The House on the Shore (13 page)

“Mr
.
Tallantyre—
”

His grin flashed briefly.
“I’ve told you, call me Luke.”

“Luke
.
This is how it is.
The S
cottish mountains are dangerous
,
even in summer.
It would
be irresponsible
of me
to let you go wandering the hillside when you can’t understand the map.
And I refuse to be answerable to the mountain rescue service when I have to call them because
you got
lost.”

“What if I give you my word that I’ll only
go half way up crag what’s-its-
name?”

Anna was torn.
She knew he woul
d be a liability out on the hill on his own, but when he gave her his irresistibly devastating grin, she was all but helpless to deny him the pleasure of a walk.
Oh
,
what the hell, she thought, putting the kettle on the hob to boil.

“Let me make you a coffee, and give me five minutes to change.
I’ll come with you.”
Luke started to complain, but she held up a hand.
“Look, this is your first time hillwalking.
It’s not like going for a
walk
in the park or a stroll along the beach.
It’s essential that you go with someone who knows the terrain, and besides, the dogs need
exercising
.
It doesn’t matter to them whether they go along the shore or up the hill.”

While he waited for Anna to change, Luke wandered around the room.
It was clean and tidy, but lacked modern gadgets.
The pale oak units blended perfectly with the beamed ceilings and polished granite worktops.
A small table with two chairs snuggled against the front kitchen window, which looked out over the rocky beach.
A cooking range, the like of which
he’d never seen before, stood in a stone clad alcove, which on closer examination
, appeared
to
be
a huge
inglenook fireplace.

Minutes later, Anna padded into the room, wearing
faded denim
jeans and a T-shirt.
She’d braided her hair, and
thrown a russet-coloured sweater about her shoulders
.
Luke’s
gaze was riveted on her face
as
she
sat down at the table, took a mouthful of coffee,
then proceeded
to
pull
on her socks and well-worn walking boots
.

Anna set off at a brisk pace with Luke and the dogs in tow.
Every now and again she
shook
her head and wave
d
her arms about, as though arguing with some invisible entity.
So much for her plans for spending the afternoon writing.
The next chapter of her novel was fully mapped out in her mind
,
all she needed to do was get it down on paper.

I must be insane
, she thought, as she covered the steep, rough ground with the grace of a gazelle.
I
t wasn’t insan
ity that had made her volunteer, but
pure, unadulterated lust.
While there was no denying she found Luke attractive,
it
was
barely a
fortnight
since she and Mark had split up
.
She was on the rebound, she reminded herself, but her hormones refused to listen.

She found
Luke
’s
presence disturbing
.
A
summer romance
wasn’t
her style at all.
If, and when
,
she was ready for a
nother relationship, it would
be with a man who woul
d
be around for
more than
a week or two.

Annoyed at the direction her thoughts were taking, she quickened her pace
. She crossed over a small bridge
and
continued along
the path as it climbed steadily higher.
The two dogs raced
ahead
, only stopping
to check their mistress was following.
They investigated every old rabbit burrow and animal track as if it were some newly discovered treasure.
Halfway up the hill they disturbed a grazing ewe
,
which stamped a foot in anger be
fore darting into the bracken.

“Hey, slow down,” Luke gasped
.
He
reached out and placed a restraining hand
on her arm
.
“We’re going f
or a walk, not a forced march.”

Anna turned
and smiled
.
“Sorry, I wasn’t thinking.
I do this every day.
I should have
realized
you might not be as fit as me.”

“It’s not a question of fitness.
I want to get my bearings.
And what’s more, I can’t very well hold a conversation with yo
u
,
if I’m talking to your back.”

Something about the way Luke
looked at her jolted her heart
and made her pulse
race
.
His fingers accidentally brushed her cheek as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
She gasped in delight
as a shiver of awareness rippled through her body in response to his
touch
.
When his
gaze lingered on
her lips she wondered if he
would
kiss her
.
Confused by her conflicting emotions, she
lower
ed her gaze.

“
I didn’t mean to be rude
.
I don’t usually have company when
I
come up here.
Beside
s
,
the path isn’t exactly a four lane highway.
”

“No, but there’s
more than enough
room for us to walk
side-by-side
,
”
he said
, and matched
his stride to hers
.
“Hey, I noticed some ruins along the shoreline as I sailed into the loch,” he continued
.
“
W
as there an ancient town here or something?”

Anna moistened her dry lips.
“
T
here were two villages further along the coast
.
Sadly, the houses and crofts have long since been abandoned, and the ruins you see today are all that remain.”

“What happened?”
Luke took her hand, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
She wanted to pull it away.
She didn’t.

“It’s quite an involved story.
Are you sure you want to hear it?”
Sudden
ly, her fingers laced with his.

“It’s a lovely day. T
he dogs are having fun.
I
f you can spare the time,
then
yes, I’d like to he
ar the story.”

Ambushed by Luke’s slow smile, Anna reminded herself she was no longer an eighteen-year-old experiencing the thrill of a first date, but a grown woman.
She wasn’t going to
fall prey to this man’s charms.
She
lifted her head
and found him watching her.

“You’ve
heard of Bonnie Prince Charlie
an
d the Jacobite rising of 1745?”

“Nope.
Scottish history wasn’t covered in school.
Wait a
minute -
I read something about him in a magazine somewhere.
Didn’t he lose some big battle and then run off to France?”

“That’s right.
T
he clans were disarmed
.
B
agpipes
were
f
orbidden, and it was an offence to wear tartan.
”

“No big loss there,
”
Luke said, helping her
to
negotiate a steep, rocky outcrop.

“Thanks.”
Anna dropped his hand and walked on.
“Never let my friend, Morag, hear you say that!
Her husband Lachlan plays the pipes, and although she won’t let him practise in the house, she won’t have a word spoken against them, or his lack of musical ability.”

Luke laughed.
“I’ll try to remember that, when I meet her.”

“Ensay!
Rhona!”
Anna called the dogs as they darted into the gorse.
They came panting back into view.
“Most of the clan land was given to the English aristocracy, and in the process
,
tens of thousands of Highlanders were evicted from their homes to make way for sheep.
It’s a period in Scottish history known as the Clearances
.
”

“But that doesn’t explain the ruins along the shore.”

“Actually, it does.
A
fter the crofters were driven out from the glens they settled on the poorer, infertile land near the coast, but they still paid rent to the estate.
As a result, nearly
everyone
lived in hunger and poverty.”

“I can’t imagine how anyone could survive under those conditions, especially in winter.
Brrrrr!”

“
I
t must have been horrendous.
T
hat isn’t the end of the story.
When the potato crop failed, the resulting famine left many families with no choice but to emigrate to the New World or Australia, or move south to the lowlands and England.”

“So they just
abandoned
the crofts?”

“Yes.
It is
something
that is
repeated in the Highlands today.
Y
oung folk
are
leav
ing
for the cities
by the
hundreds,
as there’s no work for them here.
Many homes in the Highlands are second or holiday homes, only used at weekends.”

“Then how come your croft is still here
while the others are
deserted?”

“
I don’t really know the answer to that question.”

“
The
setting
is stunning
and
it
would make a great painting, but you have to admit it’s pretty inacc
essible.
”

Anna smile
was tinged with sadness.
“
Tigh na Cladach was my grandparents’ home.
They lived here all year round.
When my grandfather died, Daddy wanted my grandmother to move to Edinburgh, but she refused and lived at the croft unti
l she moved into a nursing home
a few months before her death.
It belongs to me now.”

“I see.
I
t’s just a vacation home
, then
?
And
you’re here
temporarily.”

“No.”

“I don’t get why anyone would want to live way out here.
There’s nothing.
What do people do at night for fun?
And what kind of jobs could there possibly be?”

Anna stopped in midstride and turned to face him.
“I have a job, thank you ve
ry much.
I work in the hotel.”

“Yeah?
W
hat happens when the tourists leave?
Does the hotel close up?
Besides, whatever you do there can’t pay very much.”

Anna raised a fine, arched eyebrow and yanked her hand free of his.
“What is
this, a police interrogation?”

He held up his hands in defence.
“Hey, I’m just curious, that’s all.
A pretty lady holed up in some shack—whoops—I mean croft—way out here in the sticks
,
I don’t get it.
Are you running away from something?
Or somebod
y?
Now that would make sense.”