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“I retired at age forty because my daughters looked
at me one day and said: ‘Dad, being bald and wearing
shorts doesn’t look good together.’”
Alfredo Di Stéfano
“Flynn?” Abby’s voice had a hint of hysteria in it.
Flynn looked over at his eldest daughter and winced. “Think she saw them?”
“Kind of hard to miss three alpacas, dad,” Katy said with a laugh.
“I really hope she doesn’t look out the windows on the other side of the house. I was hoping to get her in a good mood before I mentioned the other stuff.”
“What you got?” Little Vicky looked up at him with exactly the same shade of chocolate eyes as her mother. “Muma said no more puppies. You got a kitten, Daddy?”
Flynn ruffled his daughter’s hair, only to have her twin climb up onto his knee and demand her own cuddle. “Is it a pony?” Josie said.
“No ponies, puppies or kittens this time.”
The three-year-olds bounced on top of him, demanding he tell them what he was hiding on the other side of the house. He wasn’t about to give in. Neither one of them could keep a secret worth a damn. Katy laughed, and he narrowed his eyes at her.
“This is your fault,” he told her. “You wanted a sister.”
“One,” his nine-year-old reminded him. “I only asked for one. The other one is your problem.”
“Damn terrorist,” he mumbled.
“Goal!” Katy shouted at the screen, bringing Flynn’s attention back to the replay of the Arsenal game they were watching.
“I like the look of the new midfielder,” Katy said.
“He’s got potential.” Flynn wouldn’t let anyone convince him the team wouldn’t have been better off with him in it. Although they were doing well this season.
Katy grinned at him, probably knowing exactly what he was thinking. She insisted on dressing in head-to-toe pink for every Arsenal game they watched—just to cheese him off.
“Jonathan wants to play midfield this season,” she told him, mentioning the little league team he managed.
“Not happening. You’re the strongest player we have. If he wants another position, he’ll have to work for it.”
Katy nodded. She took the game very seriously. As she should.
“Daddy?” Josie put one of her tiny palms on each of his cheeks. “What do you got in the garden?”
He couldn’t help beaming at her. His girls were perfect, and he’d hit anyone who told him otherwise. But perfect or not, they still couldn’t keep a secret. “I’m not telling you.”
She pouted, followed closely by her twin. They reminded him of his younger twin cousins, a very scary comparison.
“Have Aunty Claire and Aunty Megan been giving you two tips again?” He made a mental note to talk to his cousins. Again.
Identical twin heads shook in unison. Katy had styled their hair with pink glitter and bows for the game. They were innocence personified, but he had years of experience with his eldest daughter. He knew they could be just as much of a terrorist as Katy had been.
“Flynn,” Abby called. “Get in here.”
“Oh, you in trouble,” Vicky said.
“You gonna have to sit on the naughty step,” Josie added.
“Not again.” Flynn moaned. He looked at his eldest. “You told them to say that, didn’t you?”
She nodded with a bright grin. “You never sat on it for me. They might have better luck.”
“Flynn. Don’t make me come get you.” Okay. Abby had reached her limit.
“I need to go deal with your mother.” He lifted Josie off his knee and placed her on the couch. “Be good and shout loudly if Arsenal scores again.”
He found his very pregnant wife staring out of the living room window. Her mother, Victoria, sat on the sofa with her husband Lawrence at her side. She looked amused, which wasn’t a good sign for Flynn.
“What is it, Abby love?” Flynn wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her belly while he did it.
They’d had three scans this time. It was definitely a boy and definitely wasn’t twins. One shock like that in a lifetime was enough for both of them.
“Don’t you ‘Abby love’ me.” She frowned. It was cute. “Why are there alpacas in our garden?”
“Because I couldn’t get a hold of an elephant?”
Lawrence barked a laugh, only to cut it short at Abby and her mum’s looks of censure. Flynn gave the man a sympathetic smile. When mother and daughter teamed up, they were a force to be reckoned with.
“I thought we agreed you wouldn’t bring home any more animals?” Abby said.
“Technically, I didn’t bring them home. They were delivered.”
“You can’t keep taking in people’s strays. We’re getting overrun here.”
He nuzzled behind her ear, delighted when she gasped. “I promise no more animals after today.” It wasn’t a lie. The animals on the other side of the house had been delivered already.
She narrowed her eyes. “What have you done?”
“I don’t know what you mean.” He tried to pull off an innocent look. The one the girls got away with all the time but never seemed to work for him.
“Flynn Boyle, what else did you bring home from the surgery? I know that look. Where did you hide it?” She turned in his arms, her full belly pressing into him and making him feel the same surge of protectiveness he usually felt when she was near.
“Have I told you how beautiful you look today?” He kissed her delicious lips.
She smacked him on the chest. “Stop dodging the question. Everyone in the Highlands knows you’re a soft touch for abandoned and injured animals. It’s only gotten worse since you started training to become a vet. We’re running out of space to put all the rejects you keep bringing home.”
“It was your idea to study veterinary medicine, Abby. If you hadn’t pushed me, I wouldn’t have done it.”
“Is it also my fault our house is being overrun by everyone else’s unwanted animals?”
“I didn’t say that.” Flynn looked at Lawrence for help. The man held up his hands to tell Flynn he was on his own. Flynn gave him a look he hoped conveyed he was going to find himself a new lawyer. Lawrence just laughed.
“I’ll stop, I promise.” He’d try hard, anyway. She was right. He was a soft touch.
“Muma.” Josie ran into the room, followed closely by a grinning Katy. “There’s big birds in the garden. Can I ride them, can I?”
Josie wrapped her arms around Abby’s legs and begged with her eyes, while Vicky climbed up onto her namesake’s lap and snuggled in. Vicky and her grandmother were pretty much inseparable.
“Big birds?” Abby snapped at him.
“Tattletale,” he told Josie, making Katy laugh.
Abby shrugged out of his arms and stomped to the back of the house, closely followed by the whole family.
“Ostriches?” It was a screech. “There are ostriches in the garden.” She spun on Flynn. “Why are there ostriches in my garden? Why are there ostriches in Scotland?”
“Calm down, Abby love. Think of the baby.”
“Idiot,” Katy said. “Dumb thing to say.”
Abby kicked him hard on the shin, making sure to aim for his undamaged leg. Although he could walk and run fine now, it still ached now and then. Hence Abby’s consideration.
“It’s like this,” Flynn said. “Ostrich farms were fashionable a few years ago. Same with owning alpaca—having exotic animals was trendy. But there isn’t any market for them now, and people don’t want them anymore.”
“And you thought our house was the best place for these animals to retire?”
Flynn tried his charming smile, hoping it swayed her. “I can’t take them back now. I promise to try to find another home for them. This is only temporary.”
“You’ve been saying that since the goat.” She pointed to the animal who was currently eating the washing from the line.
“Aye.” Flynn pulled her into his arms. “I’ll admit the goat might have been a mistake.”
“What am I going to do with you?” Abby said.
“Love me forever?” Flynn said hopefully.
Abby smiled up at him, her anger gone.
“I think I’m going to puke,” Katy said.
Flynn ignored the terrorist and kissed his very pregnant wife.
––––––––
“When I grow up, I’m going to rule the world.”
Abby and Flynn’s daughter, Katy, aged five