Page 62 of The Castle in the Bay

‘Yes, Miss.’

After whirlwind Iona had left the building, Monty sat on the end of the bed and breathed very slowly and deliberately, trying to regroup and catch a sensible thought or two from the haze of post-coital bliss. Ah, screw it. He got to his feet. What was the point of being sensible? Or boring, as Sophie might have called it. He was still on holiday, and he was bloody well going to enjoy it.

Monty headed into the farmhouse for breakfast. A lot of other guests were there too, no doubt for the festival. Catriona seemed a little rushed off her feet, and Alex was helping hand out some of the cooked breakfasts. Monty saw him limp a little as he returned to the kitchen.

‘My mum wants to talk to you,’ Catriona said, putting a plate of cooked food in front of Monty. ‘She’s found something out, apparently. Would you have time to nip in and see her after breakfast? I can show you her cottage. It’s just two minutes away.’

‘Yeah, of course. I’d love to hear what she’s found.’

Curious to find out what Nora had discovered, he ate quickly, before heading for her cottage.

She took a while to answer the door, but when she did, a broad smile filled her face. ‘Come in, come in. I have some good news.’

‘I’m intrigued.’ Monty followed her into the living area of the cottage. The brick wall behind the fireplace was exposed and looked very cosy and rustic, while the rest of the room had obviously been modernised and was bright and clean with lots of plants on tables and the deep windowsills.

He took a seat on the sofa as Nora eased herself into an armchair. ‘Well, I reckon your father is my second cousin, which makes you my second cousin once removed. And that means you are a third cousin to Ruaridh and Catriona.’

Monty blinked, trying to take it all in.

She lifted a bit of paper with some scribbles on it. ‘My mother was your grandfather’s cousin. My grandfather and your great-grandfather were brothers, and we share a common line back from there.’ She held out the piece of paper and Monty looked at how she’d sketched it out, so it made a lot more sense than him trying to visualise it.

‘Wow… So, that means I really do have island blood.’

‘You do. And your ancestors would have lived here. An Grianan has been in our family for many generations.’

‘Since we were diddled out of the castle?’ he asked with a smile.

Nora chuckled. ‘As to that, we’ll never know, but it’s a fun thought, isn’t it?’

‘It really is. Thank you for looking into this.’

‘Not at all. It’s my pleasure. Especially now we know you’re part of the family. You can tell Catriona and Ruaridh.’

‘I’ll do that.’ He got up and handed her back the paper. ‘My father would have loved to know all this.’

She nodded. ‘Sometimes we forget to make the most of our time with people while we have it.’

‘That’s so true.’

And Monty felt it applied as much to Iona in this situation as it did to the regrets he had about his father.

When he arrived on the beach later, it was already buzzing. The voice on the tannoy was talking about the different moves the surfers were doing and people milled about, either watching or paddling and playing in the shallows. A fast-food van had set up near the container and a queue of people lined up along the edge of the grass. Monty hadn’t noticed it the day before, but at least he knew where he could get lunch today.

He set up a little camp for himself and sat down, resting his hands on his knees and glancing around. What would his dad make of this? Would he approve or think it an insult to his memory? So much for a relaxing fortnight to scatter his dad’s ashes. It had turned into an adventure packed two weeks with a hot holiday fling to boot. No one would have predicted this. Who would even believe it? He couldn’t imagine telling anyone back home. His mum, his golfing friends, and his colleagues would all think he’d lost his mind or was making the whole thing up.

He cracked open a can of Fanta and took a sip, his eyes searching for Iona. Beautiful, wonderful Iona. When they were together, he hadn’t thought about Sophie. Not once. Sophie had never inspired this kind of burning energy in him. Nope. Everything he’d done here was only for Iona. He rubbed his chest. Maybe the bubbles had gone down the wrong way, because something was niggling him. The wordsI love youwere so close to his lips it was frightening. He wanted to say them to her, even though it was downright insane. But she’d told him to be authentic and not hold back… and he hadn’t. Until now. Those three little words were a step too far. How could he say them? He hardly knew her, and yet, he knew her better thananyone. Laying down his drink, he sighed. Why was this so complicated?

A simple solution would be to draw a line under it, and stay away from her for the next few days, but no way was he doing that. He would take everything this island could throw at him.

For now, that meant going to the container, changing into a wetsuit, then making his way to the water’s edge. When he got there, he spotted Iona handing out bodyboards.

‘Ah, there you are,’ she said. ‘I thought you’d forgotten.’

‘As if.’ He smiled at her, then became aware of Ruaridh standing a little way off, talking to some other people but clearly watching Monty and Iona in his peripheral vision.

‘I just discovered that he and Catriona are my third cousins.’

‘What?’

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