Page 21 of Summer in the Scottish Highlands (The Scottish Highlands #5)

Jake sat on the sofa in the lounge and placed all the leaflets he’d collected from the tourist information centre in front of him on the coffee table. He spread them out.

Faye wandered in with two mugs of tea. ‘Where’s Natty?’ she asked, noticing Jake sitting on his own.

‘Gayle said she had a book that Natty might be interested in, so they’ve popped into the library to find it.’

Faye looked at her watch. ‘I didn’t realise they’d gone out. Wouldn’t it be too early for the library to be open? We’ve only just finished breakfast.’ She placed the two mugs on the table and lowered herself into the easy chair beside the fireplace.

‘Still a bit saddle-sore?’ Jake grinned. Faye threw a cushion at him, which just missed his steaming mug of tea. ‘They haven’t gone into Aviemore. Gayle has her own library here.’

‘A house with its own library! Now that is something,’ Faye replied, raising an eyebrow.

‘It’s not that sort of library. It used to be Faye’s father’s study, but she’s turned it into a bit of a wellness room, full of calming scented candles and bookshelves full of self-help books.’

Faye laughed. ‘What would Natty need a self- help book for?’

Jake laughed too. ‘No she wasn’t finding her one of those. I heard her saying to Natty that there are some books that her nieces and nephews left behind from when they visited when they were younger.’

‘That would be great if she could find something to read. She’s already read that little pocket-book on Scottish wildlife.’

‘She has?’ said Jake in surprise.

‘Yes, cover to cover. She loved it, but I think she could do with a story book. Silly me – I forgot the reading books we picked up from the trip to Foyles before the holiday. I thought of visiting Wilbur’s Bookstore in Aviemore.’

Jake wasn’t sure he wanted to. It was where Bonnie had bumped into Robyn and Eleanor on Christmas Day, the last place Eleanor was … well … Eleanor, before the ski accident took her away.

Faye was still talking while Jake’s thoughts were consumed by memories of his wife. He hadn’t been listening, and just caught the tail end.

‘… and I promised Natty we would visit. It would be nice if she found a book or two to keep her going before then.’

Jake nodded, realising she was still talking about the bookstore in town.

‘She really loves reading, which I try to encourage as much as possible.’

Jake smiled. ‘You can take the teacher out of the classroom, but you can’t take the classroom out of the teacher,’ he said with a chuckle.

‘Mmm … well, you’re a fine one to talk – giving Natty a history lesson yesterday about how the reindeer herd came to be in the Cairngorms. ’

All Jake could do was smile ruefully. It was so true. Oh, how he loved his new job. He changed the subject. ‘Where would you like to go today?’ he asked, pointing to the leaflets adorning the coffee table.

Faye came and sat beside him on the sofa. At first, Jake hadn’t been that impressed with the small, old and springy sofa in the lounge. Now he loved it very, very much because it was so small, which meant Faye had to sit close.

Sipping her tea, she took a cursory glance at all the choices. ‘I think we need a month’s holiday, not just a week, to even touch the surface of this lot,’ Faye said, picking up a leaflet and opening it. ‘Failing that, we’d have to move here,’ she quipped.

Jake nearly spluttered in his tea. ‘Seriously?’

Faye slapped in arm playfully. ‘You’re funny.’

Jake hadn’t meant it as a joke.

‘Yes, please! Can we stay for a whole month, Jake?’ Natty said, bouncing into the room and flopping down on the easy chair beside the sofa.

As usual, Olive wasn’t far behind. She sat by Natty’s chair, her head on Natty’s lap, sad brown eyes looking up at her, waiting patiently for the next pet, or playtime, or some food.

‘I don’t have to be back at school until September,’ said Natty, petting Olive on the head.

Faye said, ‘The thing is, Natty, I doubt Gayle will have vacancies here at the guesthouse.’

‘That’s all right.’

‘It is?’ Faye didn’t understand.

‘We can go and live in Jake’s house.’

Jake stared at Natty. It was a consideration. Faye and Natty didn’t have to be back in London for any reason, and neither did he, if he reneged on his promise to Marcus. But would The Lake House be a good idea?

‘You know that I’d love you to stay as long as you like here,’ Gayle said. She had wandered into the room and overheard the conversation.

‘You’ve still got vacancies for the following three weeks?’ Jake asked eagerly, although he was sure the lady in the tourist information office had said otherwise.

Gayle slowly shook her head from side to side. ‘I was going to say that whilst I’d love you to stay, no, I haven’t got the vacancies, I’m afraid. I suppose I could cancel some bookings.’

Faye said, ‘No, don’t do that. Besides, we were just joking around.’

Jake wished they weren’t.

Faye said, ‘You’ve got the reputation of your guesthouse to think of. It hasn’t been open long, so you need to give it time for word to get around, in a positive way.’

Gayle nodded. ‘I know.’

Jake grinned. ‘Actually, it already has.’

‘How do you mean?’ Gayle said, wandering over to the sofa opposite Jake and plonking herself down in the squishy cushions.

Natty came and sat beside her. Gayle gave her a cuddle while they listened to Jake.

‘I was in the visitor centre, and they already had your guesthouse on their system – and noticed it was fully booked. People were making enquiries about it on the phone too. Looks like your website is working.’

Gayle smiled. ‘Wonderful!’

Jake noticed that Natty had a book in her hands. ‘Did you manage to find a book to read in Gayle’s library, Natty?’

‘Oh, yes. There are lots of books, so I won’t run out of things to read, especially if we’re staying on for a month,’ Natty said, looking imploringly at Jake.

Faye said, ‘But didn’t you just hear what Gayle said. There’s no vacancies.’

‘I know. But Jake’s house is only through the gap in the hedge.’

Faye frowned. ‘Natty, I don’t think we will be staying on after the week,’ she said.

‘Why not?’ Natty shot back.

Jake was thinking the same thing.

‘What about seeing Grandpa over the summer holidays? He was looking forward to taking you out on some day trips.’

‘That’s all right,’ said Natty, sounding as though she had it all figured out, ‘Grandpa can come here. Your house is very big, Jake.’

‘Hold up your book and let me see what you found,’ said Faye, noticeably changing the subject.

Natty held up the book so Faye could read the title.

‘The Treasure of the Loch Ness Monster. That sounds interesting. In fact …’ Faye rummaged around the leaflets on the coffee table and picked up just what she was looking for.

‘I think we’ve solved the problem of what to do today. ’ Faye handed the leaflet to Jake.

He grinned. ‘Hands up all those who’d like to go in search of the Loch Ness Monster?’ Jake said.

‘Now who sounds as though they’re still in the classroom?’

Jake joked, ‘You can take the teacher out of the classroom …’

Faye laughed, snatching the leaflet back to read the details.

Natty looked at Jake and her mum and rolled her eyes. ‘They can be really silly sometimes,’ she said, turning to Gayle with a serious face.

Gayle smiled. ‘Right, I’m off to check my website for any new bookings,’ she said. ‘I’ll leave you all to plan your next adventure!’ She wandered out of the door, heading towards the library, which now also doubled as her office.

‘Whoa! Where’s the fire?’ Gayle said, walking out of the kitchen with a picnic hamper in her hands and catching Natty charging down the stairs.

Natty stood waiting impatiently at the front door for Jake and her mum.

She’d already rushed upstairs to clean her teeth and gather her coat and backpack.

‘I’ll just be a minute!’ Faye had called to her daughter from the bathroom.

Natty knew what that meant. Another five or ten minutes at least before they would be ready to leave.

Her mum always forgot something at the last minute, so this time Natty decided she would make sure her mum had no excuse to dilly-dally.

‘I’ve got your coat and bag, mum, and I think Jake is waiting in the hall. ’

Natty had decided that a little white lie would surely be okay, as Jake was bound to appear before her mum anyway.

And Jake had said that they would have to get a move on as he had booked an early slot at the Loch Ness Centre and then a boat trip on Loch Ness itself, where Natty was hoping to get a glimpse of the monster.

She knelt down and gave Olive a hug. ‘Sorry, Olive, but you can’t come with us. ’

Gayle put the hamper down beside Natty. ‘Now just in case you’re all a little bit peckish before your boat trip this afternoon, I’ve prepared another picnic lunch and some nice cherry cake that one of Marty’s clients gave him for doing their garden.’

‘He gets paid in cake?’ Natty looked at her.

‘That’s quite a novel idea,’ Jake said, joining them at the door.

‘Yes, apparently it’s an arrangement he’s had for quite a while with some of his older clients – the ones he retained when he took over his father’s gardening business. And we do rather like some of the goodies he brings home from time to time,’ Gayle added.

Jake looked down at the picnic hamper and smiled his appreciation. ‘You do know that if you keep spoiling us like this, we won’t want to leave?’ he quipped, picking up the hamper.

‘Who’s not leaving?’ Faye said, making her way down the stairs.

‘Never mind, mum – we’ll tell you on the way,’ Natty said, opening the front door and almost pushing her mum outside. Natty turned and gave Gayle a big hug. ‘Will Olive be here when I get back?’ she whispered to Gayle.

‘I’ll be sure not to let her out in the garden. We wouldn’t want another trip through the hedge to The Lake House.’

Natty shrugged. ‘I don’t mind.’

Faye took her hand. ‘Well, I do. Come on, let’s go find Nessie.’