Page 75 of The Boathouse By the Loch

David winced. ‘Now, just hear me out before you say no.’ Hetook a breath. ‘We should have a holiday.’

‘A holiday? Are you serious? I’ve got my outlet in your dad’s store—’

‘Annie will cover that. I know she will.’

‘But what about the deliveries you do for your dad?’

‘Relax. I’m sure Alec will cover those, work some overtime, so he can save up some more money for college.’

‘But what about my commissions in London? And then there’s The Lake House. I’ve started work on it.’

Nick interrupted. ‘I didn’t know you’d been commissioned to work on The Lake House. What’s the house like? Does it need a lot of work? What are they going to do with the house when it’s finished?’

David and Robyn turned to look at him.

Nick looked at them sheepishly. ‘Too many questions?’

They both nodded.

‘Sorry. Like most people, I’m intrigued by that family. I can’t help it.’ He looked at Gayle.

David hoped she wasn’t going to say anything about the surprise he had in store for Robyn. He just hoped that when he invited Jake Campbell-Ross, he would come – assuming he had returned to Scotland in time after the emergency he had been called back to London for.

‘I think I’ll cook myself some scrambled eggs,’ said Nick, getting up from the table. ‘Anybody want some?’ he asked, walking over to the Aga.

Everyone shook their heads.

David turned to Robyn. ‘The commissions can wait. We can’t. We need more days, nights, like last night.’

Robyn’s cheeks turned bright red.

‘But,’ David continued, ‘it can’t be that our best times were here, at Lark Lodge.’

Gayle stepped in. ‘You need to make some new memories together at the boathouse.’

‘But that’s not going to happen if we’re hardly ever there,’ added David. ‘I thought we could have a holiday there. Do some fun things, make some good memories in that place.’ He could tell by the wisp of a smile that Robyn was warming to the idea.

‘We could start by spending some time planning the party and getting the boathouse ready. What do you say?’

‘I suppose I could take a few days off.’

‘That’s the spirit!’ exclaimed Gayle.

David grinned. ‘Yes, and then perhaps after we’ve had our little holiday, you could take a few more days off when your mum comes to stay, so you can spend time together after the party.’

‘All right.’

‘Did you just say yes?’ David whooped and started do a silly little dance on the spot.

‘Did I miss something?’

They all turned to see Marty, in his dressing gown, hair askew, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he trudged into the kitchen. ‘Whoa, you guys are far too awake for this time in the morning.’

‘It’s half past nine,’ said Gayle.

Marty was just lifting the kettle to pour himself a cup of tea. He stopped and turned to look at the others seated around the table. ‘Seriously? I thought it was a lot earlier.’

‘Someone had a good night – so good, in fact, that you don’t know what the time is.’

---