Page 30 of Highland Hearts Holiday Bookshop

“Rock music or hip-hop?”

“Both. Depends on the mood.”

“Concerts or raves?”

“Concerts.”

“Board games or video games?”

“Both.”

“Correct choice.” Rosie beamed at me. “Favorite book?”

“Recently or ever? That’s tough. I read all over the spectrum.”

“Now and all-time.”

“Hmm, I really enjoyed Richard Osman’s newest, butThe Hobbitis a classic for a reason. It made me believe in fantasy lands and that I, a humble boy, could defeat the big baddies. I used to race across the fields and build forts that were like hobbit holes and then defend them with a branch.”

“A warrior at heart, eh?” Rosie sized me up. Did I puff out my chest a little? Yeah, I did. So what?

“I think we all hope to be the hero of our own story.” I was getting a little too close to my own personal wounds for comfort, but there was no way for Rosie to know that.

“True enough. Favorite date night meal?”

“I don’t date.”

“If youdiddate,” Rosie amended with an annoyed little shake of her head that sent the mass of hair on top of her head tumbling about. I wanted to reach out and run my hands through the strands to see if it was as silky as it looked.

“It depends what the lady liked. I wouldn’t cook her steak if she was a vegetarian, you ken?”

“So you’d cook on a first date?”

“Aye. Unless she’d want a fancy night out. Then I’d find a good restaurant.”

“You’d let her choose then?”

“I’d like to surprise her a bit, but I think she should get some say in what we do.”

“Brothers or sisters?”

“None, only child.”

“Same!” Rosie reached out a hand and I realized she was trying to high five me. I tapped my hand lightly against hers and warmth raced down my arm at her touch.

“Is that enough for you to accept this gift?” I asked, wondering how long we’d be doing this round of questioning.

“Why birds?”

“Why birds what?” My eyebrows rose.

“Like, why are you into them? I thought it might just be the puffin you rescued, but you said you have buckets of birdseed so you must like them.”

“Oh.” I took a moment to think about it. Uncomfortable, I rubbed at a spot on my chest. “Many reasons, I guess. My mum loved them. She used to take me out every winter looking for the snow buntings, her favorites. Which is how I found the rescue puffin. I still go out, even though she’s passed on.”

Rosie’s eyes softened with sympathy, but I rushed on before she could interject.

“And I guess, I don’t know, I kind of like the gamification aspect of it? There’s this website, you see, that you can track all your finds.By your home, when you travel, that kind of thing. And you get ranked the more birds you find. It ends up being like a big scavenger hunt. It also gives me an excuse to get out in nature, particularly when the weather isn’t great. Which is quite often here. It’d be a lot easier to just hunker in every day through the winter. But birding forces me to get out and explore.”

---