Page 66 of One Snowy Day
Lachlan saw Georgie make the heart symbol with her hands and beam at her mum.
‘And thank you again to every one of you who came to celebrate with me. You’re all bloody marvellous.’
This time, there was applause with the cheers, until thegentleman who’d chased the tyre deflators earlier took the microphone from her and helped her down. The lights were up now, and Lachlan saw on his phone screen that it was almost midnight. Home time for the partygoers. Hotel time for him.
However, before he could catch Alyssa for a quick conversation, Georgie’s mum made a beeline for their table and pulled out a chair.
Georgie hugged her. ‘Mum, you were amazing. How are you feeling?’
‘Relieved. It’s been some day. Your dad and I need to speak to you about a couple of family things, but they can wait until the morning.’ Her focus swung to Lachlan, and he figured she was probably wondering who this stranger was at her party.
‘Mum, this is Lachlan. He’s?—’
‘A pal of Alyssa’s,’ Jessie finished for him. ‘We almost met earlier in the kitchen. Good of you to offer to help Alyssa. Especially given the circumstances.’
The emphasis on her words told him that she knew he was part of the problem too, but she’d seemed to be overlooking that in the light of his offer to help.
Georgie had more news to share. ‘His mum used to work here. In this café.’
‘Really? What was her name?’
Lachlan took that one. ‘Felicity. Her maiden name was McSlay.’
To his shock, Jessie responded by letting out a loud chuckle. ‘Oh, hang on, son. Val! Val!’
A few yards away, the blonde woman he’d been dancing with earlier responded with, ‘Christ on a bike, Jessie, I’m right here, not half a mile down the street.’
Jessie ignored the reprimand. ‘Remember Felicity McSlay from over in Burnbank?’
‘Red hair, tall lassie, only child, smart, did well at school, worked here on the weekends, couldn’t ride a bike to save her life, married some loaded guy and went off to live in Glasgow.’
Georgie leaned towards him. ‘She has an encyclopaedic memory. It’s slightly terrifying.’
‘So you don’t know her then?’ Jessie quipped to the blonde woman, both of them in on the joke.
Val shook her head. ‘Never heard of her.’ They were both chuckling now.
‘Ach, well. I was just going to tell you this is her son.’
Val immediately took charge. ‘Oh well, you come with me because there’s a few people I’d like you to meet.’
That set off a whole round of introductions to everyone else in the room who would have known his mum, and to his surprise, Lachlan loved every single minute of it. More than loved it. He realised how much he’d missed this kind of interaction. Why had he allowed himself to shut out the world for so long?
By the time all the introductions were over, the room had almost cleared, so he went back over to sit with Georgie. As he reached the table, Grant went to speak to one of the singers, so that left them alone.
‘So… Mr Range Rover With The Flat Tyres. My mum told me you’ll be sticking around for a while and that you’ve offered to help Alyssa move this place across to our salon.’
He was impressed. How fast did news travel in this village? BBC News couldn’t relay information this quickly.
‘So now that you’re stranded without transport, do you have a plan on how you’re getting out of here tonight?’
‘Taxi to a hotel. I’m just about to search for one online. I was waiting to speak to Alyssa, but I think she’s probably busy enough now, so I’ll come back in the morning to see her.’
Georgie thought about that for a moment. ‘I have a couch thatyou’re welcome to. I should tell you – because if I don’t, my really embarrassing brother will – that I got a bit carried away with myself earlier, and thought I could embark on a wild spree of one-night stands, but the truth is, I don’t have the courage for it. Or, you know, resistance to germs. I’d be too worried about where the one-night stands had been.’
He tried to keep a straight face. ‘Good to know.’
‘But I do have a very nice couch that folds out into a very comfy bed. It does mean that you can pop back in the morning to see Alyssa.’
