Page 7 of Sailing Free at Loch Tunnagan (Loch Tunnagan #1)

Jess snuck another look over at the pair and caught sight of him glimpsing down at her boat. He smiled to himself then climbed up and into his own boat.

She looked up at the crisp blue sky and felt the warmth of the spring sunshine gently wash over her face. Despite everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours; an unfamiliar sensation of calmness came over her.

A huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders when she’d passed all work on to Ryan and Steph. She had never found it easy to relinquish control but something inside her had broken free and for once in her life she no longer cared.

She spent the rest of the morning lazing on a deck chair immersed in the book that Edith had mentioned the book club would be reading.

The irony of the moment struck Jess. She and Ryan had spent years building a hugely successful business that sold holidays to people from all around the world but they themselves had never actually taken one holiday.

Any ‘holiday’ they had been on was for research or designed to be part of their advertising campaigns.

A message flashed up on the screen; pulling her from the world of her Kindle and dumping her back into reality. It was Paul.

Hi Jess, how’re you doing? Sorry to bother you but Ryan is a complete mess. He’s desperate to find out where you are. He keeps asking but I don’t know what to tell him? I would feel sorry for him if I didn’t know what a butt weasel he had been!

Anger coursed through her. Paul should not be caught in the middle of all this and Ryan had no right to be harassing him.

She fired a quick reply apologising to Paul and stating that she would deal with it; then sat wondering exactly how she would deal with it.

The thought of communicating at all with Ryan made her stomach turn, it was surreal; the man who had been her best friend now felt like a stranger to her.

She was doubting everything she knew about him.

The Ryan that she knew and loved and the Ryan that had slept with Steph were two different people in her mind.

She couldn't believe he had hurt her like this.

Taking a deep breath, she composed a short, curt text stating that she was fine and did not want him to contact her or pester Paul about her whereabouts. Pressing send she saw the messages he’d sent her when he’d been away on his work trip a few days ago.

Can’t wait to get back home. Love you x

There had been absolutely no indication that anything was array.

After a sedentary morning on the boat, Jess had felt the need to move.

Adorned in Olivia’s sports gear, she ran along the path that weaved through the forest behind the Tunnagan Hotel.

Amongst the densely packed trees, she caught glimpses of carvings similar to the ones she’d seen in the dining room of the hotel.

The carvings captivated her and she slowed to a walk so that she could take them in.

She made a mental note to come back with her camera.

The day grew warmer as she descended back down the hill to the village. She bypassed her boat and made her way straight to Olivia’s Cafe, in need of a cool drink.

Conscious of her bright red face she kept her head down as she made her way quickly towards the counter; regretting it immediately when her body collided into someone.

Firm, warm hands caught her as she wobbled backwards.

She looked up to see who the owner of the hands was and was caught off guard by the deep brown eyes of her new neighbour.

Laughter lines appeared as his face broke into a grin.

“You're starting to make a habit of crashing into me.”

“Huh?” was all Jess could offer as she looked up at him in confusion.

“You walked out in front of my truck yesterday.”

“Oh sorry, that was you….. in the red truck?”

“Yes, mine was the red one, how many trucks did you walk in front of yesterday,” he chuckled.

“Just yours,” she mumbled embarrassed, then dodged around his solid frame to make her way to Olivia at the counter.

Jess was placing her order when she heard the deep velvety voice call out again.

“Hey Saucy Lass, you’ve dropped your phone.”

Jess was speechless as the phone was placed gently in her hand. She had only managed to regain her composure by the time he had left.

She turned to Olivia, “Did he just call me a saucy lass?”

Olivia laughed, “No, ‘sauncy ’. The name of your boat, it means cheeky or playful.”

“Oh!” Jess blushed.

“Ah don’t worry, it’s not a word you hear much anymore.

It was Derek's pet name for Edith. He named the boat after her. I still find it hard to see Edith without Derek. They basically came as a pair. After he retired, they were in here every other day for lunch or a pot of tea and a scone after their walk.”

She handed Jess a glass of cool water, “So where did you run?”

Jess sat at a table near the counter and continued to chat with Olivia.

The conversation flowed easily. This surprised Jess; she had always been very adept at ‘business’ talk with clients but whenever she was placed in a situation where idle chit chat was expected she felt herself dry up.

There was no end goal, no problem to resolve.

Her mind, so accustomed to negotiation, struggled with the untethered nature of chitchat.

It was probably because her whole life revolved around her business. She felt lost, as if she had forgotten who she was at her core.

A little girl came running out of the kitchen and Olivia scooped her up. Jess recognised her as the ‘duck feeder’ from that morning. She smiled at the memory.

“Mum, can I have a cake?”

“Have you done your homework?” questioned Olivia.

The little girl held her head proudly and nodded. Olivia grinned and rolled her eyes, “Then, yes, but just one slice.”

The girl turned her attention to Jess, “Hi!”

Olivia smiled at her daughter, “Amelie, meet Jess.”

“Hello Amelie, I saw you out feeding the ducks earlier. You managed to whip that little dog MacTavish into quite a frenzy.”

“MacTavish is funny,” the girl laughed. “He always chases the ducks but he never manages to catch any.”

Amelie wriggled out of her mum’s arms and went to seek out a bit of cake.

“I didn’t know you had a daughter. She's lovely. It must be wonderful being able to take her to work with you.” Jess smiled at Olivia.

“Yes, it’s just the two of us so Amelie helps in the cafe a lot. She has quite the sales pitch when she puts her mind to it.”

Jess didn’t want to seem like she was prying by asking about Amelie’s father so changed the subject.

“Are you open for dinner tonight?”

“No, we only open late when there are organised events like the book group. You should go up to the Hotel tonight. Their chef is amazing.”

Jess thanked Olivia and made her way back to the boat. She wanted to get showered and changed quickly so she could drive to the next town and pick up some new clothes before the shops shut.