Page 39 of The Boathouse By the Loch

Gayle smiled to herself. He was in for quite a surprise. She’d got the call mid-afternoon from Robyn, who had said that she was nearly home. They had arranged for Gayle to pick her up from the train station, and Gayle had been home, anticipating her call.

She’d bundled Olive into the back of her car. Olive loved a car ride and had jumped in and out excitedly several times before Gayle had managed to close the back door.

Olive’s green Bentley, inherited from her parents, did not enjoy Olive – or more to the point, the green Bentley’s owner preferred not to take her out in the car. She slobbered everywhere and left fur all over the upholstered seats.

But that afternoon, it had been a small price to pay to make sure Robyn was picked up from the train station in Aviemore and brought back to Lark Lodge to surprise David and hopefully sort out what was really going on. Gayle didn’t want to think about the fact that there was definitely something the matter with her friend. It troubled Gayle that Robyn had avoided telling her what it was that had happened. She knew that Robyn’s London trips had become more frequent. Robyn usually had David in tow, and as far as he was aware, she visited clients. Although he did not go with her, she’d told him where she was each time. The last time, he’d tagged along uninvited, watching from a discreet distance. Unfortunately, it was not discreet enough. Robyn had discovered him: she’d exited the house through the back door and had reappeared down the street of the extensive property, only to catch her fiancé standing on the street corner, looking up at the house and watching the front door. Robyn had seen him take off at pace down the street when her clients had suddenly opened the front door.

Of course, she’d told Gayle all this. And the next thing Gayle had known, Robyn had decided to go up to London without him. Gayle’s first thought when she’d told her this was that Robyn had been annoyed with David for spying on her and had decided to teach him a lesson.

When she’d first found out that David wasn’t going, Gayle had broached the possibility that if he had decided to follow her at any point when she was meeting up with clients – Gayle was careful itdidn’t appear that she and Robyn had been talking about that episode behind his back – she might have decided next time he wasn’t going with her. But he’d dismissed the possibility, saying there was no way she’d have spotted him, surprising Gayle by not denying it.

But shehadspotted him. Gayle just couldn’t tell him that. Now she looked at him and wished she had. Then perhaps he wouldn’t have got it into his head that there was something more going on.

The problem was that if he asked Gayle whether everything was okay with Robyn, as far as she knew – and it was nothing more than her being ticked off with him for following her – she wouldn’t be able to give David what he wanted: a reassuring answer. Gayle had a strong feeling Robyn was keeping something from her, from both of them, and that it had something to do with those visits. The fact that Robyn was surprising David, in a good way, should have convinced Gayle that she was just imagining things. The trouble was that it just felt to Gayle like Robyn was over-compensating for something. Especially when she’d collected her from the train station, and her arms had been laden with presents from London for her and Olive – Gayle had had to hide them in a kitchen cupboard until David knew she was back. There were presents for Annie, and her husband, David’s brother Joe. And of course David’s little niece, Evie, whom Robyn had grown quite attached to.

Of course, Gayle had thanked her for the expensive perfume from Harrods, joking that she must have a very rich client. Robyn’s face had slipped when she’d said, ‘How did you know?’ And there it was, once again – the feeling that there was definitely something up. Robyn was hiding something.

‘Everything all right?’ David asked.

Gayle realised that he must have caught her expression as she was thinking all this. She tried to put it to the back of her mind. It was spoiling her joy at the thought of the wonderful surprise in store for David when he discovered that Robyn was waiting for him in their room at Lark Lodge, and that she’d bought him something very special home with her from London.

Gayle grinned, thinking of the surprise in store. ‘I’m fine,’ she said, and opened the door. Her smile slipped when she wondered what Robyn might have been covering up during her trips to London. They’d known each other for months – since Christmas Day, when Gayle had been visiting her late father and had spotted Robyn in a hospital bed after a car accident. Robyn had lost her memory. After all these months, as far as Gayle was aware, it hadn’t come back – or had it?

Perhaps David was right, and there was more to her trips to London than meeting clients – perhaps she was meeting someone from her past.

But she hadn’t shared that fact with Gayle, and they were best friends. Gayle gave David a sideways glance as he put the sheets and towels down on the unmade bed.

The trouble was that if Robyn wasn’t being truthful now, what would happen down the line if she was found out? Gayle hadn’t mentioned what was on her mind when she’d picked her up from the train station because she hadn’t wanted to spoil Robyn’s evening – or David’s. And besides, Gayle rather hoped she was going to share with David that night what she had been doing in London, if there was something else going on. Maybe that was the surprise.

Gayle suddenly had the most extraordinary thought. WasRobyn pregnant? Was that it? Maybe she was seeing a doctor in London. But why travel all the way there, when there were plenty of good doctors and hospitals right there in Scotland?

‘What’s wrong with you?’ David said, catching the look of surprise on her face.

‘Oh, er … nothing.’

‘Alright. So don’t tell me,’ David said sulkily.

‘No, really – it’s nothing.’ She decided it was wishful thinking. Robyn didn’t look tired, or peaky. And didn’t have morning sickness. She was sure Annie would have noticed and said something. And Robyn had had a big bottle of bubbly in her hands when she’d got off the train, and had joked that she wouldn’t be drinking it all herself.

Gayle had asked, ‘What’s the special occasion?’

Robyn had replied, ‘Wouldn’t you like to know!’ Then she had put her arm through Gayle’s and had said, ‘Just celebrating a big contract in London.’

Gayle sighed. Perhaps that really was all there was to it.

She looked at the unmade bed.

David followed her gaze, then looked around the room and caught sight of the empty wardrobe. ‘Jake’s left already?’

‘Yes, I’m afraid so.’

‘Damn.’

‘You were calling on him?’ Gayle asked, walking into the room, followed by David carrying the freshly laundered sheets and towels.

‘Where did my drinking buddy go?’

‘He had to head back to London – had an emergency.’ Gayle’s head swivelled in his direction when she realised what he’d said. ‘Drinking buddy?’

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