Page 70 of Surprises on the Scottish Isle

‘We could go down to the beach.’

‘And what if Bonnie wakes up?’

Cal knew she was right, and his ardour cooled. ‘I can’t wait for Sunday night,’ he said.

‘You’re going to have to.’ And with that, she planted a kiss on his lips then danced out of reach.

Cal waited until a light came on in the boathouse before he went inside. Sunday couldn’t come fast enough.

Chapter 21

‘I’d better get a move on, and so had you,’ Tara said in alarm after glancing at the digital clock on Cal’s oven. She shoved a piece of toast in her mouth before stuffing her feet into her trainers.

Cal was leaning against the sink, watching her, his expression one of amusement as he watched her fumble as she made a hash of tying the laces in her haste.

She glowered at him. ‘You won’t think it funny if Paul comes looking for you. Aren’t you supposed to be checking the deer fences this morning?’

She watched his amusement fade as he realised that she was right. Tara knew Paul wouldn’t hang about waiting for him. He would come looking, and she thought it might have been more prudent for Cal to have stayed at the boathouse last night, which is what he usually did. But he’d cooked a meal for her in the cottage, and one thing had led to another…

She gave him a quick kiss, then left him to get ready while she went home for a shower. As she dried her hair, Tara realised she did think of the boathouse as home. It would be a wrench when she came to leave it, as she must do at some point, and probably sooner rather than later. Very shortly, half of the money from the sale of the Edinburgh house would be in her bank account, and then she’d have no excuse not to do some serious house searching.

Since that wonderful day when Cal had rowed her to the other side of the loch, she hadn’t been thinking about house hunting at all. She was far too happy where she was. With Cal living just up the lane, it was so easy for them to sneak into each other’s houses. That would change when she moved.

She supposed she’d better see if the house on the outskirts of the village was still on the market. If it was, she should go view it, because apart from Yvaine’s cottage, that property was the only other house for sale anywhere near Duncoorie.

She didn’t have time to check the estate agent’s website now, but she vowed to take a look after she’d finished for the day.

Skipping along the lane to the craft centre, Tara mentally ran through what she had to do today, the main thing being to run the first of the children’s model-making workshops. She’d collected loads of sturdy cardboard boxes, which would form the houses themselves, and had stacks of miniature wallpaper designs, paints, brushes and glue. It was going to be messy, but fun. Hopefully.

It was Bonnie’s idea. Tara had been considering providing pre-cut MDF boards, the same stuff she used to make her houses, but Bonnie reckoned the kids would have more fun designing their own from scratch. Bonnie and Katie were taking part in this session, so Tara hoped it went well.

It had been Cal’s turn to have Bonnie this weekend, so Tara had hardly seen him. However, with the start of a new week Cal was back to having Bonnie during the day only, so Tara and Cal were able to spend the nights together. And next week, Yvaine’s parents would take over, so things should get back to normal.

Sometimes, Tara felt like she was living a double life, but if that’s what she must do to be with Cal, so be it. Anyway, as he kept telling her, it wouldn’t be forever.

The barn was where the workshops took place. It was an enormous spacewith a high vaulted ceiling, the supporting beams exposed in large arcsoverhead. The floor space had been sectioned into several areas to keepthe individual crafts separate, with a pottery section at the backcomplete with a drying room, an artist’s studio, and four other roomscontaining workstations and stools.

There was also a small refreshment area to the front, supplied by the cafe when workshops were taking place, although lunch would be eaten in the cafe itself.

Today, there were several activities in the barn, ranging from pot throwing to silk painting, so it promised to be a fun day. And an exhausting one, as Tara was running a session in the morning and another in the afternoon.

Tara set everything out, dashing back and forth from her studio to the barn, making sure she had everything she needed despite double and triple checks yesterday. She couldn’t believe she was so nervous, but considering this was her first time, she supposed it was only to be expected.

Bonnie walked confidently into the barn with Katie, who also looked quite at home. Tara hoped their attitude would help put the other children at ease, most of whom had never visited the craft centre before. Parents were welcome – and encouraged – to stay, and many of them chose to do so, using the time to explore the castle and the grounds, only popping back to the barn now and again to check on their offspring.

Those parents who had decided to stay could join the children for lunch in the cafe, but Tara doubted whether she’d get a chance to grab anything to eat, as she suspected her lunchtime would be spent clearing away the debris from the morning session and preparing for the afternoon one.

Cal, bless him, had promised to cook this evening, and had even offered to give her a massage, saying she could probably do with some destressing after a day of supervising all those children. She guessed he might be speaking from experience, and an image of him trying to keep a birthday party full of kids entertained popped into her head.

To Tara’s surprise, after she’d stuttered and stammered through an explanation of what her young crafters would be doing this morning and had shown them several cardboard box houses she’d made earlier, she found she was enjoying herself. The children definitely seemed to be, and she noticed Bonnie helping Katie with her design when she was stuck for ideas.

Two and a half hours wasn’t long to produce a doll’s house, even if it was a cardboard one, but Tara was pleased with what the children had managed to achieve by the end of the session. And their parents were complimentary, too. Although the cardboard doll’s houses wouldn’t last, it gave the children a taste of what it was like to design a building, transfer that design from paper into 3D, and then assemble it.

She was stowing the last of the houses on the shelves which were dotted around the refreshment area and ensuring each house had its creator’s name on it so they could collect them at the end of the day, when Cal popped his head around the door.

‘Have you got a few minutes?’

Tara thought of the clearing up still to be done. ‘Not really.’

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