Page 65 of The Castle in the Bay

‘Yeah, I’ll do that.’

‘Let me sort this duvet and I’ll come down and look for some bin bags.’

Iona wandered back to the kitchen, opening the fridge and snacking on some raspberries.

Catriona came in, a harassed look on her face. ‘I’m never going to get all these rooms done in time. The school holidays starting and the festival is great for business, but what a rush.’

‘I would help you,’ Iona said. ‘But I need to do the beach. It’s a disaster zone. Hopefully Ruaridh can come by later with the truck and get rid of some of the bags.’

‘I’m sure he will.’ Catriona rummaged through a cupboard and pulled out a roll of black bin bags. ‘Here you go.’

‘Thanks.’ Iona let out a long sigh, her eyes drifting to the window as she caught sight of a man in the backyard. For a second, she thought it was Monty, then she realised it was Alex. He crouched down by Eilidh and pressed his fingers to her bike tyre like he was checking the pressure.

‘I already did that.’ Catriona’s eyes narrowed as she glared at Alex. ‘Does he think I’m incompetent?’

‘He’s just trying to help. He’s nice like that.’

Catriona rolled her eyes. ‘You’re hardly one in a position to lecture me about men. You still haven’t explained about Monty. That was quite a blatant kiss on Saturday night. And Ruaridh said you were still at it during the festival yesterday.’

‘At what?’ Iona felt a flush creeping up her neck.

‘Kissing him.’ Catriona cocked her head. ‘And I’m sure the fact you haven’t been in your bed for the last two nights means you’ve found somewhere else to sleep.’

‘Well, so what? Can’t I have a bit of fun? It’s not a crime.’

‘It’s a little strange considering how you said just a few days ago that he wasn’t your type.’

‘He’s not.’ She gave a little shrug. ‘But… I dunno, I like him, ok?’

Catriona came over and gave her a hug. ‘That’s good. But be careful. Apparently, he’s a distant cousin of mine, so he told me at breakfast. He seems like such a nice guy, and he’s really helped with the business plan. I wouldn’t like either of you to get hurt.’

‘As if.’ Iona snorted, a little too defensively.

‘You say that. But look what happened to me.’ She gave Eilidh a wistful look. ‘That was what I got from fooling about with someone who was on holiday here.’

‘Yeah. I know.’ Iona patted her arm. ‘I won’t get hurt though. Casual is fine with me.’ And maybe if she said it out loud enough, she would start believing it again.

‘I know you don’t mind casual and that’s your choice, but… Well, he doesn’t seem like someone who normally does casual. Though who am I to say that? We may be distantly related, but I don’t really know him at all.’

‘I don’t think he’s normally into flings, but… well, he wants some, um, practise.’

Catriona raised an eyebrow and furrowed her brow. ‘Practise at having flings?’

‘Not exactly, but don’t worry. It’s all fine. He’s not serious about me and I feel the same.’

Catriona’s sceptical look didn’t waver.

‘I better get back. See you later.’ Iona headed for the door before Catriona could ask any more questions. Once outside, she jumped in the car. She almost laughed at her own words.I won’t get hurt though.But what if she did? Because one thing was certain. In a few days’ time, Monty was leaving. He was going back to the mainland, and Iona wouldn’t have him anymore.

She returned to the beach, armed with the bin bags. If only there was something to keep her focused. How could she do this? She started picking up the litter, shoving it into the black bags with more force than necessary. Each piece of rubbish felt like a personal affront.

‘Utter wankers,’ she muttered, shoving a discarded flip-flop into a bag.

The sun was out and, as the clouds rolled away, it heated up, making her feel sticky and irritable. She wiped her brow, glancing up and down the beach. So much still to do. This was impossible. Maybe if she had a break and hit the waves, she could do some more later. But if she stopped now, she’d never come back to it. Her tummy rumbled. Those raspberriesweren’t enough to fill her up. If only she’d had the sense to grab some lunch when she was back at the farmhouse, but sense was something she’d been completely lacking recently.

The waves rolled in, soothing and rhythmic, and maybe that was the only reason she kept going. Their constancy was something to work to. How long had she been at it now? Every so often a car would swish past on the road beyond, or people on bikes chatting, but everyone seemed to be avoiding the beach. Could she blame them?

Another whir of a bike came by. She couldn’t quite see the road from here, but she wondered if it was maybe Alex with Eilidh. She looked up, squinting against the sun. The cyclist had stopped and dismounted. He pulled off his helmet and ran a hand through his hair. Looking around, his gaze locked onto her.

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