Page 39 of A Summer of Secrets on Arran (Scottish Romances #5)

Rosie felt a small flicker of guilt for feeling so relieved to finally be home alone.

She was still processing the fact that Ben was home, never mind everything else that had happened since then.

She had gone round to the ferry terminal with Isobel that morning and Ash had also come to wave her off.

He was enjoying his time at Meadowbank Guesthouse and, after they had said goodbye to Isobel, they had gone into the distillery for a coffee.

Ben had been rushed off his feet and had managed to run across to give them both a hug.

Then he had disappeared to help James with something.

Ash had only heard snippets about what had happened with Luke and what had led him to staying next door.

After he had grilled Rosie about what was going on, to which she could truthfully reply that she and Luke were just friends, she turned the questions on Ash.

It sounded like he had enjoyed having some time to himself to explore, and work on a journal paper he was late in submitting, and, of course, he had planned to meet up with Bella when she had finished working.

He was taking her for one last dinner the following night before he left for the mainland.

After a couple of hours of stripping beds, doing several loads of laundry and pegging the sheets out on the washing line, Rosie allowed her thoughts to turn to Luke.

All was quiet next door and she assumed that he was getting on with the book writing.

He had been a brilliant support to Bella the other day and she hadn’t yet had a chance to thank him properly.

Once inside, her thumb hovered her phone as she wondered whether or not to get in touch.

Then she told herself not to overthink things.

Surely it was better to check in than not? She quickly typed out a message.

Hi, how are you? How is the writing going? Rosie xx

Normally he was quick to reply and so she waited to see if the three dots, a sign he was responding, would appear.

But there was nothing. She checked her WhatsApp messages, in case Ben had been in touch.

There weren’t any messages from him either.

She sighed in frustration at herself. This wouldn’t do, she was becoming too needy, a sign that she needed to go out and do something to take her mind off things.

Reaching for a glass from the cupboard by the sink, she turned on the tap and filled it.

The water was cold and it was only when she swallowed it that she realised how thirsty she was.

She drank another glass quickly and then filled up Coisty’s bowl with fresh water too.

When her phone started to ring, she snatched it up and then dropped it like a hot potato when she saw it was Dermot phoning.

She felt her hackles rise and promptly switched it off.

Rosie knew there were plenty of tasks around the house that she could do to keep her busy.

The living room needed a lick of paint and the kitchen cupboards needed to be emptied and scrubbed.

She also had a huge stack of books to read which seemed to be growing by the day.

Coisty was looking at her watchfully, waiting to see what she was going to do next.

She picked up her current read and snuggled in the armchair by the window and he jumped up and squashed in beside her.

But, however hard she tried, the words seemed to swim in front of her eyes and she just kept reading the same page over and over without taking anything in.

Sighing, she slammed the book shut and put it on the coffee table.

Rosie felt completely out of sorts. Dermot’s call had really annoyed her.

She didn’t particularly want company, but then again she didn’t really want to be in the cottage on her own either.

She had already walked Coisty and didn’t fancy another trek along the beach, even though it was usually her place to think.

Even the thought of some light gardening, her usual go to, didn’t appeal.

It had been a cool morning but now the sun had finally burned through the clouds and was high in the sky.

Then she knew exactly what to do. She picked up the landline and quickly made a call. ‘Maisie, it’s just me, Rosie. How are you?’

‘Fine, dearie,’ she said.

‘I thought I would pop over and see you, if that’s okay?’

‘Oh, I would love that. Are you coming now?’

‘Yes, if that suits. I’ll be with you in about twenty minutes,’ said Rosie, twirling a lock of hair in her free hand.

‘That’s great. I will pop the kettle on for you coming. And I hope you’re bringing wee Coisty?’ asked Maisie hopefully.

‘Of course,’ said Rosie with a chuckle. ‘I wouldn’t dream of leaving him behind. Now, do you need me to bring you anything in. Any bits and pieces from the shops?’

‘Not a thing, dear. Callum dropped my messages off earlier. Just bring yourself and that furry wee fella of yours.’

‘Great. See you soon, Maisie.’

‘Bye, dear,’ said Maisie.

Rosie smiled at the thought of seeing Maisie, who was an old friend of her parents.

She hadn’t seen her for a few weeks and she knew that spending an hour with her was exactly what she needed.

She quickly wrapped up some pieces of shortbread to take, grabbed a bottle of red wine from the rack — Maisie was very partial to red wine — and then she pulled on her shoes and grabbed the car keys.

‘Come on, Coisty. Let’s go and see Maisie. ’ He barked and wagged his tail.

* * *

A few hours later, Rosie drove back to Kildonan feeling much more relaxed and reassured about things after spending some time with Maisie.

The drive back had given her a chance to think about what her friend had said.

Maisie was ninety- two and showed no signs of slowing down, either physically or mentally.

She had boundless energy and razor-sharp wit and always insisted that her good health was down to her daily dose of red wine.

She had only recently given up golf, claiming she’d had enough of the game.

Although privately Rosie thought it had more to do with her eyesight and not always being able to see where she had hit the ball.

Her parents had been friends with Maisie and they had all played golf together at the club in Lamlash.

She had been a kind friend to Rosie when they had died and told her that her door was always open if she ever wanted to talk.

Rosie did feel a bit guilty that she had only seen Maisie once since Dermot had left and at the time she hadn’t really wanted to go into too many details about it.

But now she felt more at peace with it and she filled Maisie in on what had happened.

Maisie had sat in her batwing chair, looking immaculate as ever in lilac trousers and a white blouse embroidered with tiny daisies, listening carefully.

‘Oh, aye,’ she had said drily. ‘Sounds like you’ve dodged a bullet with that one, Rosie.

’ She had pursed her lips together and reached down to scratch Coisty’s ears.

He had plonked himself right next to her as soon as they had arrived.

‘Well, you know what they say,’ she had said pointedly at Rosie.

‘Onwards and upwards. Maybe it’s time for you to get back in the race. You are single and ready to mingle.’

Rosie had almost spluttered her tea out at that point.

Maisie sounded so like Isobel. When she had done a double take and looked again at Maisie, the older woman was the picture of innocence, though her eyes were twinkling in amusement.

But she knew Maisie was kind of right. Not necessarily about jumping into bed with the first man she could get her hands on.

But she knew she had to move on from Dermot and that meant sorting out all their affairs so she could get closure.

She reluctantly realised she might have to actually speak to him in order for that to happen.

So when she parked the car outside Creel Cottage, she decided just to take the bull by the horns and call him.

But when she reached into her handbag for her phone, she realised it wasn’t there.

She quickly turned the bag upside down and emptied the entire contents onto the passenger seat.

But all that she tipped out was her purse, house keys, some tissues, a packet of chewing gum, a small tin of lip balm, a few pound coins and a couple of crumpled receipts.

She frowned and scratched her head. That was strange.

Where had she left it? She turned to Coisty who was waiting patiently in the back to be freed from his harness.

‘Wonder what I’ve done with my phone, Coisty.

’ He tipped his head to one side. ‘It’s okay, don’t worry, I’m not really expecting you to answer me, Coisty.

Crikey, what’s happened to me?’ she said with a chuckle.

She then remembered that she had switched it off when Dermot had rung earlier, then flung it on the sofa in irritation.

She must have forgotten to pick it up when she went out to see Maisie.

She realised that she actually hadn’t even missed it until that moment which felt quite freeing.

Instead of going straight into the cottage she decided to take Coisty for a quick walk.