Page 69 of The Castle in the Bay

What exactly he was going to do was another matter. Getting Sophie back had been part of a larger life plan, one he didn’t want to discard completely. He was at an age and stage where he wanted to settle, but starting from scratch was so daunting.

He lifted his phone and scrolled aimlessly through social media. Iona had messaged him pictures she’d taken of him at the festival. He actually looked like he was enjoying himself.He posted them to his page, not for Sophie’s benefit this time, but for his own. A couple of friends and work colleagues had commented on his previous posts. As expected, they were mostly shocked.

I thought you hated water!

Bodyboarding? WTAF!! Who are you and what have you done with Monty?

‘I’m still here,’ he muttered. And this time next week, he’d be back in his office, suffocating under mountains of emails and paperwork. In a dream world, he’d pack it all in and stay with Iona, but he had a job to go back to. His life wasn’t here. And Iona had told him countless times that she was a free spirit. Settling down with her wasn’t the long-term option he was looking for.

This was a holiday fling, and he had to accept it as that. He’d prolong it to the last minute and enjoy every last second, but when he flew out of here on Friday, he’d have to leave it behind.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Iona

Iona tightened the laces on her hiking boots and looked up at the path ahead. Heaval wasn’t a particularly long climb, but it was very steep in places, and the path was little more than a deer track with several boggy patches and places where it almost disappeared. The afternoon sun was bright, however, and the views from the top would be stunning. The sky was a clear blue, with only a few wisps of clouds drifting lazily by.

‘You ok?’ Monty’s voice came from behind as they started up the lower slope.

Iona turned to him, smiling. ‘Of course. I’ve climbed Heaval more times than I can count. My lace keeps coming out.’ She put her foot on a rock to tie it.

Monty adjusted his backpack and gave her a nod. ‘You can lead the way. I looked it up and I read that the path disappears in places.’

‘It gets a bit overgrown and some of it is narrow, but don’t worry, we’ll get there.’

‘I’m never worried when I’m with you. Intrigued as to what’s coming next, yes, but not worried.’

She held out her hand. ‘Shall we?’

He took it without questioning it, which she was glad about. She’d given up giving him lessons. That wasn’t what she was doing anymore. She was just enjoying time with a guy she liked… far too much for her own good.

They set off together, the path winding through patches of heather and rocky outcrops. Holding his hand was like anchoring herself to something steadfast. She didn’t need any physical help with a climb like this, but emotionally he was a rock. Her heart was all over the place, but the warmth of his hold kept her grounded in the here and now.

‘Take care. It’s a bit steep here.’

‘Wow.’ Monty stopped and looked around. ‘What a view. Let me get some pictures.’

‘Wait until we get to the top. It’s even better.’

‘I’d like to get some of Kisimul Castle. For posterity and all that.’ He held up his phone, angling it back down towards the bay where the castle sat up proudly surrounded by glittering blue water. ‘How about one of us?’

‘Sure.’ Iona put her arm around his back and held her face close to his stubbly cheek. Unshaven Monty was sexy. After he’dsnapped a selfie, she turned her face and kissed his cheek. He snapped another, then met her lips with a hot kiss, still holding out his arm and snapping. ‘Is that for posterity too?’ She raised her eyebrow as he pulled back.

‘No. That’s for my eyes only.’

They carried on up. A large white statue came into view onto a sheer rock above them. Every time Iona came up here, she thought this thing looked totally out of place. It was covered in moss these days but depicted a woman holding a child on her shoulders.

‘Ah, the statue.’ Monty frowned up at it. ‘I saw a picture of it. It’s not quite as big as I thought it would be, but it’s a bizarre thing to have so far up a hill.’

‘Yeah, it is. It’s called Our Lady of the Sea,’ Iona said. ‘I don’t know much about history, but I heard that a church minister had it built in the fifties as a symbol of protection for the island.’

‘I read that too. How the families had collected money for the servicepeople returning from the war and their families, but in the end, they didn’t want the money, so they invested it in this.’

‘It’s a sweet little story, but I agree with you that it’s totally bizarre.’

‘We are one mind.’ His tone was jovial, but Iona’s heart leapt. If only they were. Sometimes it felt like that. They were so in tune with one another.

They continued their climb, the path becoming steeper and more rugged as they neared the summit. Iona’s breath came faster, but she loved being up here on top of the world, or at least the island.

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