Page 20 of The Boathouse by the Loch (The Scottish Highlands #4)

Jake took off his jacket, folded it once and placed it beside him on the stone bench.

He picked up the roll of bandages – he had come prepared – and rolled up his sleeves.

He wound a layer of bandages first around his left hand, then his right hand, making sure to secure them tightly at the wrist. The cuts to his hands were healing nicely, and if he opened them up, then so be it – this had to be done.

Jake was ready. He stood. He picked up the sledgehammer and took five paces forward. He stopped.

He swung.

The memorial stone shattered.

The date went first, then her name, Eleanor , and finally that word – Chosen .

Three more swings and it was down to a mere stump; the rest would have to be dug up.

But it was good enough for Jake. He’d done exactly what he’d gone back to do.

He stood there for a moment, looking at the debris of the memorial stone he’d had erected in the small side-garden of The Lake House and thinking of his state of mind soon after the accident, when he’d convinced himself she was dead.

She might as well be , thought Jake again.

But even so, she wasn’t, and it was a terrible thing to have erected a memorial.

It was why Marcus had followed him there.

Marcus was worried about him. Why wouldn’t he be, after he’d found out about the stone?

Jake shook his head. This was part of his journey to acceptance of what had happened.

The memorial stone was gone, and with it the delusion that Eleanor was gone too.

And when he got back to London, as soon as Marcus had cleaned himself up, and was out of rehab, Jake knew he’d have to face up to the next challenge, which was going to be an awful lot harder than taking a sledgehammer to a piece of granite – facing Eleanor for the first time since the accident.

How could I have left visiting her all these months – not seeing her once?

Jake didn’t want to go on that guilt trip right now.

He still had one more thing to do before joining Marcus in London – find Martha’s son.

He hoped her son had been adopted locally, if that was what had happened, and that David knew him.

He hoped it would be that easy; needed it to be so.

He was going to get the photo of the little boy called Ralph, which he had left in his room at Lark Lodge, and meet David at The Winky to show him the photo.

David would tell him, ‘Hey, that’s a kid I went to school with.

And do you know, he still lives and works in Aviemore. ’

Jake sighed. He didn’t think there was a chance he would be that lucky.

It occurred to him that he could have asked Mr Gillespie if he knew Martha.

It was another long shot, but he had obviously lived in the area for years and years.

Their paths might have crossed. He resolved to return to Mr Gillespie’s store to find out.

In the meantime, perhaps when David had loosened up after a few drinks, he might be ready to talk.

Jake just hoped he didn’t spend all night talking about Robyn, rather than what Jake was going to be there for – finding Martha’s son.

Jake was still holding back from asking the one person who was closest to Martha – her brother – the question that was still on his mind. What if Aubrey had never known that Martha had a son – that he had a nephew? It still wasn’t a conversation he wanted to have with Aubrey over the phone.

Jake’s thoughts were interrupted by someone shouting his name from the main garden. He dropped the sledgehammer, rolled down his sleeves, picked up his coat and noted with some satisfaction that the bandages were still clean.

Jake walked through the gap in the hedge, feeling pretty good about things, just as Marty skidded to a halt in front of him, grabbing his sleeve. ‘Jake!’ He was breathless, as though he’d been running. ‘It’s Gayle.’

Jake immediately registered the alarm on Marty’s face. ‘What happened?’

‘She sent me to find you. You’d better come quick. There’s some woman on the phone for you, hysterical, can’t get a sane word out of her.’

‘Oh, god – it’s Lydia!’ Jake’s heart pounded. His pace quickened. By the time he got to the car, he was running full pelt and too psyched-up to stop.

He ran past the car and across the lawn.

He hurled himself through a tiny gap in the privet hedge where once, as children, he and Marcus had sneaked into the neighbouring property.

He ran towards Gayle, who was standing on the porch, looking down the driveway, not expecting Jake to arrive from another direction. Jake reached her, panting like a dog.

She guided him to the phone in the study, her face urgent.

Jake picked up the phone as Gayle pulled the door closed, leaving him alone to take the call.

He hesitated .

Was this the call he’d been dreading? Time and again, it had been Lydia ringing him up, and he had tried to reassure her that everything would be alright; that he’d go and find Marcus.

But no, not this time; this time it would be Lydia telling him that everything wouldn’t be alright – ever, because it was too late.

That Marcus was dying. Or that he was dead in a gutter before Jake had a chance to reach him.

Why hadn’t he got on that plane with Marcus?

Why now, when everything seemed to be coming together?

Jake closed his eyes as he brought the phone to his ear.

He didn’t think he could bear to lose them both.

‘Lydia?’ Bile was rising in his throat; he thought he was going to be sick.

‘Jake? Oh, Jake! Oh, god!’

Jake opened his eyes. ‘Faye?’

‘Oh, god! Jake, I don’t … I can’t …’ She was hysterical. This wasn’t the Faye he knew. Jake had never, ever known her to act this way.

‘Faye.’ Jake repeated her name several times as he fought for control of his own voice, because there was only one thing that could send her off the rails like this. Jake’s heart at that moment was pounding in fear as he said, ‘Faye – tell me what happened to Natty.’

Jake was forced to wait an excruciating few seconds for Faye’s sobs to subside enough for her to manage, ‘She’s gone, Jake – they took her.’

‘They?’

‘You’re leaving? But you’ve only just arrived. I thought you came back because you had unfinished business.’

Gayle was standing in the doorway of the attic bedroom. She’d popped upstairs, clearly concerned after Jake had got off the phone and raced up the stairs like a herd of elephants, the old stairs creaking loudly under his heavy footfalls as he took them two at a time.

He’d heard Gayle call after him, but he hadn’t had time to pause on the stairs and explain what was going on. He’d barely had time to shove his stuff in his overnight bag. He wasn’t surprised that Gayle had followed.

Jake turned around. ‘I’m sorry, Gayle. I know I booked for six nights, but—’

‘Oh, Jake. I’m not fussed about that. I’m sure I’ll rent the room out.’

‘Even so. I want to pay for—’

Gayle wagged a finger at him. ‘Now, we are not going through that again. You’re only paying for the night you stayed, do you hear me?’

‘Yes, Gayle. Loud and clear.’

‘What happened, Jake?’

‘It’s Natty, my friend’s daughter. She’s … missing.’ Jake did not want to get into the specifics of exactly what Faye had told him: They took her.

‘Oh, goodness. How old is she?’

‘She’s only nine. I have to get back to London.’

‘Of course, of course. Will you get a flight at such short notice?’

Jake stopped and stared at her. ‘God, I’d forgotten I’ve got to book a flight.’ Jake picked up the keys to his hire car. ‘You know what? If it comes to it, I’ll have to drive.’

‘That will take hours!’

‘I know. But I can’t sit around doing nothing, waiting several days, or god forbid, for my return flight in five days’ time.’

He stuffed one last shirt in his bag and tried zipping it up. ‘Dammit!’ The shirt got stuck in the zip. ‘You know what? Why am I even packing? I don’t need to take this bag with me.’

Gayle stepped into the room. ‘Here, let me zip it up while you make that call, see if you can get a flight back to London today.’ She put a hand over Jake’s arm. ‘Take a breath, Jake. Everything is going to be okay.’

Jake took a deep breath, realising he wasn’t thinking straight. He should have sorted a flight first.

It didn’t take long for Jake to sort the flight.

He didn’t even have to make a call. He turned to Gayle with a sigh of relief, holding up his mobile phone.

‘I’ve booked the next flight online. It leaves this afternoon.

’ Now he knew why Faye had phoned the guesthouse.

His phone had been on silent. Thank goodness he’d told Natty about staying at Lark Lodge in Aviemore. She must have told her mum.

Gayle handed Jake his bag. ‘You’re leaving right now?’ Gayle asked as she followed him out of the door.

‘Yes.’ Jake hurried down the stairs. Although there was plenty of time to drive the airport, he didn’t want there to be any chance he’d get caught in a traffic jam and miss his flight.

They stopped at the front door. ‘Feels like déjà vu,’ commented Gayle.

Jake knew what she was talking about – just the previous morning, he’d been standing at her front door, with Marcus waiting in the car, heading off, much to Gayle’s surprise.

And to add to the feeling of déjà vu, Olive suddenly appeared out of nowhere, running down the hallway towards him. Jake gave her a fuss. He looked at Gayle. ‘Sorry to do this again. ’

‘Really, don’t be. I’m just relieved you got a seat on the next flight to London.’

‘So am I.’ Jake looked at his watch, even though there was no point. He had plenty of time. Even so, he didn’t want to stand and chat.

Gayle grabbed Olive by the collar. ‘Come on, Olive. Jake can’t stand here all day, petting you.’

Olive whined.

Jake looked at Gayle. ‘Thank you.’

‘You’ll come back, won’t you, Jake?’