Page 124 of The Boathouse By the Loch

As soon as he said the wordrescueshe knew she had to give him up too. He’d just found himself a wonderful home in the boathouse. Just because she’d screwed up, it didn’t mean he had to pay for her mistakes too. She said as much to Joe. ‘I want him to stay with David, if he would be so kind as to keep him. If not, please can you ask Duncan, or Gayle – or maybe you could take him? I really, really don’t want him ending up homeless in a shelter all because of me.’ She could feel the tears rolling down her cheeks at the thought. ‘He is such a sweet boy. He doesn’t deserve that.’

‘David won’t give up on Percy – I can assure you.’

Bonnie stared at Joe, wishing with all her heart that David felt the same way about her.

Joe looked at her for a long moment.

She was about to ask him what was on his mind when he said, ‘Right, let’s get on the road, shall we?’

Perhaps it was just as well that she didn’t ask. Bonnie breathed a heavy sigh. She was not looking forward to returning to theboathouse. She couldn’t fail to see the irony. Now she had her memories back, thanks to Marnie, returning there would no longer fill her with dread. She’d quite happily live there now, forever.

At least the saving grace was that nobody would be there when she arrived to pack up her stuff and leave.

Chapter 45

They drove down the single-track lane in silence. She thought Joe might at least ask her where she’d go once she collected her belongings or what she’d do about her interior design outlet, which wasn’t actually her shop. She realised with a start that everything was in Robyn’s name, from the business to the money in the savings account from the cheques that Judith had sent.

She looked at Joe and suddenly realised why he was accompanying her to the house to collect her stuff.Herstuff. The clothes she could pack into the old rucksack. Not the suitcase that belonged to Robyn. Not the keys to Duncan’s shop where she ran Robyn’s Interior Design, not the savings account containing Robyn’s money, and certainly not the keys to the boathouse.

She realised something else with a start. She would leave Aviemore just as she had arrived on Christmas Day, penniless and homeless. But this time she’d be alone too. Bonnie didn’t care about Logan. She was glad to be rid of him. But she’d cared about the baby so very much. She remembered when she’d woken up in the hospital after the accident, and Dr Jamieson had broken the news that she’d been pregnant and that she’d lost her child. All she’d hoped was that one day, she might – just might – be so verylucky as to start a family with the man of her dreams.

She had thought that it would happen, with David.

A wave of nausea suddenly hit her. ‘Oh, god. I need you to pull over. I think I’m going to be sick.’

‘Hold on.’ Joe slowed down to a stop. He’d barely put the handbrake on when she opened the car door and leaned over, retching. ‘Oh, god, I’m so sorry,’ she said before another bout.

Joe said in a gentle voice. ‘Are you all right?’

She sat up in her seat, and wiped her mouth.

Joe was frantically trying to unscrew a bottle of water. ‘Here.’

She took several sips.

‘Feeling better?’

She didn’t, not really, but nodded anyway. ‘Sorry.’

‘Please don’t apologise, Roby— I mean Bonnie.’ He paused. ‘That name is going to take some getting used to,’ she heard him mumble as he set off in the car.

Bonnie stared at the scenery. She couldn’t believe it had just been a few hours ago that she’d been driving down this road, sitting in the back of David’s car, excited about showing Judith her home and the wedding planner. And now she was back, in Joe’s car, going to collect her belongings and be escorted from the boathouse. It could be worse, she supposed. At least she wasn’t arriving in a police car.

She looked at Joe. ‘Will you do something for me? Will you tell David I’m sorry?’ She realised she wasn’t the only one whose life had changed forever that day.

Unsurprisingly, Joe shook his head. ‘No.’

Bonnie peered out of the window. ‘You’re right. You don’t have to do anything for me, and I wouldn’t expect you to.’

‘That’s not it, Bonnie.’

She continued staring out of the window at the pine forest. ‘What do you mean, Joe?’

‘You have nothing to apologise for.’

‘That’s just not true. I was Logan’s girlfriend, the man who robbed your dad’s store, robbed David.’

‘That wasn’t you. That was Logan.’

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