There was a moment of silence while the three women took in what Kate had said.
‘And you believed her?’ Jean’s face was a picture of shock. She looked at Morag, and then across at Susan, before erupting into peals of laughter.
‘Well, I’m not exactly in his league, am I? I come from a semi-detached house in Essex. He lives in a blooming castle.’
‘Right,’ snorted Susan. ‘So you think, because that bloody lunatic Fiona told you, that Roddy wants to have his wicked way with you, produce a son to carry on the Maxwell line
and then lock you in the attic?’
‘It does sound a bit unlikely,’ Kate conceded. She twisted her hair up in a ponytail, biting her lip.
‘Unlikely? It’s completely bloody insane, Kate.’ Susan’s voice was loud enough to rouse Mhairi, who stirred in her sleep, letting out a little cry. ‘How much did
you have to drink last night? I think it’s destroyed all your brain cells.’
Kate allowed herself a tiny smile as Morag put her arm round her waist, squeezing her tightly. ‘Kate. The man is clearly mad about you. It’s just that neither of you can see it.
Believe me, I have inside knowledge of the Maxwell men.’
Kate caught her breath.
‘I’m very happy with my Ted. But that boy is his father all over again.’
Jean looked thoughtful. ‘Ahh, no, Morag. There’s a wee difference. James didn’t speak up because he didn’t have the confidence. If you ask me, Roddy’s seen enough
to be scared off relationships for life.’
Well, thought Kate, that’s positive. Glad we sorted that out.
‘I tell you what,’ said Jean, looking across at Kate, her face thoughtful, ‘I will not stand by and watch that boy make the same mistake his father made.’
‘For goodness’ sake, Kate.’ Morag took her by the shoulders. ‘You’ve got one life. Take what you want from it. Tell him how you feel.’
‘Well, I can’t think about that right now.’ Kate stood up, untangling Willow’s lead from the back of the chair. It was easy for them to say all this, but it was so much
to take in that she couldn’t get things straight.
Susan opened her mouth to speak, ready to persuade Kate to stay, but Jean laid a warning hand on her arm. ‘Let her go. She’s had a bit of a week of it.’
‘Just promise me you’ll consider it, Kate.’ Morag shifted aside, making space for her to escape.
‘I will.’ She needed time. And something for her hangover. She could tell that the three of them were dying to discuss all this in great detail, but right now she needed sleep, not
an in-depth analysis of her non-existent love life.
Closing the door, she could imagine the scene within. She called Willow and walked, slowly and carefully, down to Bruar Cottage.
Kate sensed that it had snowed as soon as she woke up. She’d grown into the habit of sleeping with the curtains open, so that she could lie in bed and watch the sky at
night as she dozed. Standing up, she peered out of the window. Over the trees, the dawn light stretched pale fingers across the night sky. Her dreams had been a jumble of past and present, faces
from her old life mixed with those from the new. Waking was hard this morning. She closed her eyes, last night’s dream coming back to her. She’d been in Cambridge visiting Emma and Sam,
but she’d been with someone – curled up beside her on the sofa, chatting comfortably, had been Roddy. It had felt quite natural – but it was a dream. The reality was that she
hadn’t seen him since the other night when he’d put her to bed and, with every day that passed, her resolve to follow Morag’s suggestion wavered a little more.
She yawned, jaw cracking as she stretched. Today would be a long day. She’d secured a last-minute booking for both cottages; the two families would be arriving on the ferry late tomorrow
afternoon. She hadn’t been up to check on the cottage Fiona had been staying in, but thinking about it filled her with dread. She was fairly certain that it wasn’t going to be pretty.
And then there was Billy, who needed to talk to her about the tiles in the bunkhouse shower room; and then, tomorrow, Flora was coming home. Kate smiled at the thought of the seal pup making her
way down the beach and back to the sea.
‘Mind yersel and drive carefully on that snow,’ warned Bruno.
Kate had popped into the cafe, deciding to treat herself to breakfast to bolster herself for the long day ahead. The windows were steamed up, and the air filled with delicious smells. Outside,
Kilmannan High Street looked beautiful, sparkling with an icing-sugar coating of snow. The sea was inky, reflecting a strange, plum-grey-coloured sky.
‘That’s no the last of it,’ said Bruno, following Kate’s gaze. ‘If I were you, I’d get over tae the cottages and get yer work done, pronto.’
‘I’m onto it – look.’ Kate indicated two bags full of shopping at her feet. The new arrivals had emailed a request for enough food to tide them over until the next day.
The bags were bulging with the ingredients they’d requested, and a couple of bottles of red wine. ‘I’ll drop this lot off, make sure all the bedding has been sorted and get back.
I promise. I’ve got a load of work to do up at the big house, anyway. Did Roddy tell you about our plans for the wildlife tours?’
‘Oh,
Roddy
now, is it?’ teased Bruno. ‘Aye, he did. You’ve been a right tonic for him, ye know that?’
Kate ducked her head, blushing. It felt as if everyone on the island was urging them on, but the only person who wasn’t interested was Roderick himself. She still wasn’t convinced by
Morag’s theory that he was holding back, from a fear of getting hurt.
‘He’s a good friend.’
Bruno raised an eyebrow. ‘Right enough. He’s a good lad. It’s nice to see him working alongside you. You make a good pair.’
‘He’s a good boss to have,’ Kate agreed, with a tone of voice that didn’t invite further comment. The reality was that if she messed things up, she’d be out of a
job, and a home. Lost in thought, she waved goodbye to Bruno and loaded the car with bags. The air was cold and dry, and she turned the heater up as high as possible, shivering as she drove
away.
Her panic about the state of Fiona’s cottage had been unfounded. Susan’s aunt had been happy to take on the job of housekeeper for the cottages. Once the bunkhouse
was up and running, the job would be full-time; but, keen to make a good impression, for now she’d cleaned the cottages, made up all the beds, left piles of thick, fluffy towels in the
bathrooms and stacked logs in baskets by the log-burners. They were ready to go – all they needed were the finishing touches, thought Kate, unpacking the shopping bags. She left the red wine
on the worktop, with the corkscrew close by. After a long journey up from England with a car full of children, she was certain the guests would be grateful for a drink.
She was just locking up when her mobile rang.
‘Kate, it’s me.’
‘Roddy . . . Roderick.’
‘The weather forecast doesn’t look great. I spoke to Mark, and we decided we’d be better doing it today and getting it over with.’ The phone crackled as the reception
dipped.
‘You’re bringing Flora home?’ Her stomach knotted with excitement. Standing on the doorstep, she looked down to the shoreline. The rocks, as ever, were dotted with seals.
‘I am.’ The smile in his voice was obvious. ‘I’ve got a crate in the back of the Land Rover and I’ll be on the two-thirty ferry. Do you want to meet me at the
bay?’
‘I’m there already. I’ll ring Jean and tell her to keep hold of Willow, and I’ll wait at the cottage. I need to run through the spreadsheet of bunkhouse details with
Billy in any case.’
‘Super-efficient. I’m impressed. And to think when you came here you were allergic to computers.’
‘I’m a girl of many talents. I’ll see you later.’ Kate put her phone in her pocket. That had sounded a bit flirtatious. Maybe Morag was right. But no, as soon as Roderick
was back on the island, she’d find it impossible to tell him how she felt – especially when she didn’t even know herself. He was her boss. She needed the job. Focus! She took a
breath and calmed herself, before heading down to the bunkhouse to check on Billy’s progress.
‘I reckon we’ll be done wi’ this by the end of the week,’ said Billy. He was standing in what was to be the shower room, tangled wires protruding from the walls, the
floor covered with a thick layer of plaster dust and boxes of tiles. Before Kate had seen the cottages being renovated, she’d have struggled to visualize how this chaos could be turned into a
sleek, modern-day bunkhouse for visiting students. Now, though, she could see through the dust sheets and the remaining piles of rubble, and the end of her first project on the Duntarvie estate was
in sight. The thought that there would be more filled her with a fizz of excitement. She’d forgotten about Roderick’s job offer when she first woke up, and the realization when it
dawned was so lovely that she’d kept it to herself, not even sharing it with her friends or with Bruno.
‘Kate?’ Billy nudged her, breaking into her thoughts. ‘Are you away with the fairies this afternoon? I’ve been talking to you for the last five minutes and I swear you
haven’t heard a word.’
‘We’ll be finished in a week or so,’ she repeated, parrot-fashion.
‘Aye, I said that,’ Billy rolled his eyes with an expression of exaggerated patience. ‘Then I said that Tam has taken the van over to the town, to get some grout because
we’ve run out. He’ll be back in half an hour or so. And I said: do you want a cup of tea?’
‘I’ll make it.’ She picked up the chipped mugs. ‘Let’s have lunch in the cottage – I won’t tell, if you don’t.’
‘Sounds good to me. We normally have it in the van with the radio on.’ Billy’s eyes crinkled as he smiled at her. ‘I tell you what. I’ll finish off this wee bit.
You get the kettle on.’
Kate flicked on the heating and washed the mugs. A few minutes later, parking his filthy boots outside the front door, and checking the coast was clear before coming into the sitting room, Billy
appeared. His weather-beaten face was furtive.
‘If Jessie McKay knew we’d been in here after she’d cleaned the place, she’d have a blue fit.’
‘We’ll keep it to ourselves then,’ said Kate, handing him a mug of tea. They sank back into the big leather sofa together, looking out over the bay.
‘I just spoke to Roddy. He’s on the ferry over. Tam’s had a problem with the van engine, so I’m going to take the Land Rover off him when he gets here. You’ll be
okay to give him a run home to the big house after you release the seal pups, won’t you?’
‘Yes, fine,’ said Kate. No, she thought, not fine. I feel like a fifteen-year-old, and my hands are actually clammy and I feel sick at the thought. This is ridiculous. ‘I might
just take a little walk down to the beach, to have a look at the seals. I’ll clear up when I get back.’
‘Right enough.’ Billy flicked open his newspaper, propped it on his stomach and closed his eyes. ‘I’ll have five minutes and then get on. I’ll leave the door on the
latch.’
Kate sat on her usual rock, looking out at the sea, hugging her knees, waiting for Flora to come home. The snow was falling again, heavier now, blanketing the sand.
Her mobile buzzed in her pocket, surprising her and breaking the silence. There must be a tiny pocket of mobile reception here on the beach:
Are you still alive?
Emma. Kate breathed a sigh of relief.
Yes. Just. But I seem to have forgotten I’m not Cinderella.
OMG. You’ve fallen madly in love with Sir Roderick of Posh?
Kate smiled to herself as she typed into her phone:
Slightly. But when he looked into my eyes and told me he had something important to say . . .
Oh God. You didn’t turn him down? Story of your bloody life. You need to realize how lovely you are.
Shut up! No, worse than that. He offered me a job.
Kate sat for a moment, staring at her phone. Emma clearly didn’t have anything to say to that, either. It wasn’t exactly an expression of undying love, was it?
Aha. That’s because he wants to keep you on the island.
Too slow. You had to think about that, didn’t you?
Kate grinned at her phone, then looked up, hearing the rumbling diesel engine of the Land Rover.
Oops. He’s here. Text you later. xxx
The Land Rover crept slowly across the verge and down the rutted track to the bay. Roderick pulled to a stop beside Kate’s rock, leaning over to open the passenger door. He smiled at her,
dark eyes shining with excitement.
‘We need to get them as close to the sea as we can. Lucky Billy’s here, really – it’s a heavy job.’ He pulled on a thick waterproof coat. His hair was sprinkled
with snowflakes.
Through flurries of snow Kate could see the dark shape of Billy jogging down the little lane from the cottages, woolly hat pulled down low over his forehead. She felt a sudden wave of sadness,
suspecting that once Flora was released she’d probably never see her again.
‘Let me give you a hand wi’ that, Roddy.’ Billy opened the back of the Land Rover, revealing a large plastic crate balanced on two long wooden planks. Using a complicated
system of ropes and pulleys, they manoeuvred it onto the snowy ground. A plaintive wailing could be heard from within.
‘She’s been calling all the way here.’ Roderick lifted the plastic mesh that covered the crate.
‘Oh!’ She hadn’t expected Flora to be with her rescued mate, Reggie.
It all seemed horribly real now, and Kate dug her fingernails into her palms. Her gloveless hands were freezing, and tears were mingling with the melting snowflakes on her cheeks.
Roderick caught her hand as she swiped at her eyes. He pulled her into an awkward hug, taking her by surprise.
‘I know, it’s hard.’
She could feel his breath on her hair and her heart was beating wildly. Not trusting herself to speak, she nodded.
‘They’re wild animals, and we’re making up for some of the damage we do to this planet, by helping them.’ He held her out at arm’s length, smiling. ‘I promise
you, it’ll be worth it.’