The Highland Fling

Bonnie St. James is living in Los Angeles, where she has just been fired from her third personal assistant job. She has also been dumped by her boyfriend, and she and her best friend since childhood, Dakota Dalton, a freelance graphic designer, are facing eviction. One night over tequila, Dakota discovers a social media post advertising a position for two friends to manage a coffee shop in Corsekelly, a tiny Scottish Highlands village, for six months with all expenses paid. Dakota confesses she needs to escape: She recently ran into her ex-girlfriend Isabella, who helped Dakota realize she is gay, with a new partner. Bonnie, who has struggled with feelings of failure since being rejected by every college she applied to in high school, recognizes they both need a fresh start and agrees.

After a chaotic arrival in Scotland, they reach Corsekelly, a village of roughly 360 people on the shore of Loch Duich. Finella MacGregor, the coffee shop owner, welcomes them to a thatched-roof cottage and shows them the shop: a barren, dirty space with two coffee thermoses, no espresso machine, no food, and almost no customers. Finella explains that her husband Stuart used to bake butteries, a traditional Scottish pastry made with butter and lard, that drew tourists, but he retired and she could not keep up. She mentions her son Rowan, describing him as strapping but grumpy.

That evening, Bonnie encounters Rowan MacGregor at the cottage. Muscular, tattooed, and hostile, he did not know his parents had hired anyone. Mutual antagonism masks an immediate attraction. Rowan confronts his parents about their secrecy and notices his father looks frail, but Stuart and Finella deny illness, claiming they are going on holiday. Rowan reflects on his strained relationship with his father, who pressured him to stay in Corsekelly as the town handyman after an unspecified family tragedy.

A social circle forms: the Murdach siblings, identical twins Leith and Lachlan, who run an online fitness brand called the Training Kilts, and their younger sister Isla, who owns the local bakeshop. Dakota and Isla exchange shy glances from the start. The coffee shop draws almost no customers, and Bonnie confides to Dakota that she has never found her purpose.

On a group hike to the ruins of Corsekelly Castle, Bonnie and Rowan's dynamic shifts as they share personal histories. When a rainstorm rolls in, Rowan grows tense, but Bonnie lingers on the ruins. Lightning strikes nearby, and she clings to him in an alcove while he masks his own trembling. Back in town, he snaps at her for not taking the danger seriously. Dakota later explains that Rowan's younger brother Callum died at twenty from a head injury sustained during a hike in a rainstorm. Rowan has never recovered from the guilt.

Bonnie discovers through tourist surveys that online forums warn visitors away from the coffee shop. Dakota suggests she fix it up, noting Finella left a credit card and hinted at wanting improvements. One morning, Bonnie bumps into Rowan on a footpath, and when he worries she may be concussed from the collision, she teases him by faking illness. His furious reaction reveals how deeply his trauma over Callum shapes his protectiveness. To defuse his anger, she kisses him. He does not kiss back, telling her not to do it again.

Dakota and Isla begin dating, and Bonnie feels increasingly left out. She pitches her renovation plan to Rowan: new paint, tables, an espresso machine, baked goods, and renaming the shop the Hairy Coo Coffee Company, after the shaggy Highland cattle that roam the area. Rowan is reluctant about baking and explains why: Callum had been passionate about the shop and planned to expand it. After Callum's death, Stuart retired and rejected Rowan's offer to help, saying Rowan had no right to it. Stuart also forbade Rowan from leaving Corsekelly, insisting the town could not lose another MacGregor. Despite this history, Rowan agrees to teach Bonnie and asks her on a date.

Their relationship deepens. One evening at Rowan's cottage, a thunderstorm triggers a nightmare, and Bonnie comforts him. They share their first real kiss, which leads to physical intimacy. Rowan teaches Bonnie to bake butteries, tattie scones (potato-based Scottish griddle cakes), and cherry cake. A tasting for select locals proves a success, and for the first time Bonnie feels genuinely accomplished. Dakota's absence from the tasting, however, sharpens Bonnie's sense of being replaced.

Two conflicts then shatter the progress. Rowan receives a phone call revealing his parents are not on holiday but in London with a cancer specialist. Stuart has stage-four bone cancer and is dying. Devastated, Rowan then discovers Bonnie in his pottery shed, a private space where he creates hand-thrown ceramics, an artistic passion he has long kept hidden. He screams at her to leave, his grief channeling into rage, and departs for London without explanation. Meanwhile, Dakota confronts Bonnie for sharing Dakota's painful history with Isabella to Isla without permission. Dakota accuses Bonnie of being self-absorbed; Bonnie fires back that Dakota has always treated her as the lesser friend. Dakota storms out.

In London, Rowan reconciles with his father. Stuart reveals his anger was rooted not in blame but in terror at losing both sons. They weep together, and Stuart tells Rowan he loves him. Stuart chooses to forgo treatment and return to Corsekelly.

On reopening day, Bonnie opens the Hairy Coo Coffee Company alone. A landslide has diverted all tour buses, and no one comes for hours. Locals arrive in the afternoon and buy nearly everything. Bonnie then tracks down the missing Dakota at a remote overlook. They reconcile, each admitting fault. Isla joins them and tells Dakota she is falling for her, and the couple recommits.

Finella returns and is moved by the shop's transformation, but Rowan, also back in town, has not contacted Bonnie. She books a flight home. Before she can leave, Stuart, now home with a hospice nurse, asks to see Rowan's pottery. He tells Rowan his talent is extraordinary, apologizes for suppressing it, and asks Rowan to make his urn. He then tells Rowan to go get Bonnie.

Rowan arrives at the shop with a handmade mug he crafted for Bonnie before their fight. He explains his father's cancer and his silence, tells her he loves her, and asks her to stay. Bonnie tells him she loves him too and agrees.

In the epilogue, Stuart has passed away after spending his final weeks at the revived coffee shop. Rowan and Bonnie are engaged and expecting a baby. Rowan sells his pottery at the shop, including mugs with handles shaped like boabies (a Scottish slang term for penises), which sell out weekly. Dakota and Isla are getting married in a ceremony Rowan officiates. Bonnie, visibly pregnant, walks Dakota down the aisle. Rowan reflects that his mother's impulsive ad changed everything and credits Callum's spirit for bringing them all together.