Page 24 of Sailing Free at Loch Tunnagan (Loch Tunnagan #1)

I t was after midnight and that unsettled feeling had only grown stronger.

Cal hadn't returned to their room. In fact, she hadn’t heard from him since their conversation in his office; if you could even call it a conversation.

She had tried texting and calling numerous times but he hadn’t responded.

As the hours went by and the texts remained unanswered, she failed to keep the sense of panic out of her messages.

She kept telling herself he was a full-grown adult who could look after himself but then the blank, glazed over look in his eyes would flash in her mind and haunt her thoughts with more sinister scenarios.

Full grown adult or not she couldn't sit idle any longer and wait for him to turn up.

She got up and dressed quickly. Now that she was up her body seemed to respond to the fear in her mind and she all but ran down to the foyer where she found Angus, sitting in his usual position behind the desk reading the newspaper.

He peered over the top of his glasses, “Hello Jess, what can I do for you?”

Trying to sound light and breezy despite the pounding in her chest, Jess asked,

“I was wondering if you had seen Cal about? He hasn’t come back to our room and he didn’t mention that he would be away anywhere this evening.”

Angus shook his head, “Sorry dear, I haven’t seen him. His office was empty when I started my shift this evening so I assumed he must have headed up to the suite early.”

“Okay,” Jess replied, trying to push down the rising panic she could feel in her chest, “Do you know where else he might be?”

Angus thought for a minute, “He might have gone to the pub with Dawn after work. He’ll sometimes stay at her place if they’re out late.”

“Ok,” replied Jess, hoping that was what had happened. “I don’t have Dawn’s number. Do you know it?”

Angus looked apologetic, “I’m sorry dear, I’m not allowed to hand that out. There are a lot of protocols about things like that these days.”

He held his index finger up, “I have an idea, hang on,” he got up and made his way stiffly over to a coat stand and fumbled in the pocket of a dark raincoat.

He pulled out a phone and flipped the case up.

Jess watched as he held the phone at a distance from his face and peered at the screen over the top of his glasses.

He used his finger to type the passcode carefully into his phone then handed the phone over to Jess.

“I only use this phone to call my daughter but Dawn saved her number on it in case I ever needed her for anything. She’s a good girl that Dawn. You can call her from here if you like?”

“Oh, thank you Angus, I could kiss you.”

“I don’t think my old heart could take that dear," chuckled Angus.

Jess was greeted with a very sleepy sounding Dawn on the other end of the phone.

“Angus, is everything ok?”

“I’m so sorry Dawn, did I wake you?”

“Who’s this?” Dawn was alert now.

“It’s Jess, I was wondering if Cal’s with you?”

“No, I’ve not seen him since work this afternoon,” replied Dawn.

“He hasn’t come back to the room,” blurted Jess.

There was silence on the other end of the phone. Dawn sounded worried when she responded.

“Let me try and call him and I’ll phone you back if I get in touch with him.”

“Okay thanks,” replied Jess. She felt a sense of relief knowing that Dawn was on the case too now.

The phone rang a few minutes later. “It went to voicemail. Is his truck in the car park?”

“I’ll check,” Jess replied, already in motion as she ran out to look for Cal’s truck.

She scanned the car park, “No, it’s not here.”

“I’m going to head down to the boat and see if he’s there,” said Dawn.

“Okay, I’ll check up at the barn. Give me a call if you find him,” replied Jess.

“Will do, remember to text me your number,” said Dawn hurriedly before hanging up.

Jess sent her number over to Dawn then turned to Angus, “I’m nipping up to the barn to see if Cal is there. Will you call me if he turns up here?”

“Of course, dear, be careful on the road.”

For the first time since buying it, Jess was glad she had the 4x4.

The road was narrow and seemed to consist more of potholes than actual tarmac.

Her hands gripped the steering wheel tightly as she peered through the dark, the headlights were on full beam but the light they emitted seemed feeble against the encroaching blackness of the night.

The sound of a call coming in through the car's speakers made her jump.

It was Dawn. “No sign of him down at the boat, any luck at your end.”

“I’m almost there. I’ll let you know soon,” she replied.

“Okay, thanks. I’ll keep trying him on the phone.” Dawn hung up and the car fell silent again.

She saw the barn ahead and let out a sigh of relief as the outline of Cal’s pickup appeared through the darkness.

She pulled her car up next to the truck and made her way over to the barn. The sound of light jazz music drifted from within. She gently pushed the door open and peered inside.

Her eyes adjusted to the soft lights of the barn and she let herself take a moment to absorb the scene before her.

Cal’s soft snores could only just be heard over the music.

He slept slumped over his workbench, his head resting on his folded arms. Surrounding him was what could only be described as a hamlet of freshly constructed hedgehog houses.

MacTavish, who had been curled up at his feet, trotted over to greet Jess.

She bent down to scratch behind the little dog’s ears then got her phone out and fired a quick text off to Dawn

Got him. Can you let Angus know.

As she tiptoed around the little houses, Jess felt her heart swell with affection for the man in front of her. She leaned in gently and placed her hand on one of his broad shoulders,

“Cal,” she whispered, “Cal, wake up.”

His thick dark lashes flickered before his heavy eyelids slowly lifted and she found herself gazing into the most beautiful brown eyes she had ever seen. Their faces were a mere inch apart and his breath tickled her skin.

His voice came out as a hoarse whisper.“Jess?”

Then his eyelids drooped again and he drifted between the world of sleep and consciousness,

“Wow, you’re beautiful.”

The words were barely audible; she would have missed them if her face had not been right next to his.

Her body froze for a second but her heart hammered wildly inside her chest. The speed at which it beat contrasted against the slow rhythmic breaths coming from Cal who had succumbed to sleep once more.

She tried again, this time giving his shoulder a gentle shake,

“Cal, wake up.”

He was more responsive now.

“Jess? What’re you doing here?”

“I’ve come to get you, sleepy head. It’s after midnight, you fell asleep on the workbench.”

“I’m sorry about earlier,” his words were soft. His heavy lids lifted and their eyes locked.

“It’s ok,” whispered Jess.

Cal lifted his head groggily and Jess felt her lips twitch as she noted the haphazard way his hair poked out the side of his head.

“I can’t believe I fell asleep,” he yawned and lifted his arms to stretch them above his head causing his T-shirt to pull up and expose the line of hair that led below his waist band. Her gaze was drawn to the muscles in his stomach.

"No worries,'' replied Jess. She bit her lip as she started to think she may have overreacted to him not coming back to their room earlier, “But just a word of warning I started to panic a bit so you’re going to have a few missed calls and messages on your phone.”

“I was in a meeting for work earlier and had it on silent,” replied Cal as he stretched over the worktop to retrieve his phone.

Suddenly he stiffened and moved his hand to his lower back.

“Are you okay?” she questioned.

“Hmhm,” he croaked.

“My back’s stiff from sleeping in an awkward position, that’s all.”

“Can I help?” Jess asked.

“No, I just need a minute,” replied Cal.

A minute went by and Cal still didn’t budge.

“Okay that's it,” said Jess decisively, “you definitely need help.”

“Fine,” sighed Cal, admitting defeat.

Jess ducked under Cal’s shoulder and wrapped her arm around his back.

“On the count of three we move… agreed?”

“Agreed,” replied Cal.

“One, two, three,” she heaved herself up and Cal moved with her.

He let out a low moan.

“How’re you doing?” questioned Jess as they wobbled out to her car.

“My back might recover but my ego never will,” huffed Cal.

Jess stifled a laugh as she somehow managed to manoeuvre him into the car seat. She called MacTavish and was pleasantly surprised when he came running over and hopped obediently into the back seat.

Cal’s presence made the drive back down the single-track road easier and the journey was over in no time.

“Wait in the car,” instructed Jess as she parked next to the entrance.

“I don’t really have much choice,” grumbled Cal as he let out a long sigh.

“Are you always such a drama queen when you're not well?” teased Jess.

Cal chuckled then winced as his back twinged again.

“Ouch, your words just hurt me physically and emotionally,” he pouted.

“Oh wheesht,” she replied as she climbed out the car, “I’ll be back in a minute.”

She left him grumbling in the car and ran into the hotel.

She was back out in two minutes, “I’ve returned with back up.”

Jess opened the passenger door and stepped aside to reveal Angus standing behind her.

“Oh, good. More people to witness this,” replied Cal dryly.

“Now, now Cal, I've seen you in worse states than this,”remarked Angus.

Cal raised an eyebrow, “When?” he asked, looking confused.

“Remember when you were a teenager and you and Dawn discovered what too much whiskey can do to a person?”

“Oh yeah, no need to reminisce about that Angus,” said Cal quickly.

“Right, sorry. Not when a lady is present,” replied Angus with a knowing wink at Cal.

“I would love to hear more about that,'' interjected Jess, “but first let's get you up to the room.”