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Kate smoothed her hair and reapplied her lip gloss. Sneaking off to her aunt’s bathroom to do just that hadn’t aroused any suspicion. As far as she could tell, the ladies were still chattering and knitting. The cooperative met once a week and Kate had somehow become a fixture as the summer progressed. She was unable to stay away now that she had even more reason to be there.
Her hands had cooled, a reminder of Leigh’s touch as she guided Kate with the knitting needles, helping her learn a complicated new stitch. This definitely wasn’t her kind of thing. Kate knew the basics well enough to knit a scarf. The up, down, and around motion had taken her a few years to master when her mother originally taught her. However, Michelle had taken to it more readily and Kate never honed her skills.
The past hour emphasized how out of practice she was with that skill and left her certain that this was not her thing. Give her birds any day. Or maybe a cross-stitch, which was a simple matter of stitching in one direction, and then crossing back over in the other.
Beyond that, there was still the heat of the first date from last week lingering between her and Leigh. Alone time with Leigh would be nice, because Kate’s entire body was on fire every time they so much as breathed in sync. The knitting ladies didn’t need to see that, didn’t need to know how much her body wanted...
Kate swallowed and turned away from the mirror. If she continued to think about it, she knew it would be written all over her face. Longing, desire, and who knew what else. It didn’t have to be love or even permanent, but she still wanted Leigh.
She blew out a breath and curled her fingers around the doorknob, wondering if Leigh shared her thoughts about the endless afternoon.
“THAT WAS torture,” Leigh grumbled, elbowing Kate. They walked along the path, between clusters of grazing sheep. The cooperative had concluded for the day and everyone gone their separate ways.
Kate couldn’t help but blow out a sigh of relief. She liked walking with Leigh like this, bumping against one another in a companionable way that suggested they’d known each other forever. The breeze carried the sweet smell of summer flowers and earth. She didn’t want to be fifteen again, but she could almost conjure a vision of herself at that age during one of her many summers on Fair Isle.
“It was. I like visiting and spending time with everyone, but after last weekend...” Kate nibbled at her lower lip, not sure how to continue. It was the first week of August and their date felt like a million years ago, while simultaneously like it had just been yesterday.
“I know, I know. Let’s talk about more interesting things than stitches, like your work.”
“My work?” The suggestion threw Kate and her step faltered. Work was not the direction her thoughts had been leaning. Not at all. She had something sexier in mind. “What do you want to know?”
“I guess why everyone is so interested in the puffins. They come back every year, nothing changes, and that’s just the cycle here. Why are they worth studying?” Leigh sounded neither judgmental nor snide. Just genuinely curious.
Kate shrugged and gestured at the sheep, while she tried to reorient her thoughts. “I realize it’s not as productive as farming and cultivating a product in exchange for all your effort, but there’s more merit to studying birds than most people realize.”
“Such as...?” Leigh left the question hanging, the silence stretching between them the closer they got to the nearest croft. The home’s rough, white walls under the sloped roof were bright and inviting.
Even after spending all her childhood summers and plenty of adult ones, too, on Fair Isle, Kate hadn’t gotten to know everyone. Vague recollections of Leigh came back to her in flashes, often with a bearded man in the background.
Somehow, their steps had curved from the path toward the croft.
“Is this where you grew up?” Kate asked, already fairly certain of the answer. Leigh was a lifelong resident of Fair Isle. Even if Kate had been a mere tourist, the natives were easy to spot. They were the people who moved about the island with purpose, at ease with the strangeness of living in so small a space, outnumbered by sheep.
“I did.” For some reason, Leigh’s brogue was even more pronounced, her voice thicker, perhaps. When Kate glanced at her, she saw something shimmering in the woman’s eyes.
“Was that a bad question?”
“No.” Leigh blew out a breath, rubbed her hands over her thighs, and exhaled a second time. “I just buried my dad last year and my mum a few years before that, so I’m still getting used to being alone here, you know? Some days, it feels like this is the way things have always been. Other days, I wake up and think maybe I’ll see them in the kitchen.”
Kate gritted her teeth, wishing she could take back the question. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”
“First of all, there’s a lot we don’t know about each other, so don’t worry about it. Second, it’s a fact of life. My parents were older when they had me and they lived good, long lives. I still have plenty of family.” Leigh pointed in the general direction of the ocean. “Aunts and uncles and cousins all over Shetland. What about your parents? Are they still well?”
It almost felt wrong to tell Leigh that, yes, her parents were just fine. Thriving, in fact, in the U.S. with their teaching jobs. But Kate told her the truth, certain that sharing it would weigh her down.
“They might come for a visit this summer,” she added.
“That’d be lovely.” Leigh reached out, strong hand curling over Kate’s shoulder as they approached the door to the croft. “Don’t feel bad for me or that you still have your parents when I don’t.”
“What makes you think—“
Leigh’s hand tightened on her shoulder. “These things are up to your ears, Katie. Anyone can see that.”
Kate wasn’t sure what caused the shiver that tingled along her back. Whether it was Leigh’s touch or the way she turned her name into a diminutive she’d always hated, she doubted she would know. Something about how Leigh said it, though, made her want to hear it again. Only from Leigh’s perfect, plush lips, and no one else’s.
It took every ounce of self-control she had to wait until they were inside the croft to kiss Leigh. She was rewarded with a soft moan and a pair of hands gripping her backside.
“My goodness,” Leigh muttered against her lips. “Maybe I’ve been alone here too long.”
Kate simply let out a little “mmm” of agreement and kissed her again. She could do this, right here, right now. Explore Leigh’s hard muscles and more intimate valleys. Right here on the floor.
Except, Leigh was right. There was so little they knew about one another and Kate respected her far too much to let a few stolen kisses turn into a mere fling. Not that she knew what she wanted, but they both deserved the best Kate could possibly give.
“Enough of that,” Leigh said, though she trailed her fingers over Kate’s face in a way that made it clear she wanted to remain close. “I’ll give you the grand tour.”
The croft was surprisingly spacious, from the parlor to the kitchen and two bedrooms, and then out to the fenced-in pasture and barn in the back. Only a few sheep were contained in the pasture and Leigh leaned back on the gate.
“I love this view,” she said, her voice catching. “And how you can smell the ocean air, no matter what time of day or year it is.”
“Me too.” Kate rested her hip on the fence, facing Leigh. “You know, there’s nowhere else in the world like this. Everywhere I’ve ever gone for my research, it hasn’t compared to Fair Isle.”
“Of course it hasn’t. We’re one of a kind.” Leigh cocked her head to one side and folded her arms. “If you could stay anywhere, only one place, for the rest of your life, where would it be?”
Kate chewed on her lower lip. What an awful question to ask. Her shoulders rose again, but she used the momentum to roll them back and straighten her spine. She’d seen so many beautiful places around the world when she was younger, and they all appealed to her for different reasons. There wasn’t a right or wrong answer, but she knew there was a particular answer that Leigh desired.
“Well, I guess... I can’t answer that question yet.”
“Why not?”
The wood of the fence was rough beneath her palm. Maybe too rough. Kate pulled away with a gasp and glared at the splinter lodged in her skin. “Crap.”
“Let me get that.” Leigh’s hands were on hers in a second, nimble fingers pulling the splinter free. “I’m not trying to corner you with the question,” she said after flicking the tiny bit of wood aside. “It’s just curiosity. You’ve been everywhere, and I’ve been nowhere.”
Kate sucked in a breath, the momentary pain replaced by the thrill of Leigh’s capable touch. Everything about this woman was turning her inside out, and Kate wasn’t sure if she was finally finding herself or losing herself even more.
“Why haven’t you ever left?” She hoped the question didn’t sound condescending.
Leigh’s lips quirked up. “Never felt the need to, but everyone is different. This place was too small for your parents, but maybe it’s just right for you.”
Kate had never heard such a blatant request to stay. Her ex hadn’t exactly beaten around the bush with his wishes as far as her giving up her career, but even he had been gentle in how he worded it.
Gentle didn’t work for her. It was just another way to disguise what a jerk someone could be. Leigh was direct and to the point, and Kate respected that. She glanced around the property with its weathered buildings, milling sheep, and faded fences.
“Maybe,” she agreed. “I always felt like everything was right with the world as long as I was here. Birds have good reasons for the places they go every year. Maybe that answers your earlier question.”
Leigh’s cheeks dimpled with amusement as she leaned back against the fence and rested her arms along it. “Are you comparing yourself to a bird?”
“I guess so.” It wasn’t an idea she’d pondered in a decade, now, but Kate could see it. She’d always needed to spread her wings, to be where the ocean met the sky, and the world appeared to be endless.
“That means you’re done letting other people clip those wings of yours, then.” Leigh turned away from her, voice flat.
Kate reached for her, fingers brushing over Leigh’s sleeve. The dead tone said more than the words, and Kate couldn’t let her get the wrong idea.
“Yes, I am, but that’s a good thing, because I don’t think you’re the kind of person who would do that to me.”
The way Leigh tipped her head to one side but grinned, Kate knew she was pretending to consider it. “I guess we won’t know for certain until I get you into bed.”
“Oh, that’s just wrong.”
“Is it? Do you know how many women on this island want to sleep with me? None.”
Kate walked her fingers up Leigh’s arm until she was gripping the collar of her shirt. “That’s not true,” she whispered before pulling Leigh to her for a kiss.