s face suddenly lit up with sheer happiness.
“Better? I’m in heaven!”
¦
The next day dawned fine and warm. Hamish dealt with the painful business of Mrs Gourlay, who turned out to be a small, quiet, faded lady, not in the least like her flamboyant son.
When it was all over, he went to the henhouse and dragged an old deck-chair out, cleaned it and put it on the patch of grass in front of the police station and stretched out on it.
“Quite like old times. I say quite like old times,” came a familiar voice from the hedge.
Hamish straightened up and found the Currie sisters looking at him. But suddenly, as he looked at Jessie, he had an embarrassing picture of how she had looked naked on that video and somehow that picture seemed to have transferred itself in that moment from his mind to Jessie’s.
She blushed deep red, gave a strangled squawk, and sped off, dragging her sister after her.
Hamish lay back in his deck-chair and grinned.
