Page 41 of Summer in the Scottish Highlands (The Scottish Highlands #5)
It was morning. Jake wandered down the stairs. They’d spent another night gamping after Faye and Natty had returned from the snow disco. Annie had dropped them back after the disco, along with Evie, who had stayed another night too.
Faye had pushed her and Jake’s camp beds together, but as was the case on their first night in the tent, the thick bars of the camp beds made intimacy impossible – although Jake had managed to squeeze beside Faye in her camp bed for a time so he could hold her in his arms as they chatted late into the night.
The old camp bed had creaked and groaned under the weight of the two of them, and eventually he’d had to move back to his own for fear it would collapse.
He’d showered and changed in his bedroom upstairs while Faye and the girls used the bathroom in her bedroom to wash and change.
They were meeting in the kitchen for breakfast. Despite talking into the early hours – Evie and Natty, unsurprisingly, had fallen asleep quite late too – they’d all woken up early and crept back to the house to use their bedrooms to get ready.
Everyone had tiptoed around, doing their best not to disturb the other guests, who weren’t up.
Only Gayle was already up and about in the kitchen.
Jake smiled as he walked down the stairs.
He was looking forward to the surprise he had in store for Faye that day.
He’d spent all evening while they were out at the disco getting things prepared.
She’d arrived back from the snow disco in anticipation of the surprise he’d promised, but it was late, they were all tired, and he didn’t think it was a good time.
He wanted to savour what he had in store.
Faye told him she had a surprise for him too. She’d said she hoped he hadn’t made any plans for that day because just for a change she’d planned something herself – with a little bit of help from Annie, who’d come up with an idea for their last day in the Cairngorms.
Jake had been intrigued, but no amount of pestering the previous night would make her reveal what they were doing that day. Even Natty, who had obviously been sworn to secrecy, wouldn’t tell.
He could hear Faye in the kitchen, already chatting to Gayle, and could smell bacon and sausages sizzling in a pan on the stove. Jake’s mouth watered. Gayle was preparing a fry-up. As he stepped off the last stair he heard Faye’s voice. ‘I’m not sure I’ve done the right thing.’
Jake halted.
‘What do you mean?’ Gayle asked.
Jake didn’t want to eavesdrop, but he couldn’t help himself.
‘You know, about my plan for today.’
‘You’re having second thoughts?’
‘Can you blame me?’
Jake frowned, surprised by the conversation. He’d just taken another step towards the kitchen, hoping to catch what was said next about what Faye had planned for that day, when the floorboard beneath his foot creaked loudly. Damn !
Jake coughed loudly and walked into the kitchen, acting as though he’d just walked down the stairs and hadn’t overheard them while he’d been hovering in the hallway.
‘Good morning!’ He forced a smile, still concerned about why Faye was having second thoughts about her plans for the day. Whatever it was, he was sure he’d enjoy it. He didn’t much care what they were doing, as long as they were spending the day together.
He kissed Faye on the top of the head and wanted to reassure her that whatever she’d planned would be fine by him. Of course, he couldn’t do that, otherwise he’d give the game away that he’d been eavesdropping.
‘Where’re Natty and Evie?’ Jake asked, surprised they weren’t in the kitchen. He’d thought they’d be at breakfast too, although he bet he knew where they were – back in the tents in the garden.
Faye got up from her seat at the table. ‘They’re in the dining room.’
Jake frowned. ‘What are they doing in there?’
‘You’re all having breakfast in the dining room this morning,’ said Gayle.
‘Why? It’s nice us all sitting around the kitchen table.’ Jake liked the informal family atmosphere of Gayle’s guesthouse. Which reminded him that Gayle’s guesthouse was fully booked. ‘Are the other guests in the dining room too?’
Gayle shook her head. ‘Have you seen the time? Breakfast hasn’t officially started yet.’
Jake knew it was early. The dawn chorus had woken them all up, and despite trying to go back to sleep when the birds had stopped singing, they’d then heard the girls giggling in the tent next door.
Jake was still wondering why breakfast wasn’t in the kitchen. He said as much.
Gayle replied, ‘I’ve been reading some reviews posted by guests, and while some like sitting around the table in the kitchen chatting to other guests, I’ve had some negative feedback about this arrangement and the lack of tables to accommodate couples who just want to sit together.’
‘That’s a shame,’ commented Jake. He glanced at Faye. ‘But I understand.’
‘Good. Now, you are my guinea pigs this morning.’
Jake frowned. ‘Pardon me?’
‘I’ve been googling how other guesthouses do things. So, please take a seat in the dining room and I’ll bring out the breakfast menus.’
‘Breakfast menus?’
‘Yes. Now I want your honest opinion about the new breakfast arrangements this morning before I make the changes permanent.’
Faye took Jake’s hand. ‘Come on, let’s choose a table.’
‘But there’s just one table in the dining room.’
‘Not anymore,’ said Gayle.
Jake stepped across the hall and stopped in the doorway to the dining room, surprised to find that the large dining room table was gone and had been replaced by several small, square, light oak tables for two, dotted about the room, with matching chairs.
‘When did this happen?’
‘Yesterday evening while Natty and I were out at the disco, apparently. She’d ordered them online. You were out too, then, when they were delivered?’
‘Clearly.’
‘I didn’t realise you were out yesterday evening too. You didn’t say … ’
Jake tapped his nose and smiled. ‘Now, that would be telling.’
Faye frowned. ‘I was rather hoping I might catch you out and find out what you were up to.’
‘You mean find out about the surprise I still have in store for you.’ Jake wasn’t giving anything away. ‘Come on, let’s join Natty and Evie.’ Jake walked over to the window, where there were two tables pushed together to make a table for four.
Faye said, ‘Gayle put two tables together for us. She said she was aware that not all guests would be couples – there might be families, or groups who want to sit together. But she still went with the small tables with a view to doing this – putting them together to accommodate larger parties.’
‘Makes sense,’ Jake replied, sitting down next to Natty. The two girls were busy with sketch pads.
‘What are you two drawing?’ asked Jake.
‘This is me, Natty, Mummy and Faye at the snow disco.’
‘That’s a wonderful drawing, Evie.’ Jake turned to Natty and looked at the page open in her sketch pad. ‘Is that the snow disco too?’
Natty shook her head. ‘This is a ski slope, with you, Mummy, and Evie skiing.’
Jake pursed his lips. Of all things, why had she chosen to draw that? All the same, it was a nice drawing. ‘That’s very good, Natty. Well done.’ He glanced at Faye and caught her frowning. She obviously didn’t appreciate the drawing either.
Gayle appeared by their table and passed around four menus. ‘Now, if you look at the menu, you can see the drinks are at the top – tea, coffee, orange juice. Then there’s a choice of cereal, toast, pancakes, muffins – that sort of thing. You can help yourself to those over there.’
Jake looked over at the sideboard against the wall on the other side of the room.
Where once there had been family photos, a lamp and a vase of flowers, there were now jugs of orange juice, packets of cereal, baskets of fresh bread, rolls, pancakes, and muffins.
There were little pots of jam, marmalade and butter.
There was even a platter of ham, and different cheeses, and a large, round dish containing a home-baked cake.
‘Wow – that’s quite some spread,’ commented Jake.
‘Yes, that’s the continental breakfast. Now the cooked is to order. At the bottom of the menu there’s a list of things you can have for the cooked breakfast. You can choose from the list or just order the full Scottish, which will have everything.’
Gayle spotted their drawings. ‘That’s a very nice drawing, Evie.’
Evie had been busy colouring it in. She looked up at Gayle and smiled. Gayle glanced at Natty’s too. ‘Oh, that’s … um, nice too, Natty.’
Jake caught Gayle looking Faye’s way. ‘Right, does anyone want tea or coffee?’
Jake said, ‘I’d love a cup of coffee.’
‘Tea for me, please, Gayle.’
Gayle pointed at the menu. I’ll be back in a jiffy with tea and coffee, then I’ll take your order.’
Jake nodded. He was missing the informality of breakfast in the kitchen already, and the feeling of being in a family home rather than a guesthouse.
He sighed and picked up the menu, which had a picture of Lark Lodge on the front and a picture of a lark perched on a post in the garden.
The menus looked very professional. Jake wondered who had designed them.
He suspected it might be Bonnie, as her design flare and skills were obvious throughout the guesthouse .
He caught Faye and Natty whispering conspiratorially together and guessed they were talking about the day Faye had planned.
Jake put the menu down and folded his arms, eyeing them.
‘You can’t leave me in suspense any longer.
Which of you young ladies is going to tell me what you have planned for our day out together? ’
Natty was just going to speak up when Gayle came back, carrying a tea tray laden with tea and coffee. As she passed Jake and Faye their hot drinks, she said, ‘I took the liberty of making you both some toast. Now, can I take your order?’
Jake looked at the menu. ‘I’ll have the full Scottish please.’
‘Me too,’ said Faye. ‘It will keep us going when we—’ She stopped abruptly.