Page 14 of A Summer of Secrets on Arran (Scottish Romances #5)

Luke had tightly gripped the grab handle of the passenger seat as though his life depended on it.

He could hardly look at the road ahead as Bella put her foot down, desperate to get them to the ferry terminal at Ardrossan as soon as possible.

Her car was packed to the gunnels with his stuff and he was impressed by her organisational skills, even managing to wedge in his set of golf clubs.

Then she had ordered him to get in the car.

Pronto . He had barely secured his seatbelt when she had put her foot down and accelerated away from the hotel.

He was surprised she hadn’t left skid marks on the road behind.

‘I need you to check the ferry online and see if there is space for us to get on the next sailing,’ she had said as she navigated her way out of the town. ‘I reckon we can be there in around twenty-five minutes if I put my foot down.’

‘You don’t want us getting stopped for speeding though,’ he said and then realised he sounded about ninety-five. He frowned as he called up the ferry website on his phone. ‘Mm. Looks like it’s full.’

‘Try phoning them. Sometimes it’s easier when you can just speak to an actual human being.’

Luke didn’t like to disobey though he couldn’t help laughing as it was rare to hear someone of the younger generation talk like that.

He just assumed they all preferred communicating digitally like his sons did.

He hit the call button and managed to get through to a helpful woman in the ticket centre who told him that his best chance was to join the standby queue.

He relayed this to Bella who was chewing a piece of gum impatiently.

‘Okay,’ she said grimly. ‘I didn’t think it was likely.

The ferries can be a nightmare to get on in the summer and that’s even if you have a booking.

But I say we just get there and join the standby queue and keep everything crossed.

Let’s be positive. You just never know. If we think positively, we can manifest it. ’

Luke admired her approach but also knew that no matter how much manifesting she did, there was no guarantee that they would get on that boat.

He didn’t like to ask what they would do if they missed the last ferry for the evening.

He didn’t fancy sleeping in the car for the night.

Anyway, they could worry about that later.

He was sure they could book into a hotel for the night.

He reminded himself that taking off like this, was probably the most exciting and spontaneous thing he had done for years.

It made him realise what a boring old codger he had become.

Now, as Bella sped down the dual carriageway, he felt a wave of excitement ripple through him.

He’d cancelled the taxi that was supposed to be taking him to the airport for his flight home tomorrow. London could wait.

As they followed signs for Ardrossan and then the harbour, he looked at the clock.

He really hoped they would make it. So far, so good.

Then they hit a set of red traffic lights.

He watched as Bella drummed her fingers off the steering wheels.

‘Come on,’ she muttered, waiting for the lights to change.

When they did, she had sworn under her breath then shouted at the driver in front, who was in no rush to move. ‘The lights are green. Get a bend on!’

He raised an eyebrow. Good God, he wouldn’t like to get on the wrong side of her.

His initial impressions of Bella were that she was a bit shy.

However, she had quickly overturned this in the past half hour with her decisive delegating, speedy driving and demonstrative gestures to several male drivers.

He had watched the scenery flash past as he desperately tried to rack his brains for a glimmer of a memory that would help him remember Bella’s mum.

But try as he might he really couldn’t recall very much about that time in Sydney.

He definitely couldn’t remember being with a woman called Isobel.

He snatched the occasional glance at Bella wondering if he really could be her father.

He was desperately trying to compare any similarities.

They definitely didn’t have the same nose: hers was petite and perfect whereas his was much bigger and also slightly crooked thanks to someone punching him and breaking it when he was younger.

Could he really allow himself to think he might have a daughter?

He had two sons from his marriage. Scottie was twenty-three, and studying sound engineering in Bristol.

Ralph had just turned twenty-two and had taken a year out to travel in South America.

Scottie had flown out to join his brother for the summer and if their last WhatsApp messages were anything to go by, then it didn’t sound like either of them were in a hurry to get back to the UK.

Mind you, he didn’t blame them. It was all doom and gloom. The country was in a mess.

Just then, Bella skidded into the terminal and interrupted his thoughts. She rolled down her window to speak to a man in a high-vis vest.

‘Are you booked on, love?’ he asked.

Luke didn’t speak and watched as Bella took charge.

‘No,’ she said, smiling sweetly and batting her eyelashes. ‘I thought I would take my chances. It’s a bit of an emergency, you know?’

‘Mm,’ said the man in the vest, sucking air in between his teeth and shaking his head.

Then he flashed a grin at Bella. ‘I think you might be lucky. There’s roadworks on the M8 at Glasgow which has caused a tailback so there have been quite a few cancellations.

People are raging, as you can imagine. Can you believe some geezer actually asked if we could hold the ferry for him?

’ He shook his head in disgust. ‘Honestly. The cheek of some folk.’ He looked towards the ferry.

‘There are two cars ahead of you at the moment.’ He made a clicking sound with his tongue.

‘Och, I do hope we get on. I’ve got my friend with me who’s here from Australia. And getting to Arran is on his bucket list before he . . .’ she sniffed dramatically. The man in the vest widened his eyes, clearly hoping she didn’t start to cry.

Bella reached into her pocket for a tissue and dabbed her eyes. ‘It was a last-minute thing to come over to Scotland. He wasn’t sure he would make it and, well, we want to surprise my mum . . . ’ Her voice trailed off and she sighed dramatically.

Luke watched in bemusement, trying his hardest not to look shocked. Australia? Bucket list? Was she trying to finish him off? Maybe she was his daughter. She certainly had the performance gene.

The two cars ahead were waved on and Luke held his breath as Vest Man flushed and apologised.

‘Right, love. On you go.’ He held out the card machine to her.

Bella quickly made the payment with her card, bid him a grateful thanks and flashed him another smile, then pressed the button to close the window. ‘Bingo,’ she said. ‘We’re on. Let’s get to Arran.’