Page 19 of The Boathouse By the Loch

‘Oh, right. Of course. Silly me.’

‘Why would she move back into her room here when she’s got a gorgeous boathouse to live in? No offence, Gayle.’

‘None taken,’ Gayle replied.

‘Right, well, I’ll go and put these bags in the fridge and heat up that stew. If it tastes half as good as it smells …’ Nick’s voice trailed off as he crossed the hall to the kitchen.

Jake caught Gayle smiling after him, obviously feeling chuffed that her stew was going down a treat.

Nick’s head appeared round the door. ‘Olive, be good!’

Olive was sitting next to Jake. He patted her on the head. ‘Good girl.’ Thinking of Robyn, he turned to Gayle. ‘Is Robyn coming here some time over the weekend, do you think?’ he said.

‘Yes, I was expecting to see her when she got back from London tomorrow, but if things go according to plan for David, then I guess she might pop in to say hello on Sunday instead. I do cook a Sunday roast. They know they’re welcome any time.’

Sunday it is, then, thought Jake, not without some trepidation; what was he likely to find out about Eleanor, and would it be good news or bad?

Chapter 7

Jake sat on the bed, picked up his mobile and phoned Faye.

A child’s voice gave a wary hello down the phone.

Jake smiled. ‘Hello, cherub.’

‘Jake!’ Natty shouted excitedly. Then her tone changed abruptly. ‘No!’ she whined, ‘I’m speaking to Jake.’ Her voice sounded muffled this time, and Jake guessed Faye was trying to wrestle the phone out of her hand – without much luck, by the sound of it.

‘Is that Mummy?’ Jake spoke down the phone.

‘Yes, but I got here first. It’smyturn first,’ Natty shouted, evidently still asserting her right to keep hold of the phone.

Jake heard Faye acquiesce in the background. ‘Five minutes. It’s well past your bedtime.’

‘Where are you?’ Natty said down the phone.

Jake smiled. It wasn’t so much a question as a demand. She made it sound like he was absconding from babysitting duties without her permission.

‘I’m in Scotland.’ His leave from work had been sudden, and with a pang of guilt Jake realised he hadn’t even told Natty he was taking a holiday. He hoped Faye had put her in the picture. Thelast thing he wanted was for Natty to think he was walking out of her life – like it would seem to her that her father and grandfather had done.

‘You remember, your mummy told you I was going on a little holiday?’ Jake hoped this was true.

‘Yes,’ said Natty, ‘I remember. But where are you? Scotland’s a big place. I saw it on a map. So where exactly?’

‘I’m in the Cairngorms. You can google it.’

Hearing Natty’s voice made Jake realise how much he was missing the kid; he missed taking her to the park. He missed their shopping trips to Hamleys in Regent Street to buy new toys – the trips that had got him into so much trouble with Faye. He even missed the bottomless pit of questions that she seemed to store up just to drive him nuts when he was on babysitting duty in the evening after a long day at work.

‘Natty?’ The line had gone quiet. Jake called her name several times. On the fourth try, she answered.

‘Say it again, the place where you are?’ Natty demanded.

‘The Cairngorms.’

The line went quiet again her end.

‘What are you up to, Natty?’

‘I’ve found it, I’ve found it. But where is the town?’

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