Page 84 of The Castle in the Bay

That looked almost ominous. He could call her and talk if he wanted, but she suspected he wouldn’t. This sounded like a face-to-face chat was needed, or she at least had to explain herself. He was right. She’d fobbed off the idea of a long-term relationship, but now she wanted that more than anything. Any time she had with Monty would always be too short.

IONA: I never wanted long term… Until I met you. We can talk anytime x

There. She’d said it, put it in writing, and she wasn’t taking it back. Monty reacted to the message with a heart, but said no more. Even after her surf class was done for the day, she hadn’t received any messages.

She returned to the farmhouse and went looking for Catriona. She didn’t really want to talk to her about anything in particular, but she didn’t want to be on her own. Resolving the turmoil in her heart was something she had to do herself, but she didn’t want to be alone. Catriona was in the kitchen prepping meals, looking somewhat frazzled, and Iona felt bad about disturbing her.

‘Do you need a hand?’ Iona asked.

‘If you like peeling tatties, then be my guest.’

Iona pulled a face indicating that she wished she’d never asked but washed her hands and located the potato peeler.

‘How was the surfing?’ Catriona stirred one pan, then another.

‘Yeah, fine. They were all pretty good today.’

‘What time is your class tomorrow?’

‘Afternoon, why?’

Catriona kept her eyes on the food and gave a weird little shrug. ‘I, um, just wondered if you’d be able to pick up some people from the ferry tomorrow evening. It would help me, but if you’re busy, it’s fine.’

‘Sure.’

‘Thanks, that’d be great. I’ll give you the details tomorrow when I get them.’

‘No worries.’ Iona frowned at her. Usually, Catriona got Alex to do jobs like that, but it was possible they’d fallen out. Catriona seemed to resent Alex’s being on the farm more and more every day, and she never wanted to talk about it. Iona thought it better just to do what she asked and not question it.

The following day, Iona finished up the surf class sharply and headed back towards the farm. On the beach, she spotted a lone figure with a dog. Both dog and man were easily recognisable. Scamp was bounding towards her at a hundred miles an hour while Ruaridh jogged along behind. He was so tall and muscly he looked like he should be a rugby player.

‘How’s it going?’ he called as he got closer.

Iona patted Scamp as he jumped around like he hadn’t seen her for days rather than just a few hours.

‘Ok. You?’

‘Ah, you know.’ He slowed and stopped, leaning his hands on his knees as he caught his breath, then straightened up. ‘Training hard.’

Iona tightened her ponytail. ‘For what exactly?’

He gave a little shrug. ‘Just like to keep fit.’

Iona kept fit too, but she wasn’t as obsessive as him. He seemed to spend every free second working out.

‘I hope you’re holding up ok. You really had a thing for that Monty guy, didn’t you?’ Ruaridh caught her eye, and his expression was commiserative.

How could she even reply to that?

‘I guess I did. But we wanted different things, you know?’

‘I hear you loud and clear.’ He ran his hand through his hair, watching her. ‘The lack of single people on this island is probably the only reason I’d ever leave, which is sad, because I love it here.’

Iona smiled. ‘Well, there are usually quite a few travelling through. See if you can grab yourself a holiday fling.’

‘I’ll have to think about it.’

Iona patted him on the arm. ‘Someone will come along for you, I’m sure. Just have some fun while you wait.’ She checked her phone. ‘I need to get going. Catriona asked me to pick up some guests coming in on the ferry.’

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