Highland Kiss
ONE
Present Day
DUNEDIN, NEW ZEALAND
A sudden lurch of thrill rose from the pit of her stomach, and Ruby Williams-Chan wondered if she was crazy. No, not crazy. Mad! Was she mad for planning to go on such a big overseas trip all by herself when she had so much to take care of? There was the family real estate business, which was growing steadily, to look after; and the end of the financial year was just around the corner. That meant she had to get all the papers sorted out before filing the business tax return. Not to mention, they just bought a house in need of serious renovation, and pronto, before they could re-let it to new tenants. That would take at least a couple of months of hard labor.
Without her doing all the dirty work, such as fixing the toilets and door handles, cleaning the dirty kitchen and bathroom, and of course, painting the exterior and interior of the house, how could they get it finished on time? How could they manage to make some money and pay the mortgage? Her younger sisters, however, insisted everything would be fine and promised to take care of it. Perhaps they were right. Perhaps she worried too much. Perhaps she was due for some “me time” and simply should have felt free to enjoy what she always wanted most—a decent holiday in Europe.
She chuckled at the thought. Europe. Who didn’t want to go to Europe? Even the name, itself, sounded marvelous to her ears.
Yes, Europe was a place she always wanted to visit, and see, and smell, and be a part of. She also wanted to go to a manor. Not just any old, crumbling manor, but a livable manor in Scotland. Why a manor? Why Scotland? She didn’t know. All she knew was that she wanted to visit a manor in Scotland. There didn’t have to be a reason, right? And finally, she could fulfill that dream.
“’Allo? Anyone home?”
Ruby blinked, jolting back to reality; and noticed her friend, Nikita Buchannan, waving and trying to get her attention. Well, so what if she were gone for a wee while? she rationalized, albeit with a trace of guilt.
“Where were you, Ruby? La-la-land or Scotland?”
“Scotland,” Ruby replied automatically. “Sorry about that. This overseas trip of mine is getting me nervous and excited at the same time.” She changed the subject. “Now, I’m going to do your gum assessment.”
“Yes, I can totally understand that,” Nikita grumbled, meaning the opposite. “Do explain, Ruby! You know I get anxious coming to see you. Don’t leave me in the deep end.”
Ruby secretly grinned. She knew Niki was a bit cranky today after that weird, little accident with the hot guy at the supermarket.
“He was nice,” Ruby remarked, remembering the tall, muscular Asian-Australian who nearly drove into Nikita.
“He was rude!” Niki muttered promptly, knowing whom her friend was referring to. “And bloody arrogant, too. God, I hated his accent.”
“You might see him again.”
“He’s Australian!” Niki said with finality. “I will never see him again.”
Ruby knew how much Nikita hated Australians because of her dad, who was, un-surprisingly, an Australian. The man thoughtlessly abandoned her mother and her years ago for another woman. It hurt Niki very deeply, and Ruby could totally understand that. Thus, she simply grinned and said no more.
After probing around Niki’s mouth several times, she explained, “You have some bleeding around your posterior lower dentition. I’m concerned. You even have a four-millimeter pocket on the thirty-seven mesial lingual. Do you floss regularly?”
Niki pulled a face. “Hello! Could you just explain it in simple English? I don’t understand those dental terms you’re talking about. What the heck is a thirty-seven mesial lingual?”
Ruby shook her head at Niki’s demand.
As a hygienist, dental terms came so naturally to her that she forgot most people didn’t understand them. She might as well have spoken alien to Nikita, even though it was English.
“Okay! Your thirty-seven is your second left bottom molar. The gum around there is not looking too flashy. Just want you to floss some more around your back teeth. Got it?”
“Got it, Miss Dental Hygienist. I shall obey all of your orders. Brush and floss twice a day,” Niki said mockingly.
Ruby grinned as she removed her gloves. After washing her hands with soap thoroughly, she replaced the old gloves with a new pair and picked up the Piezon periodontal scaling tip before inserting it into the handpiece.
“What are you doing now?” Niki shrieked.
“Niki, I’m about to scale your teeth. Why are you always so alarmed? You come to see me every six months; you should already know the procedure.”
“You know I don’t like coming to the dentist,” Niki defended, folding her arms across her chest and crossing one leg over the other as she lay there, feeling helpless on the dental chair.