Page 94 of The Boathouse By the Loch

Duncan reckoned that the burglars had got lost down the country lane and happened upon the house. It was unfortunate nobody was in. Duncan told her later that he had already been at Joe and Annie’s house, spending Christmas Eve, as well as Christmas Day, with them and his grandchild.

The burglars hadn’t touched the Christmas presents under the Christmas tree, because they’d found a lot of cash instead.

Robyn had been surprised when Duncan had told her that. It sounded as though David had cashed in some investments. But Duncan was right when he’d wondered aloud why David had left that amount of cash lying around. She’d been shocked to discover that it had been thousands of pounds. Of course, it wasn’t David’s fault he’d been burgled. It wouldn’t have been. It was just really bad luck. But Duncan had been right when he’d questioned why David had taken such a risk. Robyn remembered asking Duncan what David had needed the money for. Duncan didn’t know. His son hadn’t wanted to talk about it.

And he still didn’t. He hadn’t mentioned it to her. She guessed he wouldn’t. Why bring up the fact that he’d been stupid leaving all that cash around and had lost it? She imagined there was another reason he wouldn’t tell her. He’d noticed she wasn’t feeling settled in her new home. The week off on holiday, spent together at the boathouse, had been intended to solve that problem. She guessed he thought it would be really unsettling if she knew strangers had turned up and burgled the place.

He had no clue that Duncan had already told her, and shefound it all very unsettling, but not for the reasons he might think.

Robyn remembered asking Duncan a question she really wished she hadn’t: how much cash there had been. When Duncan had told her the amount of money that had been stolen, Robyn had felt faint. She’d thought again of the car accident on Christmas Day. When she’d been discharged from the hospital, and Gayle had taken her back to Lark Lodge, Robyn had looked through her belongings that had been in the car – an old suitcase and a rucksack. At the bottom of the rucksack, under some clothes, she’d found cash – a lot of cash. She’d counted it, and the amount had matched the amount of cash that had been stolen from the boathouse. And now all the cash was gone, spent on her shop outlet, buying materials, helping Duncan out with redecorating and furnishing his flat, and paying him rent for use of part of his shop for her business.

All she could think was that it was a massive coincidence. How could she possibly have burgled David’s house? She wasn’t a thief. She was a student at university – until she had dropped out, anyway. And besides, she didn’t need the money. She glanced at Judith. Her stepmum had sent her all these generous cheques, which she’d put into a savings account.

Robyn wouldn’t have thought any more about it, if it hadn’t been for the memory that kept resurfacing every time she returned to the boathouse: of sitting alone in a car in the dark and cold outside. It made no sense because when she’d followed Duncan inside the boathouse for the first time, she’d stood in the entrance hallway and had realised that nothing was familiar. No memory resurfaced when she caught sight of the large stuffed fish in a glass case on the wall, or the modern glass-panelled open-tread staircase that rose to the next floor, or the impressive kitchen and studyshe’d seen from the hall. She remembered the wave of relief that had swept over her when she’d realised she had most likely not been into the house.

When she’d ventured up to the next floor, and had seen the lounge with its exposed brick walls, log burner, beamed ceiling, and double doors out to the wooden balcony, with stunning views of the loch and the snow-capped mountains beyond, she knew she’d never been inside the boathouse until that moment.

Then a horrible thought had come out of nowhere. She hadn’t been inside the property because she’d been the getaway driver. Robyn had no idea why she’d thought that – she still didn’t. She was convinced her imagination had run wild simply because of the huge coincidence over the money in the rucksack. There had to be a logical explanation. Perhaps it was money she’d inherited from her late father. Maybe she’d taken it out of a bank for a reason. David must have had his reasons for taking such a large sum out of his bank.I must have had my reasons too, thought Robyn.

She turned to gaze at Judith sitting in front of her. Would she know? Could Judith tell her where the money had come from, and perhaps what her intentions had been for it?

Robyn had just opened her mouth to ask, when a thought occurred to her. Was she taking a risk asking Judith? What if Judith didn’t have a clue where the money had come from? But it wasn’t just that thought that kept Robyn from asking. Her gaze shifted to David. He had no clue about the cash she’d discovered in that rucksack. It clearly wasn’t the time to bring it up, in front of him.

Robyn shut her mouth, wishing again that her memories would come back. As it was, she’d noticed the change in Judith towards her when she’d mentioned the amnesia. She wished David hadn’t brought up the car accident.But I’d have had to tell Judithsome time, thought Robyn miserably. It was bound to become obvious that she couldn’t remember things in her past. She couldn’t even remember Judith.

Robyn sighed. She didn’t want to think about that, or where the money in the rucksack had come from. Instead she turned her thoughts to their imminent arrival. She hoped Judith loved her new home.

‘The scenery is gorgeous – isn’t it?’ Robyn commented, focused on the forest of pines either side of the road, looking forward to Judith’s first glimpse of the boathouse through the trees.

Judith nodded her head. ‘I guess so. Is it far now? It still seems quite a distance from the main road.’

‘Not far at all,’ said David reassuringly.

Robyn frowned. Why was she so concerned about how far it was from the main road? Why wasn’t she just enjoying the scenery?

David said, ‘People come here to walk around the loch and fish. My dad used to bring me and my brother and take a boat out fishing.’

Robyn smiled when she remembered Duncan telling her this. She had been surprised to learn of those fishing trips with his sons. David had given her the impression that growing up, it had all been about the game – ice hockey – and that all he’d done in his spare time was get taken to ice hockey practice. But David had clearly loved those fishing trips to the old boathouse that Duncan had rented each summer. It came with an old rowing boat that they used for fishing, and a room in the eaves which provided very basic accommodation. They’d had to take sleeping bags and a cooking stove.

Robyn recalled that trip in the car with Duncan to theboathouse. She’d been surprised to hear that, despite the very basic accommodation, David had obviously loved those trips so much that he’d gone ahead and bought it. Somehow, Robyn hadn’t been able to imagine David living in an old, rundown boathouse. And she’d been right. He’d had the place demolished and a modern, architecturally designed boathouse built in its place, with some olde-worlde charm added inside, including faux beams and exposed brickwork.

‘There – can you see it, Judith? Look, through the trees.’

Judith turned her head to look to her right, where they could just catch a glimpse of a pitched, tiled roof with a chimney. A few minutes later, they rounded a bend in the road. They could see the boathouse clearly now.

Judith remarked, ‘It doesn’t look like a boathouse. It looks like a house.’

Robyn smiled. ‘That’s exactly what I said when I first saw it.’

David glanced at Judith. ‘The back of the house fronts the loch. I’ve got a jetty and a small rowing boat.’

Robyn added, ‘There are double doors from the lounge upstairs on to a wooden balcony with fantastic views. You’ll love it.’ Robyn felt a little bit as though she was selling the place, especially as Judith wasn’t exactly oohing and ahhing about the house. In fact, she’d said very little on the journey. ‘You know, David proposed to me on that balcony. It was very romantic.’

‘That’s nice,’ Judith commented.

Robyn frowned. She had expected Judith to ask her if they’d set the date for her wedding and to say that she’d put the date in her diary. They hadn’t set a date, but during her week off, Robyn had started the planning side. When they’d stopped in Aviemore on Saturday morning to get a stamp before returning to theboathouse for their week’s holiday, David had nipped out of the post-office while she was in the queue, saying he’d meet her back at the car. When she’d posted her letter, she’d returned to the car to find David sitting there grinning. He’d had something in a bag on his lap. He’d been shopping. Robyn had recognised the motif on the plastic bag. He’d been into the local paper shop which sold newspapers, birthday cards and the like.

He’d passed her the bag, saying, ‘I thought this might come in handy.’

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