Page 4 of The Castle in the Bay

Catriona started folding the laundry, and Iona reached out to help. ‘Were you paddleboarding today?’ Catriona asked.

‘Earlier on, yeah. Then I took a group cycling, but they were all cooked by two o’clock, so they went back to their holiday cottage to cool down.’

‘Mummy, can I have an ice lolly?’ Eilidh looked up hopefully.

‘It’s a bit close to dinner.’ Catriona looked at the clock beside the dresser. ‘But ok. Since this might be the hottest day we have. Might as well use it.’

‘Can I have one too?’ Iona grinned at Catriona midway through folding one of Eilidh’s school polo shirts. Catriona raised an eyebrow, then let out a huff of a laugh.

‘Like you need my permission.’

Iona winked at Eilidh. She’d been lucky to find this place to live. At first, she wasn’t sure she’d like living with a family. But Catriona had been so kind from the start. Iona had almost been jealous of her at first, but she saw what a hardworking, single mum Catriona was, so she wasn’t envious at all. Catriona barely had a minute for herself – between the farm, her daughter, her mother and the guests, she was stretched very thin.

‘What happened to you?’ Catriona eyed Iona’s shoulder as she sat back down with the homemade lolly.

‘Oh, that.’ She glanced at the scrape marks.

‘I had a run in with a tourist who wasn’t looking where he was going. I swerved to get out of his way and lost balance.’

‘You should clean it up. It looks a mess.’

‘Yeah, I will.’

Catriona was such a mother hen.

‘And is the rest of you ok?’

‘I think I turned my ankle a bit, but I’ll be fine.’

Catriona gave her a stern look. ‘Are you sure?’

‘Yeah.’

‘And how is the tourist?’ Catriona flapped out a shirt before folding it. ‘Was he hurt too?’

‘Na. I missed him. I’ll try harder next time.’

Eilidh giggled, and Iona winked at her.

‘You know what the worst bit was?’ Iona sucked the lolly and both Eilidh and Catriona waited with wide eyes.

‘I dropped my chips. I’d just bought them too. Some huge black backs swooped in and ate them all. What a waste. I was going to sit by the sea and eat them.’

‘You were cycling with chips in your hand?’ Catriona pulled a face.

‘I would have been fine if the numpty hadn’t wandered into me.’ Though she might have balanced better if she hadn’t been trying to save the chips before herself.

‘Oh dear. And now you’re having an ice-lolly instead.’ Catriona shook her head. ‘As soon as you’ve finished it, you should go and clean that scrape, just in case.’

‘Yes, Mum.’

‘She’s not your mum.’ Eilidh pointed with her pink pen. ‘She’s my mummy.’

‘Oops, silly me.’ Iona pulled an exasperated face at her own silliness and Eilidh giggled.

Catriona lifted the laundry and left the room for a moment. When she returned, she pulled some pots out from the cupboard. ‘I better put some dinner on. Do you want to join us or was that lolly your meal?’

‘Na, that was just a snack. I wouldn’t mind joining you, if that’s ok, seeing as how I lost my chips.’

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