Page 90 of Surprises on the Scottish Isle

It took her a while to wash her hair. Her arms were leaden, and halfway through she was forced to sit down in the bottom of the cubicle, the hot water sluicing over her bowed head and shoulders as she cried quiet tears.

Cal might have risked his life to rescue her, but she was wise enough not to read more into that selfless act than it warranted. She knew he loved her, that hadn’t changed. But neither had his reason for breaking up with her.

He must have popped home, because when she emerged from her bedroom having dried her hair and changed into some fluffy pyjamas, he was in a dry pair of jogging bottoms and a sweatshirt. He was also stirring something on the hob.

A delicious smell hit her nose, and her stomach rumbled.

‘Better?’ he asked when he saw her.

‘Yes, thanks. Are you OK?’

‘Yeah.’

‘What are you making?’

‘Chicken and vegetable soup. It’s quick, filling and nutritious. And I already had it in my freezer.’

Tara lurched over to the table and sat down. ‘Where’s Bonnie?’

‘With Mhairi at the castle.’

‘Does she know what’s happened?’

He shot her a keen look. ‘She was with me when I noticed the skiff had gone.’

Tara’s eyes flew open. ‘The doll’s house!’

‘Don’t worry, we came back before it started to rain. It’s sitting on my dining room table. Bonnie loves it, by the way. She says thank you.’ He smiled. ‘I love it, too.’ There was a pause, and his gaze locked with hers. Then, still looking at her, he slowly moved the pan of soup off the heat and said, ‘I loveyou.’

Tara screwed her eyes shut as a fresh wave of misery hit her. ‘Cal, don’t.’

When she opened them again, he was still staring at her.

He said, ‘You’re right. Now isn’t the time.’ He turned away, his attention returning to the soup as he lifted the handle and poured it into a couple of bowls.

She was surprised he was eating with her, but didn’t say anything, drawing her bowl nearer when he placed it on the table.

Her appetite abruptly deserting her, Tara ate without tasting, forcing it down, knowing she needed to eat if she was to feel better by the morning.

Cal didn’t join her at the table. He ate his soup standing at the counter, and when they had finished he cleared away the dirty dishes.

‘Go to bed,’ he told her. ‘You look done in. I’ll see you in the morning.’

He wouldn’t, she thought as she climbed into bed. She intended to be long gone by the time he got up. There was no point in dragging this out. It would be better for both of them if she slipped away quietly.

As she closed her eyes and sleep claimed her, the last memory she had of Cal was hearing the boathouse door softly click shut behind him.

Mhairi was waiting in the parlour, and as soon as Cal entered she hurried towards him. ‘Thank goodness you are safe!’ she cried, opening her arms to give him a hug.

He hugged her back, inhaling the scent of Chanel. ‘Where’s Bonnie?’

‘I told her you’d found Tara, and that you are both safe and well and back on dry land. She’s in the library, playing solitaire.’

‘I didn’t know she knew how to play solitaire.’

‘She didn’t. I taught her this evening. After I taught her how to play poker.’

‘You didn’t!’

---