Page 12 of Musical Games
‘You okay to take it from here?’ Rory asked him.
‘It?’ interjected Mrs McCreedie. ‘I’m not a piece of baggage, young Rory.’
Now it was Rory’s turn to blush. ‘Sorry, Mrs McCreedie.’
She patted the side of his face. ‘You’re a good lad.’
Rory carefully transferred her into Jamie’s arms. ‘Jamie’s going to take you to Morag’s. Are you okay?’
‘Yes, yes, just go and make sure my house doesn’t fall down.’
Rory nodded and ran off.
‘I’m perfectly capable of walking, you know,’ Mrs McCreedie said as Jamie strode down the hill towards the post office. She looped her tiny arms around his neck. ‘But it’s far more exciting to be carried by a half-naked man. I feel like I’m inAn Officer and a Gentleman, just with less clothes.’
Jamie had never once considered the most embarrassing moment of his life would involve carrying a little old lady down the high street wearing only his jeans and work boots. The population of Kinloch appeared to have invented 5G telepathy as every door and window had someone hanging out of it, staring, clapping or filming on their mobile phones. It didn’t help that Mrs McCreedie was singing ‘Love Lift Us Up Where We Belong’ very loudly and tunelessly. By the time they turned off the high street to reach the back of the post office, he was praying Sam was still upstairs.
Unfortunately she was standing next to his mother outside the back door and trying not to laugh.
Morag ushered them into the kitchen and fussed as Jamie helped Mrs McCreedie into a chair. She was staring at Sam. ‘Bethany?’
Sam lifted her chin. ‘Yeah, who wants to know?’ she said in her character’s brittle cockney voice.
Mrs McCreedie clapped her hands and Sam curtsied. ‘Itisyou! You’re off the telly!’
‘Cup of tea, Mrs McCreedie?’ asked Morag. ‘And would you like some breakfast?’
Jamie sidled around the table towards the bottom of the stairs, suddenly hyper-aware Sam was staring at him and he was almost naked.
‘Are you an officer or a gentleman?’ she asked out of the corner of her mouth.
‘Neither,’ he muttered. ‘I’m an electrician.’
Fifteen minuteslater he was driving to work. Not only had rescuing Mrs McCreedie delayed him, but he’d also slept through his alarm. His phone rang and the words ‘Boss-man’ appeared on the screen. He accepted the call and his boss’s voice echoed around the inside of the van.
‘Jamie, you alright, son?’
‘Yeah, sorry, Gregor, I had a family emergency. It’s all sorted now and I’m on my way. I’ll be there in about half an hour.’
‘Nothing wrong with the wee boy, Liam?’
‘No, I just had to help rescue an old lady after a lorry crashed into her house.’
‘Good god, is she okay?’
‘Yeah, she’s with Mum now and seems fine.’
‘Well, thank goodness for that.’ Gregor paused. ‘Jamie, could you drop by the office around eleven?’
‘Yeah, sure. Sorry about this morning, Gregor. It won’t happen again.’
‘Don’t be daft, son. Drive safe now. I’ll see you later.’
Jamie had been workingfor Gregor since he finished his apprenticeship with Duncan. When his brother-in-law left to work offshore on the oil rigs, Jamie hadn’t felt ready or confident enough to strike out on his own, so had started as a jobbing electrician for Gregor’s construction company and never left. The jobs were a blank slate, usually straightforward, and he was glad to have regular work with none of the hassles of running his own business. However, the work was monotonous and most of his co-workers were dickheads.
Jamie hadn’t fully appreciated how happy he’d been working with Duncan until he’d arrived for his first day on site and witnessed a drunken fight between two brickies who were off their heads on drugs. Gregor had sent them packing, but couldn’t be everywhere at once and had ended up relying on Jamie to make sure jobs were done properly. Most of the people Jamie worked alongside were lazy and stupid. He knew they took advantage of his work ethic, but he wasn’t going to sink to their level and let Gregor, or himself, down.
The current job was a small development of ten houses on a former playing field. Jamie was working with Callum and Hamish who were in their early twenties. When they’d first arrived on site, he’d tried to mentor them as Duncan had done for him. It had been a total waste of time.
