Page 64 of The Castle in the Bay

‘I didn’t like to say so, but maybe, yeah.’

‘Ok…’ She winked. ‘We’ll save it for later. Now, let’s get you back in the water.’

Without looking at Ruaridh, Monty headed into the sea.

Chapter Twenty

Iona

Iona surveyed the beach, hands on her hips, shaking her head. Litter was strewn everywhere, broken deckchairs, discarded wet-shoes and even some perfectly serviceable looking surf boards had been abandoned. Her shoulders slumped. People were so gross and utterly disrespectful. If this was the way they treated her beautiful island, she’d think twice about inviting them back.

Where to even begin?

‘Bunch of twats,’ she muttered. She wasn’t in the best of moods anyway, and this was going to give her a migraine about thirty seconds from now.

Monday morning had come too quickly, and the beach was deserted, apart from all the shit. Everyone else had gone back to work and guests had caught the ferry or buzzed off on day trips, including Monty. She’d woken up again with him that morning. A crackle of electricity ran through her veins at the thought. If she could let this cleanup go, she would. She’d much rather spend time with him, but this was her job, and she couldn’t avoid it. Plus, he was on holiday. It wasn’t fair, expecting him to hang around with her all the time.

She picked up a stray bottle, tossing it into a crate already full of rubbish.

Her brain was in a similar jumble. Since when had she let her mind dwell on a person like this and not the outdoors or sport? She enjoyed being with him so much. Which was so alien to her. Every smile from him, every touch, made her heart thud a little harder. She wasn’t supposed to get attached. That wasn’t the deal. But he’d got under her skin. He was like a part of her. When they were together, fireworks burst around them, but when they were apart, she felt broken and empty.

‘Stop being stupid,’ she muttered. How was he any different from anyone else? They’d had good sex, that was all. And surely, she could have that again. She made her way down the beach, attempting to convince herself by repeating the thoughts like a mantra. But it didn’t work. Her mind wandered and very soon all she’d done was add more confusion, because she wasn’t certain that sex was the only thing they had going for them. If it was, she’d have already forgotten about him – like all the others. Monty was just so easy to talk to and to be around. He didn’t judge her, and he accepted her quirks and all. Instead ofbeing put off by the headstrong things she couldn’t stop herself from doing or saying, he said he was ‘honoured’ to be with her. That in itself was something new, and it made her smile. Such a cute thing to say. His words repeated inside her head like an affirmation – pushing out the earlier mantra without much effort.

You’re just so incredibly talented, spirited and buzzing with energy. So fearless. It’s inspiring, and it’s a privilege to get to do this with someone like you.

What was he up to today? She’d slipped out of bed early – well, early for her – and told him she had to get to work. They’d only had a brief kiss and a promise to catch up later before she’d left. If they’d started anything else, she’d never have got here.

She slapped the heel of her hand to her forehead and rubbed it. The mess on the sand wasn’t the only thing needing sorted and cleaned up. The chaos in her mind could do with an industrial strength hoover and a Marie Kondo-style tidy up.

With a sigh, she headed to her car and pulled out a roll of black bags. If she didn’t start now, she never would.

A gull squawked overhead, and she glanced up, watching it swoop down to the water. That’s where she wanted to be. Out there, soaring over the waves. Instead, she pulled open a bin bag and a pair of gloves and started shoving in the rubbish.

She returned to the house at lunchtime to get more bin bags and some more boxes to sort some of the recyclable stuff into. Eilidh was cycling around on her bike, enjoying the early days of the summer holidays. Those were the best days. Iona remembered them lasting for what seemed like months when she was that age. Now the summer weeks passed so quickly; if she blinked, she missed them.

‘You having fun?’ she asked Eilidh.

‘Yeah. Alex is taking me to a quiet track to cycle after lunch. Mummy says I can go if I remember to use the brakes.’

‘And are you remembering?’

‘I’m doing it, look.’

Iona smiled, knowing Eilidh had a habit of scraping her feet along the ground to stop. ‘Great. You keep practising. I need to see if Mummy has any bin bags I can use. If not, I might have to do a wee nip into the village.’

‘Can’t Ruaridh get the bins?’

‘Yeah. He can help me when everything’s bagged up, but I’ll have to do that bit.’

‘Ok.’ Eilidh cycled off around the path towards the annex.

Was Monty still there? Hopefully he’d gone out and found something fun to do. Catriona wasn’t in the kitchen and Iona wandered through the farmhouse, calling her.

‘I’m up here changing the rooms.’ Catriona peered down the stairs. ‘What’s up?’

‘I need more bin bags. Do you have any? You should see the beach. What an utter shitshow. People are such arseholes.’

‘That’s a disgrace. Take photos and put them on the community social media pages. I think we should make it clear this is unacceptable and if visitors are going to treat the island like this, then we won’t be inviting them.’

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