Page 22 of Closer than Ever

“Why don’t you guys come around for dinner with me and Myla?”

“When were you thinking?”

“I’ll check with Myla but maybe in a couple of days?”

“Sounds great.”

Anna left Kelly’s office a short while later. Both of them had to get back to work. Anna sped back to the bar unsure what she was going to do. That Kelly could get her the time off meant Anna would have to make a decision about Hayley’s generous offer.

Anna couldn’t relax waiting for Hayley to come into the distillery. For some reason, she felt more self-conscious about this bar than she did about showing Hayley her own home. She triple-checked the tasting room for Hayley’s tour ahead of schedule and polished the bar and table-tops one more time, even though they’d already been done. She sat at her desk sorting through her emails to further distract herself until the moment of truth. Would Hayley be impressed by what she was doing with her life here? It was hardly on a par with Hayley’s high-flying job in New York, even if she did just walk out of it.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Greg came in. “Hi Greg. The man himself.”

“Hey, Anna. How’s it going?” He hung up his jacket in their little office beside the main bar and clipped on his name badge to his perfectly ironed shirt.

“Good, thanks. Great job last night, by the way. The place looked so organised this morning. Thank you.”

He smiled a handsome rugged smile that melted most of the visitors’ hearts. “Cheers, boss. Only the best for this place.”

Anna saw a lot of her younger self in Greg. Not long out of university and looking to be part of something bigger. He was good with people, passionate about whisky, and a true ambassador for Scotland. The tourists loved him. He had the magic effect. Did she still have that same enthusiasm for being here?

Greg smiled at her again and went through to the bar. About thirty minutes later a gust of air came into the bar as the door was opened and the latest tour group made their way in and towards the tasting room. They made a lot of noise and were in good spirits. There were German, American, and Spanish accents along with some English, too. Pretty typical for Glenbuinidh.

Hayley came in last. She caught Anna’s attention and dropped her mouth open as if in total awe at the place and mouthed, “Oh my god.”

Being at work she had to keep things professional. Anna gave Hayley a small nod and gestured for the group to come through. The butterflies in her stomach were not welcome. She’d only seen her this morning, damn it.

She took a deep breath and centred herself. “If you’d like to take a seat.”

The tour group filed in around the long table. Each place had tasting kits which consisted of three of their whiskies and a small jug of water. “I’m sure you’re all dying to get a taste after listening to John for an hour.”

John, the tour guide, laughed good-naturedly. “They’ve all been very polite, but I can tell they’ve had enough of me now.”

They did this joke every day but somehow it never got old.

“Never,” Hayley said, taking the seat nearest to Anna. “I could listen to you for hours, John. That accent of yours.”

Hayley always did make her presence felt. “Okay,” Anna said, from the head of the table, trying not to look at Hayley. “You’ll notice this very colourful wheel of flavours.” She pointed to the graphic filling the wall behind her from the projector. “We’ll go through the whiskies in front of you, and we will see if you can work out what the notes are for each.”

“Excellent,” John said. “I’ll leave you to it. Watch out for this one.” He pointed at Hayley while leaving the room. “She’s a firecracker.”

The group started on their first whisky, the signature malt, taking slow, tentative sips. Despite the nerves about Hayley coming in, Anna was enjoying herself. She loved working here, especially on days like this when she got to meet awesome people and have a bit of fun with them. Being hospitable and helping people have a good time really made her heart sing.

“This one is spicy,” Hayley said.

Hayley was spot on. Anna smiled at her friend and pointed at ‘spicy’ on the wheel. “Who else thinks it is spicy?” There were some confused faces.

“I do,” said a woman with a German accent.

“You are both correct. Well done.”

Hayley smiled at Anna, eyes sparkling. This was typical. Hayley was as charming and magnetic as ever. Anna would avoid her gaze until this was over.

“Now put a couple of drops of water in it and take another sip. What else do you notice?”

“It’s quite smoky,” said a man with a Spanish accent. “No?”

“Anything else?”

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