Page 35 of Surprises on the Scottish Isle

Only when she was certain he was gone did she move, and even then, she was careful to make sure he wasn’t in the shadows of the trees before ending her vigil. The last thing she wanted was for him to guess she had been spying on him, because he might wonder why.

Chapter 11

‘You look tired, my dear,’ was Mhairi Gray’s opening gambit as she entered Tara’s studio four days later.

Tara was standing by the window, debating whether to change the display. If she did, she’d be doing it more for herself than anyone else, because the visitors to the centre were primarily tourists so they would visit once, then move on to the many other attractions that Skye had to offer.

‘Are you not sleeping?’ Mhairi asked.

‘Had a bit of a restless night,’ Tara admitted. Every night seemed to be restless lately.

‘You have my sympathies. I don’t sleep well myself, but that’s because I’m old. What’s your excuse?’

‘I, er, don’t know.’

‘I thought I’d pop along and see how you are settling in.’ Mhairi’s eyes darted everywhere. ‘And I wanted to have a proper look at your lovely doll’s houses.’ Her gaze came to rest on a selection of photographs pinned to the corkboard. ‘Oh my, that looks remarkably like the inside of a funeral parlour.’

‘It is.’

‘You’re not going to…?’

‘I am, although I’m not sure I want to make all the little details.’

‘Gosh. Is that something you do on a regular basis?’ The old lady looked faintly alarmed.

Tara didn’t blame her – she was faintly alarmed herself. ‘It’s a first for me,’ she said, ‘and if I’m honest, I hope it’s the last. It has given me the idea of producing some Halloween miniatures, though. Just a few, to see how they go.’

‘I know you said that all your sales are online, but I’ve noticed you are selling through the gift shop.’

Tara brightened. ‘I am. I didn’t think I’d do much – I mean, how many people come on holiday and go home with a doll’s house? But the smaller items appear to be going quite well.’

‘I knew they would, dear. They would sell even better if you gave them a Scottish twist. Tartan cushions and curtains, maybe? A tartan throw? Teeny weeny bottles of whisky?’

‘That’s genius! Why didn’t I think of that?’ Suddenly Tara was all fired up. ‘How about I make a crofter’s house to put centre stage in the gift shop? It’ll be a display piece only, but it would give people a taste of Highland living.’

Mhairi gave her a satisfied smile. ‘That sounds lovely. I’ll look forward to seeing it when it’s done.’ She patted Tara on the arm. ‘I won’t keep you any longer, but you know where I am if you need me.’ As she turned to the door she hesitated. ‘By the way, I can’t remember if I showed you around the castle?’

‘No, you didn’t, but I’d love to have a tour.’

‘I’ll ask Avril to arrange it. Seeing photos on the website isn’t the same as seeing it in person.’

Tara wholeheartedly agreed. She often wished she could view the houses she’d been asked to commission, but it wasn’t always possible due to the distances involved. Tara accepted commissions from all over the UK, and from abroad once, so it wasn’t feasible to take a look in person at the buildings she had been asked to model.

She glanced at the corkboard, feeling thankful in this instance. She had no desire to have a guided tour of a funeral home. Seeing it in miniature was bad enough.

Deciding to stop faffing about and leave the perfectly fine window display as it was, Tara perched on her stool and opened her laptop. It was time to work out exactly how the funeral parlour was going to fit together.

Eating lunch in the cafe was becoming a habit – an expensive andwaistline thickening habit – but the food was so good there that Tarawas finding it difficult to resist. Not only that, going to the cafemeant she was forced to take a break and stretch her legs, even if thewalk was short. And there was the added attraction of having a chat withGillian, if she wasn’t too busy.

Today wasn’t one of the ‘not too busy’ days. There was quite a queue waiting to be served, and all the tables inside were taken. After Tara finally gave her order over the counter, she wandered outside to sit on one of the picnic benches and enjoy the sun and the view of the loch.

It was four days since she’d watched Calan row to the other side of it, and she hadn’t seen him since, making her wonder whether he was deliberately avoiding her. She wished he wouldn’t. Expecting to bump into him at any moment was proving to be worse than actually bumping into him. So much for her theory that she’d get used to seeing him around.

A shadow fell over her and she jumped, expecting it to be Cal, but she calmed when she realised it was Jinny.

‘Do you mind if I join you? I had to get out of the shop for a bit. Honestly, some people can be so rude! I’ve just had a woman ask if “this lot” is made in China. Doesn’t she know what craft centre means? Even if she didn’t, you would think she would have noticed all the crafters hard at work making stuff.’ Jinny blew her fringe out of her eyes. ‘Sorry, I just needed to vent. Sometimes people are just too peopley.’

‘Peopley?’

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