Page 92 of The Boathouse By the Loch

Robyn rolled her eyes. David was back to talking about his car.

‘A present,’ Judith repeated, turning in her seat to glance at Robyn. ‘Well, it’s some present. You must have a very good friend.’

Robyn settled back in her seat for the inevitable re-telling of a familiar story about his dad gifting him the car after the party at Gayle’s to celebrate the opening of Lark Lodge as a guesthouse.

‘No, it wasn’t a friend. My dad gave it to me after the car accident. My sports car was a write-off.’

‘You had a car accident? Oh my goodness! What happened?’

Robyn jerked her head, suddenly realising where this conversation was going. She hadn’t told Judith anything about what had taken place at Christmas. As far as she was aware, her stepdaughter had returned to college after spending the Christmas break in Aviemore. Now, Robyn wished she’d written about all that in her letter too. At least her stepmum would have been forewarned.

Chapter 32

They travelled the rest of the way along the main road in stony silence, punctuated by David trying his best to make conversation with Judith. Eventually, he gave up.

Robyn would have preferred it if Judith had said something – anything at all – rather than blank her after she’d been forced to tell her all about the accident, her amnesia, and deferring university, eventually deciding to drop out for good. It was the amnesia bit that was bothering her. Did Judith believe her, or did she think she was faking it to garner some sympathy?

Robyn stared out of the window, trying to enjoy the scenery once more, but it was impossible. She kept being drawn back to the passenger in the front, wondering what she was thinking.

They neared Aviemore. It reminded Robyn that she had been intending to phone Gayle to see if she had time to do something with Judith’s hair before the party.

Robyn pursed her lips. She imagined Judith was now not interested in having her hair done or coming to her party. Unfortunately, this was exactly what Robyn had feared might happen when her stepmum found out she’d made such huge decisions without at least talking them through with her first.

Robyn took a deep breath and said, ‘Judith, we’re coming into Aviemore. This is where Gayle lives. Do you still want your hair cut for this evening, if she has the time?’

Robyn held her breath, hoping that Judith was still coming to her party. Judith turned in the seat to look at her. She said, ‘You mentioned that Gayle is a good friend.’

Robyn nodded. ‘The best.’

‘Is that where you stayed, at her guesthouse, after the car accident?’

‘Yes.’ Robyn tried to keep her smile in check and not get her hopes up. Judith was speaking to her. That was a good sign – wasn’t it? Robyn tried to put herself in Judith’s shoes. It must have come as a huge shock to not only discover her very changed appearance, but how much her life had transformed in the last few months. She should have written to her months earlier. But what if Judith had read about her amnesia, and the fact that she’d dropped out of college, and had chosen not to visit? As things were, at least she was still there and hadn’t asked David to turn the car around and take her straight back to the airport.

‘I should like to see this place, Lark Lodge, and speak to the woman who took you in.’

‘It wasn’t a guesthouse when I moved in with Gayle.’

‘It wasn’t?’

Robyn shook her head, smiling to herself, thinking how wonderful it was that Judith wanted to meet her friends. There would be no shortage of those at her party.

David glanced at Judith. ‘It was Robyn’s idea to turn it into a guesthouse. She did it up for Gayle. My fiancée is really something, isn’t she?’

Robyn caught Judith staring at David for a long moment as hefaced forward, keeping his eyes on the road.

Robyn said, ‘I’m going to phone Gayle and see if she’s free to do your hair.’

Judith flicked her hand. ‘Don’t bother.’

‘You don’t want your hair done for the party?’

‘Yes, of course I do.’

Robyn was so relieved to hear it. That meant Judith was definitely still planning on attending. She got out her mobile phone. ‘It will be a wasted trip to Lark Lodge if she doesn’t have enough time free.’

Judith shook her head. ‘It won’t be a wasted trip if I get to meet her. Like I said, I’d like to speak to her.’

What about?Robyn had it on the tip of her tongue to ask. But it was obvious. Judith wasn’t going to take Robyn’s word for it. She wanted to check with her friends that her life was working out, and perhaps ask them about the man she was marrying. Robyn had no problem with that – no problem at all.

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