Page 85 of The Boathouse By the Loch

‘Absolutely.’

‘All right. Natty, go and clean your teeth.’

Natty was out of the door like a shot.

Jake smiled after her, thankful for pester power. He had the whole week already planned out in his head. There were lots of things they could do together each day in London: museums, the zoo, parks. Perhaps Patrick would like to join them and enjoy some days out together before the three of them headed off to Scotland on Friday.

He stole a glance at Faye. Of course, whether they invited Patrick would be up to her.

Natty’s head reappeared round the door. ‘Mummy says she fancies you.’

‘Natty! I did not.’

‘Did too, when I asked you if you like Jake.’

‘Yes, but I didn’t say—’

Natty slammed the door shut. Jake heard her thundering up the stairs. When he turned to Faye, she was furiously wiping up. ‘Right, I’ve got a ton of things to get done before we go shopping this morning. Do you need to go home and, you know, shower and change?’

‘I’ve got my bag right here.’ Jake pointed towards the hall. Patrick had taken it out of his car and left it the previous night. ‘I’ve got clean clothes. Would you prefer that I go home to shower and change?’

‘No, why would I prefer that?’

Her back was still to him, he noticed. She was avoiding eye contact. Her reply was short, abrupt. Jake sighed. He really hoped this holiday was not going to turn out to be a bad idea. Natty clearly had plans for him and Faye to get together. He did too. But he wasn’t a nine-year-old child with no filter, who wanted things now. Jake could wait. He’d wait and wait and wait, and hope that one day Faye might just feel an inkling of what he felt for her.

Chapter 29

Faye put the kettle on.

Jake sat down at the kitchen table. There was a bowl, some milk and a box of cereal. He poured some cereal and eyed his train ticket. He still wished they weren’t going by train. They were getting the early morning train from London Euston to Glasgow Central, which took four and a half hours, followed by another train from Glasgow to Aviemore. All in all, a train journey of over seven hours. It did beat doing it by road, but Jake would have preferred to fly.

He looked at his ticket and had to ask, ‘It was very thoughtful of you to make the travel arrangements. Was the train really all Natty’s idea? I know it’s cheaper than flying, but I don’t mind booking us a flight. That way, we wouldn’t lose an entire day of our holiday travelling.’

Faye had boiled the kettle and made two mugs of tea. She turned around and put one in front of Jake, then sat at the table. ‘I suppose I kind of nudged her in that direction. I was thinking of a bus, because that’s cheaper, but neither of us wanted to revisit that bus station any time soon.’

Jake understood. ‘So, do you want to cancel the train tickets,and I’ll book us a flight?’

Faye shook her head. ‘Patrick might be offended.’

Jake frowned ‘What’s it got to do with Patrick?’

‘He offered to pay for the holiday. Insisted, actually. I told him I felt bad not inviting him to come with us, but he said he didn’t want to get in the way, and that when we get back, he hopes he can have a day out with Natty, just him and his granddaughter.’

Jake was surprised Patrick had paid for the tickets. But then again, maybe he wasn’t. When he’d told Patrick about Faye’s idea for the three of them to go on holiday to Scotland, Patrick had seemed over the moon with the idea. Jake knew the reason – he could see his granddaughter was very fond of the babysitter. And he knew she’d called him Daddy. Natty’s real father wasn’t coming back. Patrick could see Jake as very, very good husband material for his daughter. Jake, and clearly Patrick, were hoping that during the course of this holiday, Faye would start to see that too.

‘I’ve already got the accommodation sorted, so he doesn’t have to worry about that.’ Jake suddenly realised that wasn’t true. His arrangement with Gayle had been made on the proviso that they would be returning shortly. Now they wouldn’t be arriving until Friday. He made a mental note to phone Gayle, hoping she had vacancies. He had to organise two rooms – one for himself, and a family or twin room for Natty and Faye.

Faye took a sip of coffee and commented, ‘Yeah, my dad said we wouldn’t have to worry about booking accommodation.’

Jake was getting his mobile phone out to call Gayle. ‘Oh, really? I didn’t mention whereabouts we’d be staying in Scotland when I got off the phone to you yesterday before you collected Natty.’

‘I guess he presumed we’d be staying at your holiday home.’

Jake’s head shot up. ‘Excuse me?’

‘He gave me and Natty pocket money, which was kind of funny. I haven’t had spending money for a holiday off my dad for years.’

Jake sat there staring at Faye. ‘Look, about The Lake House…’

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