Chapter 21

T he sun was setting over Midnight and Morag was watching the summer solstice festivities that would probably go on for many more hours yet. There was dancing around the fire, music and singing, and there was the promise of fireworks later once it got dark. Morag loved fireworks.

She'd always loved the solitude of walking around the hills and fields in Scotland but this place with its happy little community was growing on her.

She saw Viktor prowling towards her and smiled. He sat down next to her looking out over the village. Pre-empting any more sarcasm, she slid the purple cupcake towards him.

‘I got you this.'

He stared at it. ‘You got me a cake?'

‘Lavender-flavoured.'

Viktor licked his lips and bent his head to eat it then stopped. ‘Is this poisoned?'

Morag laughed. ‘I promise it's not.'

Viktor thought about it for a moment and shrugged. ‘There are worse ways to go than death by cake.'

He almost faceplanted himself into the cake as he ate greedily and noisily. Finally he finished and licked himself clean.

‘Thank you,' Viktor said.

‘Well thank you for not letting me kill myself trying to get to Scotland to help Iris.'

‘It would have been… unfortunate if you had died.'

‘Really? Surely that would have solved your problem of me being here.'

‘I'd have missed winding you up.'

Morag smiled. ‘Well, it looks like we'll be staying. Look at them.' She gestured to Lynx and Iris cuddled up together under the branches of the tree. ‘They look ridiculously happy.'

‘Disgustingly so.'

‘So I guess there'll be more sarcasm, more grumpiness, more insults between us– unless you want to call a truce.'

‘Never. I'm quite looking forward to it.'

He gave her a wink and stalked off and she smiled because she was too.

Iris was blissfully happy, cuddled up against Lynx's chest as the sun started its descent across the sky. Their sun-catchers glittered beautifully above them, catching the pinks, reds and golds of the setting sun. The summer solstice celebrations had been wonderful, starting with a sunrise swim in the waters of Loch Fyne with Ness, followed by a lot of singing, dancing and eating back in the village. The bonfire on the village green was roaring away quite happily and they were looking forward to the fireworks that would start as soon as it got dark enough.

The confession had gone live on social media the evening before, where Christopher explained to the world how he stole the locket because he thought it was real and when he realised it wasn't he set up a fake insurance scam, claiming the locket was worth millions and had been stolen. He said he felt awful for what he'd done and didn't like the person he'd become. A few hours later the police released a statement that confirmed Christopher had turned himself in and had been formally charged. They said they weren't looking for anyone else in relation to the crime but would still like to speak to Iris so they could press charges for the theft as well as the fraud. She was going to go down to London in a few days to speak to them once everything had calmed down.

She looked up at Lynx and smiled. It was the weirdest feeling, looking at someone and knowing without doubt they were your forever. It made her feel so content.

He realised she was looking at him and smiled at her, kissing her head.

‘You know, I suppose in some weird way, I should be thanking Christopher,' Iris said. ‘If it wasn't for him, we would never have met and I wouldn't be here now.'

‘We would have met eventually, we were supposed to be together. I'm actually going to Bute in September, I have a friend's wedding to go to, and then I was going to stay in Argyll for a week or so and enjoy west Scotland as I've not been to that part of the country before. Well, I hadn't been before our date.'

‘Bute is right around the corner from me. I can actually see it from my farmhouse on a good day.'

‘So maybe we would have met then even if you'd never met Christopher. When two people are supposed to be together, fate always finds a way.'

Iris smiled. ‘I like that.'

‘And that way we don't owe Christopher anything.'

She nodded.

People started gathering around the fire, throwing little bits of paper into the flames.

‘What are they doing?'

‘They're writing their wishes or intentions for the year ahead. Burning them sets them free so they'll come true. Do you want to write a wish for the coming year?'

She nodded, although she had no idea what she could wish for. She had everything she needed right here.

He got up and held out a hand to help her to her feet. They wandered over to the fire where Ashley was handing out bits of paper and pens to write their wishes on.

Lynx was already writing his but Iris took a few moments to think about hers. And then she thought of something. They both folded their bits of paper up and tossed them into the fire. The flames caught them and within seconds they were gone, leaving behind two thin plumes of smoke that danced up into the air, taking their wishes with them.

‘What did you wish for?' she asked Lynx.

‘I'd like to be married by the next summer solstice.'

She smiled at that. ‘I think that can be arranged.'

‘What did you wish for?'

‘The whole caboodle, our happy ever after.'