Page 3 of Sailing Free at Loch Tunnagan (Loch Tunnagan #1)

“We’ve heard that almost every Wednesday morning this term. And then by the next week you’re lured back by ‘Triple shot Tuesdays,” chuckled Ryan.

“I’m serious!” emphasised Steph. “Next term is going to be full on.”

She grabbed some more pringles, “Have you applied anywhere yet Ryan?” she asked.

“What are you applying for?” questioned Paul.

“We do a work-based placement in our second year of Business Studies, but we have to secure the places ourselves,” explained Ryan.

“Yeah, and all the decent places fill up quickly,” Jess looked pointedly at Steph and Ryan.

“Jess, you’re absurdly organised. I reckon you’re the only one on the whole course who has a confirmed place,” retorted Steph.

Jess turned to Paul, “I’m going to be working at the Glamping site that’s just opened up in Bridge of Allan. It’ll be interesting to see a business in the beginning stages.”

“That sounds good,” said Ryan thoughtfully. “I’m thinking of applying to the Ski Centre.”

“Do you know what we should do?” interjected Paul. “When you guys are finished Uni, we should set up our own business. We would ace the business world!”

They spent the rest of the morning chatting animatedly about different business ideas for the future.

January

“Well, no one can doubt your dedication to your craft,” shivered Ryan.

“Shh, you’ll scare the swans,” Jess whispered.

She smiled as she put her eye up to the viewfinder of the camera. It felt good to be back at uni with Ryan. She’d missed him over the holidays….more than she would like to admit.

Jess marvelled at the beauty of Stirling Uni.

Snow laden branches bowed majestically over the loch and the world around them sparkled as if it had been dusted with diamonds.

She looked through the lens at the two swans standing on the frozen loch.

They bowed their heads towards each other in beautiful symmetry and that was the moment she knew she had captured the perfect shot.

“Got it,” she said, her breath visible in the cold air. “Let’s go get hot chocolates.”

They found a booth at the back of the student union and huddled into the comfy leather seats.

“Let’s see it then,” said Ryan.

Jess placed the camera on the table between their hot chocolates and they bent their heads together to look at the screen. She brought up the photo of the swans.

Ryan blew out a breath “You’ve done it Jess. That’s amazing. It has to win.”

The University had created a competition in conjunction with the photography club. The winning entry would have their photo used in next year’s prospectus and the photographer would be given a ￡500 voucher towards a top of the range camera.

“Are you sure you don’t want to submit anything?” she asked Ryan.

Ryan nodded, still looking mesmerised at the photo.

He’d continued to come along to the Photography Club but Jess had an inkling that it was more to keep her company. He didn’t seem all that interested in it.

March

A red carpet stretched out in front of her like a beacon leading guests towards the glitz and glam that lay within.

Jess smiled at Steph’s scrupulous attention to detail.

She would describe Steph’s enthusiasm for Business Studies as mediocre at most but Marketing had sparked something inside her friend.

“What do you think?” squealed Steph as she spun around the room with her arms out.

The campus had been buzzing with talk of the upcoming dance for weeks. The hype was all thanks to Steph’s admirable marketing skills. No place on campus had been left untouched by posters or flyers advertising the event titled ‘A night at the movies.’

Steph’s assignment had been to ‘Use marketing strategies to help raise money for a charity.’ Her group had chosen ‘The Scottish Air Ambulance’.

The place was dripping with Hollywood Glam.

Jess took a moment and let her eyes roam the room.

Large round tables lay around the perimeter.

Gold plates and cutlery shone against elegant black table cloths.

She marvelled at the old fashioned black and white movies that played silently on screens around the hall. “Steph, this is amazing.”

“Thanks,” beamed Steph. “You guys are all sitting over there. Remember to buy tickets for the raffle. There’s a really cool mystery prize!” She pointed to a table where tickets were being sold and then shot off to speak to someone else.

Jess was standing in the queue for the raffle tickets when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

“Pretty impressive. Steph’s done well.”

She turned to find Ryan standing next to her. For a moment she just gaped at him. He was so handsome standing there in his dark suit that it took her a moment to find words.

“Yeah, she has.” Her voice came out croaky.

“You look really nice by the way.” Ryan cast an appreciative look over her floor length teal dress.

“Thanks, so do you,” smiled Jess.

Once they purchased their raffle tickets they sat down at the table.

“Guess what.” Jess nudged her shoulder playfully into Ryan.

“What?” asked Ryan, nudging her back.

“I won the photography competition! My photo is going to be used for next year's prospectus and I get a brand-new camera! I can’t believe it!” she couldn’t stop the smile from erupting on her face.

Ryan’s smile mirrored hers, his beautiful blue eyes sparkled as he spoke.

“I can believe it. I never doubted that you would win. You’re amazing Jess.”

“Thanks.”

“Come here,” he enveloped her in a tight hug. The smell of his aftershave lingered on her when he broke away. She liked it.

Dinner was as impeccable as the decor.

Jess scooped the last of her chocolate roulade onto her spoon.

“Yum, that was delicious!”

A waiter leaned between her and Ryan to take their empty plates from the table.

“Did you enjoy your meal?” he asked.

“We’ve been living off microwave meals and beans on toast; you have no idea how much we enjoyed it,” replied Ryan.

The sound of a microphone crackling drew their attention to the stage. Steph spoke confidently to the room.

“I hope you all enjoyed your dinner! We’ll draw the raffle while we have you together and seated. Bear with us for a few minutes while we pull the tickets and then we’ll have you up and dancing for the rest of the evening. Good luck everyone!”

Jess and Ryan lay their tickets out on the table but didn’t seem to be having any luck.

“We have one final mystery prize,” called out Steph.

The crowd ‘oohed.’

“I can confirm that the Scottish Air Ambulance has just landed outside on the rugby pitches. The lucky winner will be taken on board to meet the paramedics and be shown all the vital lifesaving equipment that we have had the privilege of raising funds for. To top that off, provided there are no emergency call outs, they will be taken on a night time flight over Stirling so they can view our beautiful city from above!”

She dipped her hand into the bucket and drew out a ticket. “And the lucky number is….”

A drumroll sounded from the band. “Pink 306!”

“That’s me!” squealed Jess. She stood up flashing her ticket.

“Congratulations!” called Steph into the microphone. “The prize is for two. You can pick one other person to go on the helicopter ride with you.”

Jess automatically turned to Ryan, “Fancy coming?”

“Definitely!” he replied.

As they were escorted out to the rugby pitches the reality of what she was about to do kicked in. “Have you ever been on a helicopter?” she asked Ryan.

He shook his head, “No.”

“I’m a bit nervous,” confessed Jess. Her stomach was doing flips.

Ryan took her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.

“Remember these guys do this all the time.”

The paramedics introduced themselves as Eilidh and Stuart.

“How’s the dance going?” asked Stuart.

“Great,” replied Ryan. “Hopefully we’ll have raised a lot of money for you guys by the end of the night.”

“It’s much appreciated. We need to raise ￡8 million a year to keep operating,” replied Stuart.

“Wow!” Jess was astounded.

“Come on board,” smiled Eilidh.

They climbed aboard the small aircraft and Jess took in all the different pieces of equipment that were attached to panels on the walls. She smiled when she saw a little teddy peeking out one of the windows.

Eilidh followed her gaze. “We bring a teddy with us on every one of our flights. It helps for when we have children on board.”

Jess tried not to think about how traumatic it must be for a child to be on board an air ambulance.

“Are you guys ready to go up for a spin?” asked Stuart, peering back from the cockpit area.

“Yeah,” said Ryan eagerly.

Jess’ mouth had dried up completely. All she could manage was a nod.

She readjusted the headset that she’d been given and tried to focus on how lucky she was to be experiencing this instead of how terrified she was.

Ryan reached out a hand and squeezed her shoulder. “You ok?”

She couldn't answer. Her attention was fixed on the complicated array of switches and dials that Stuart was flipping and checking up front.

“Here we go,” he called.

There was no mistake when the rotor blades started. The helicopter sat stationary while the deafening noise intensified and then suddenly there was movement. Jess gripped the edges of her seat as they lifted into the air.

“Is this normal?” she spoke into the headpiece as the aircraft jostled from side to side.

“Yeah we usually get a bit of turbulence during take-off,” came Eilidh’s calm reply. “It’ll settle down in a minute.”

Sure enough, the flight smoothed and after a few minutes the tension eased from Jess’ body. Dusk was falling over the city and she watched mesmerised as street lights twinkled to life below them.

Stuart’s voice came through her headset, “You’ll see Stirling Castle if you look to your right.”

“Can you imagine what the guys who built it in the 1400’s would say if they could see it from up here in a helicopter?” said Ryan as the castle came into view.

Lights cast up from the craggy rocks below, bathing the castle in a magical array of colours.

Jess let out a breath, “It’s stunning.” She stared in awe, “I know it was built for defence but I wonder if they knew how beautiful it was as well.”

The rest of the flight passed quickly as they took in their city from above.

They landed at the uni just in time to get back for the end of the dance.

The dance floor was full of couples swaying slowly to the music.

They stood at the edge for a moment, a slight awkwardness palpable in the air between them.

Ryan leaned down to speak into her ear, “Would you like to dance?” He sounded confident but when Jess looked into those blue eyes she could see a vulnerability there. She smiled at him and accepted his outstretched hand.

Ryan led the way to the dance floor that had come alive with sparkling lights. He pulled her in close and she was surprised at how comfortable she felt in his arms. As they swayed together, Ryan let his head drop down so that his cheek brushed the side of her face.

He spoke softly, “Thank you for taking me on the helicopter. That was such an amazing experience.”

Jess lifted her head to look up at him and he let his lips brush softly over hers, as if testing to see if that was what she wanted. Everything else in the room melted into the background as Jess reached up and kissed him back.