Page 17 of Surprises on the Scottish Isle

Cal could tell she wasn’t convinced by his explanation. ‘Who is your best friend?’ he asked.

‘Katie, duh!’

‘What do you do when you’re with her?’

A frown creased Bonnie’s brow. ‘We play make-up and dolls – but don’t tell anyone because Alisha in school says that playing with dolls is lame. And we sometimes play computer games, or we draw, or make stuff.’

‘Next time you go to Katie’s house, or she comes to yours, it might be nice if you were to ask Mum to play with you.’

Bonnie’s expression was horrified. ‘But we—’ She stopped, realisation dawning. Then she scowled again. ‘It’s not the same.’

‘No, it isn’t,’ Cal agreed. ‘But would you really want to go wine tasting with Mum and Lenn, bearing in mind that you wouldn’t be allowed to taste any? Or would you be happy to sit at a table for three hours eating dinner?’

‘No.’

‘You’d be bored, wouldn’t you?’

‘Maybe.’

‘And you wouldn’t want to lie on a sunlounger all day, snoozing, would you?’

‘Ugh, no.’

‘That’s what Mum and Lenn have been doing. You’d have been bored out of your noggin. Besides, if they’d taken you, I wouldn’t have been able to spend my holiday with you. We had fun, didn’t we?’

Her nod was emphatic. ‘Yes.’

Thank goodness for that. He’d tried his hardest to ensure she’d had a good time.

Unfortunately, Bonnie wasn’t done with him yet. ‘But if youdidhave a girlfriend, you would have takenheron holiday and notme.’

‘I wouldn’t.’

‘You would. You’d want to do grown-up things with her, the way Mummy wanted to do grown-up things with Lenn. What is wine tasting?’

‘It’s when— Look, I haven’t got a girlfriend, so it’s a moot point.’

‘What’s a moot point?’

‘It means it’s irrelevant.’

‘But youmighthave one.’

‘How about if I make you a promise not to have a girlfriend?’

‘Never?’

‘Never. At least, not until you have a boyfriend. Deal?’

‘I’m never having a boyfriend.’

‘Never is a long time.’

‘So is two weeks.’

Cal started the car. ‘Let’s get you home. Your mum will be wondering where we’ve got to.’

Bonnie didn’t look quite as anxious, but Cal wasn’t fooled. She definitely wasn’t happy that her mum was seeing Lenn. He didn’t blame her, because he wasn’t happy either.

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