Page 76 of Summer Escapes on the Scottish Isle

Vinnie asked, ‘When you say “at the castle”, do you mean he’s staying there?’

She nodded. ‘Don’t worry, I’m not going to stay there with him.’

‘I’m not worried. I keep telling you I can manage.’ He sat down opposite. ‘You’ve seen me over the worst, so why don’t you spend a few days with him, or however long he’s there for, then go back to London when he does?’

Freya smiled weakly. ‘Are you trying to get rid of me?’

He ignored her comment. ‘Promise me something?’

‘What?’

‘That you won’t let him talk you out of going to America. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime.’

That was an easy one. ‘I won’t, Dad, I promise.’

He stared at her, his gaze keen, then he nodded. ‘Good. I’ll make my own tea. You go have fun!’

If only he knew…

She’d tell him later, but it was only fair that Hadrian heard the news that she was breaking up with him first, before she told anyone else.

Chapter 20

Mack blew out his cheeks as he watched his passengers disembark, while Angus was giving anyone who needed it a helping hand. He was glad to see the back of this lot, if he was honest, and one person in particular. The flashy git with the exaggerated air of self-importance had spent half the trip on his phone, and the other half exclaiming loudly about composition and light, line and form, and generally bigging himself up.

Mack had no idea who this guy was, and he didn’t care. The chap could be the next Picasso for all he knew, but Mack wasn’t interested. He just wished the man would shut his gob for a few minutes, because he sure did like the sound of his own voice.

‘Got any plans for this evening?’ Angus asked as they were going through the end-of-day routine.

‘Just some paperwork,’ Mack replied. He’d get that done first, then nip into the village for a couple of bits from the shop and call at the castle on the way back. ‘You?’

‘Taking the kids to the cinema to see the latest Disney film.’ He rolled his eyes, but Mack knew that Angus secretly loved kids’ films. Comics, too.

‘Get away, you’ll have a great time,’ Mack said.

Angus grinned. ‘Aye, I know. Having kids is a great excuse for doing things you used to like doing when you were a nipper.’

Mack knew what Angus meant. He loved nothing better than messing about with his niece and nephew, although Katie was more into pink, sparkly things than Mack was comfortable with, especially when she insisted on using face paints on him and he ended up with a pink beard and purple face, and looking like a character in a Disney film himself. Ted, his nephew, was far easier; give the boy a football and he’d happily kick it around all day.

‘What time does the film start?’ Mack asked.

‘Five thirty.’

‘Get off home now,’ he told him. ‘I’ll finish up here. You too, Graham.’

‘Cheers, Skip.’

After they’d left, Mack methodically worked through the tasks, not minding doing them on his own. He found it quite relaxing to potter around on the boat and he took pride in his work.

Finally satisfied that everything was as it should be, he made sure the dock lines were secure, then headed to his makeshift office in the lock-up to catch up on his paperwork. It wasn’t something he enjoyed doing, but it was a necessary evil and he got stuck in with grim determination.

An hour later, he’d caught up on what he could, had made notes on the calendar for anything he couldn’t, and was ready to knock work on the head for the day.

He had two more jobs to do before he could go home but they shouldn’t take long. The first was to call into the shop, because he was running low on some essentials like milk and eggs, and the second was to pay the castle a quick visit.

Shopping didn’t take long – he was in and out in minutes – and he was soon heading back along the road towards the castle.

He parked around the rear, near the delivery entrance, then made his way around to the front. The craft centre was closed for the day, but seeing it brought Freya to mind. Not that she was out of it much – he’d been thinking about her most of the day, and as he sauntered towards the castle’s incredibly impressive main entrance, he wondered what she was doing and whether she’d been to the byre today.

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