He just grinned.
“Pipe down,” Dougal boomed over the crowd.
There was a sort of silence. It felt like the room was humming.
“We have a decision,” Dougal said. “We’re going with Lake’s idea. A double show. Battle Of The Bras.” He pointed at the two of them. “But keep it clean,” he ordered.
“Or you’ll answer to me,” the vicar said, and waved his stick.
“Wait a minute,” piped up Morag McKay.
There was a very loud collective groan that made her sneer.
“What about the fact these two are dragging the good name of this town through the dirt with their licentious behaviour and public nudity?”
Everyone gawked at her. Dougal shook his head.
“Put your hand up if you care about anything Morag just said,” he asked the room.
Morag and her cronies raised their hands. Dougal hit the lectern with his gavel.
“It’s official, Morag,” he told her. “No one gives a flying fig about your complaint.”
Morag huffed so hard you could practically see the steam rising from her head.
“Now, back to the matter in hand. Kirsty? What are we doing about models?”
Kirsty dragged her eyes away from Lake. She was trying to maim him with a glare.
“We’ll need to have auditions,” she told Dougal.
“Joint auditions,” piped in Lake.
“Get lost,” said Kirsty.
“Behave yourselves,” shouted the vicar.
“I’ll be in charge of the auditions,” Caroline said at last. “You two can turn up and you can both pick. I’ll work out a fair system for that to happen.”
Kirsty grumbled under her breath about having a best friend who was so interested in being fair that she stabbed you in the back. Lake chuckled again.
“Meeting adjourned,” Dougal bellowed before anyone could say anything else. “There’s a special at the pub, tonight only, cheap chips if anyone is interested.”
With that the hall cleared pretty quickly. Kirsty glared at Lake as he exited with the rest of them. She made her way to her traitorous best friend.
“I’m sorry,” Caroline said before Kirsty could open her mouth.
“I know,” Kirsty said with frustration. “Sometimes I wish you weren’t so honest and set on being fair.”
“I’m sorry,” Caroline said again.
Kirsty knew she was genuinely upset about the whole thing. She pulled her friend into a hug.
“You can make up for it by making sure I get all the best models,” she said.
“Ah,” Caroline hedged.
“You know,” Kirsty said as she linked arms with her friend and they left the hall together, “one of these days you’re going to be in a situation where you have to choose between what’s right and what’s fair and your mind will explode.”