Page 90 of Highland Hearts Holiday Bookshop

And everyone wore a puffin-themed jumper.

Rosie wore anI Puffin Love Youshirt, which was a particular favorite of mine for sentimental reasons. But the rest of the shirts were varied.

Puffin around the Christmas Tree.

Much Ado about Puffin.

It’s all or puffin.

Here goes puffin.

Merry Christmas, stud puffin.

Happy Puffin New Year.

Just puffin around.

Keep calm and puffin.

It was madness. And secretly, I loved every moment of this. I was getting much better about not being such a hermit these days, and even my students had claimed to notice a difference in me.

“Shall we crack on?” I asked. Rosie would come outside with me while the rest of the group stayed inside.

“What’s the new puffin’s name?” Gregory asked.

I opened my mouth, but Cherise turned, wine glass in hand.

“Neeps,” Cherise declared, and the room cheered.

I sighed.

“Hoping for something more prestigious?” Rosie wrapped her arms around my waist and grinned up at me.

“I was, but it was only ever going to be this, wasn’t it?” I grumbled down at her.

“To Neeps and Tattie, the two cutest puffins in all the land.” Esther held her glass up and the room cheered once more.

“Come on, Alexander. Time to make your first match.” Rosie nudged me and, leaning on her cane, she followed me through the kitchen and to the mudroom where I’d kept, well, Neeps, in her recovery. She’d grown accepting of us quitequickly, with a particular fondness for Rosie, and my heart warmed as she bounced across the pen on one leg to greet us.

“Ready to meet a new friend?” I asked her. Crooning softly, I scooped her up and held her close, and Rosie limped to the door and held it for me as I walked outside.

It was a windy day, but remarkably, we had a bright blast of winter sunshine. Tattie poked his head out from his burrow as we approached, making his welcoming chuckle call that he liked to do when he saw us coming. Stopping by the door, I waited as Rosie unhooked it and then ducked inside.

“You okay to get in with the cane?” I asked.

“Not a problem at all.” Sunlight pulled out red streaks in her hair, and it curled wildly around her head as her eyes lit with excitement. She was just the prettiest of pictures and I didn’t want to be without her. Ever.

“Hey, Rosie?” I asked, still cradling Neeps as Tattie sidled closer.

“Aye, stag?” Rosie grinned up at me. She’d taken to calling me stag even when I’d explained that we didn’t call the lads that here in Scotland. Something about fair is fair and all that.

“Want to move in with me?”

“Really?” Rosie beamed up at me. “I mean I guess I pretty much live here anyway.”

“No, but I want you to, officially. Your own side of the wardrobe, all your stuff here, toothbrush next to mine. I don’t want the back and forth. I miss you on the nights you’re not here.”

“Well, how can a girl say no to that?” Tilting her head up, she accepted my kiss.

---