Page 22 of Sailing Free at Loch Tunnagan (Loch Tunnagan #1)

J ess woke the next morning and sluggishly made her way into the living area.She sank into the dining room chair and looked at Cal through half closed eyes.

“Rough night?” asked Cal as he slid her coffee across the table. She took a sip and instantly felt the caffeine spread through her body. Slowly the world started to come into focus as her brain engaged.

She nodded, “I got hooked on hedgehog houses.”

Cal flashed her a curious look and a smile formed at his lips, “I don’t understand that sentence.”

“I went online to get some inspiration for designing Maurice’s house and ended up scrolling through Pinterest for hours. Then I spent ages designing the perfect house for him.”

She got up and went to the bedroom to collect her drawings and placed the pages neatly on the table in front of Cal. Jess leaned over his shoulder to point at the finalised design, “Do you think we could make him this one?”

Cal’s eyebrows raised as he took in the details on the page before him.

“That's a castle!” he twisted back to look at her. Jess suddenly became aware of how close his face was to hers; a strand of her hair fell forwards catching on the stubble around his jaw. Their eyes locked for a moment and he gently removed it and tucked it behind her ear.

“Thanks,” the word came out as barely more than a whisper.

He smiled, carrying on their conversation in a way that made her question whether he had any idea of the effect his touch had just had on her.

“You know that by building Maurice a castle you are elevating his station in the hedgehog world. Do you think he has what it takes to be King of the Hogs?” His breath tickled her cheek as he spoke. It felt natural to be this close to Cal and that made her uncomfortable.

In the years that she’d been with Ryan she had grown accustomed to not thinking about other men that way. However, every time she looked at Cal her body was flooded with a rush of excitement and she found herself imagining being with someone new.

She moved to the serving table and made up their yoghurt and granola bowls.

They continued to chat as they ate. “Maurice was born to rule. He will be a fair and noble King, renowned for his kindness to his subjects across the Kingdom.”

“Well then, we'd better build him his castle.” Cal tilted his head in the direction of the door, “Come on.”

Jess bundled the papers into her bag and followed Cal out.

Once they arrived at the barn Cal let MacTavish out to have a good run around. When the little dog came back into the barn he curled up in his bed and fell asleep, although his ear twitched every now and then as if he was still half listening to their conversation while he dozed.

Cal and Jess stood in front of a pile of neatly stacked wood, “Hold out your arms,” instructed Cal.

She did as requested and Cal placed some large sheets of timber onto her outstretched forearms, “Can you take them to the workbench over there?”

Jess turned awkwardly with the load in her arms but Cal called her back, “Oh wait a minute, you’ll need these for when you’re using the jigsaw.”

Cal’s fingers brushed her face as he slipped a pair of safety goggles over her eyes and her breath hitched in her throat.

He studied her face then bent down slightly and adjusted the glasses so they sat straighter on her nose. Their eyes were now level with each other. Jess noted the hints of gold amongst the brown in his warm gaze.

A gentle smile curved at his lips, “They suit you.”

“Hang on, did you say ‘When I use the jigsaw’?” asked Jess in a panic. “I don’t know how to use a jigsaw? I kind of presumed I would be the creative director and you would do all the manual labour?”

Cal raised an eyebrow, “Oh you did, did you?”

“Honestly…yes!” replied Jess.

He gave her a lazy smile, “Don’t worry, I’ll show you how to use it. It’s easy."

Jess was dubious, “What if I make a mistake and cut too much wood or cut the wrong bits off?”

Cal sighed heavily, “Well then, I’m afraid Maurice will just have to slum it like the rest of the peasants and live in a single-story dwelling with no turrets.”

“But he needs his special castle, I spent ages working on it!” exclaimed Jess.

Cal smiled, “I’m just teasing, there’s plenty of spare wood if you make a mistake.”

“Phew, thanks.”

Cal heaved a huge bundle of wood into his arms which made Jess’ load look pathetic.

“How many houses will you make with all that?" questioned Jess.

“I’m hoping I’ll get ten out of it.” Cal tilted his head to the side so he could peer around the pile of wood as he spoke to her.

“What bit should I start with?” asked Jess.

“Lay out the pieces of wood and draw each section of your design onto them. There’s a ruler and a pencil over there,” pointed Cal.

They worked in a comfortable silence for a while as each of them concentrated on measuring the correct dimensions for their builds. The time ticked by quickly and Jess looked up in surprise when Cal asked her if she wanted to stop for a coffee.

“Yeah, that would be good,” she rolled her shoulders and stretched out her back.

Cal’s eyes lingered on her for a moment as she arched her back but he turned quickly and made his way to a small counter at the corner of the barn.

He filled a kettle with water from a large bottle.

As soon as he flicked the switch on to boil MacTavish’s head jerked up and he trotted over to where Cal was standing.

The dog looked expectantly up at his owner.

Cal laughed, “He knows he gets a biscuit when I’m having my coffee.”

He instructed MacTavish to sit, before giving him his biscuit. Their furry friend wolfed it down and hovered at Cal’s feet in hope of another one. Cal conceded and got him to lie down this time in order to get his treat.

He turned to Jess, “I brought you a spare mug, it’s normally just me so I only keep one up here. I’ll nip out to the truck and get it. Be back in a sec,” he called.

Jess picked up a squeaky toy to distract MacTavish, as the dog had now clearly got a taste for biscuits and was on the hunt for more. She played tug of war with him for about five minutes and then it dawned on her that Cal should have returned.

She poked her head out the door and could see he was on the phone.

His face had taken on a serious expression that she wasn’t used to seeing on Cal.

His demeanour had changed too, his shoulders had slumped and when he finished, he tossed his phone on the driver’s seat and let out an exasperated sigh.

She called over to him, “Everything ok?”

He startled and turned as if he’d forgotten she was there.

“Sorry Jess, we’re going to have to cut our woodwork session short. Something’s come up.”

“No worries, I’ll grab my bag and be out in a minute.”

Cal called MacTavish and locked up the barn once they were all outside.

When they arrived back at the hotel, Cal turned off the engine but didn’t make a move to climb out the truck. He simply stared out the window as if deep in thought. He hadn’t uttered a word since he had told her they needed to leave the barn and she wasn’t sure whether to say anything.

“Are you ok?” she asked tentatively.

He turned from his trance to look at her, his voice was gruff, “Sorry Jess, yeah, I’m fine. Dawn called me to say that Lainey’s parents have turned up at the hotel.”

“Your wife’s parents? Do they visit often?”

“Not often,” he sighed. “They normally turn up around this time of year, they’re a week or two earlier than I expected.”

“Did they not get in touch to say they were coming?”

“No, they probably presumed that whoever made the room booking would have mentioned it to me but our newest receptionist wouldn’t recognise their names.

They’ve always been of the ilk that families shouldn’t need to make appointments to see one another anyway.

Which to be fair, I agree with. It’s…. hard Jess.

I don’t like being around them anymore.”

Jess placed a comforting hand on his arm and he covered it with one of his. She looked down as he patted her hand appreciatively, his large hand covered hers completely.

He blew out a breath, “I’m sorry, I must sound like an awful person. They lost their daughter and just want to meet up and talk about her every now and then. For them, it's a way to keep her memory alive but I hate talking about it. It’s not my style.”

He shot her a sad smile, “I prefer to suffer in silence.”

“I get it,” she sympathised, “everybody grieves differently, but maybe it would do you some good to let stuff out every now and then.”

They were interrupted at that point by a sharp knock on the window.

Jess turned to see a woman whose light brown hair had been blow dried into a perfect bob that curled neatly at her chin.

The woman’s face drained of colour as her gaze fell to where Cal’s hand rested over the top of Jess’.

Cal abruptly removed his hand and shot out the vehicle.

By the time Jess had climbed out too, the woman had regained her composure.

Cal greeted her with a light hug and she kissed the side of his cheek leaving a shiny patch where her immaculate lipstick had rubbed off.

“Hi Val, how are you?”

Val replied, each word enunciated perfectly, “I’m well, thank you. It’s good to see you Callum, how are you?”

‘I guess Dawn’s not the only one who calls him Callum,’ Jess thought to herself.

Cal replied, “I’m good, thanks Val. This is Jess by the way, she’s a friend of mine.”

Val held out her hand which was clad in an emerald green driving glove and Jess shook it.

“Nice to meet you Jess,” Val’s smile only faltered for a fraction of a second.

“You too,” replied Jess, flashing Val an awkward smile.

MacTavish barked from inside the truck and Cal let him out.

“Shall I take MacTavish up to our room so you can all chat uninterrupted?” asked Jess then immediately realised that it had been the wrong thing to say when she noticed Val’s face pale again.