Page 43 of The Boathouse by the Loch (The Scottish Highlands #4)

Faye put the kettle on.

Jake sat down at the kitchen table. There was a bowl, some milk and a box of cereal.

He poured some cereal and eyed his train ticket.

He still wished they weren’t going by train.

They were getting the early morning train from London Euston to Glasgow Central, which took four and a half hours, followed by another train from Glasgow to Aviemore.

All in all, a train journey of over seven hours.

It did beat doing it by road, but Jake would have preferred to fly.

He looked at his ticket and had to ask, ‘It was very thoughtful of you to make the travel arrangements. Was the train really all Natty’s idea? I know it’s cheaper than flying, but I don’t mind booking us a flight. That way, we wouldn’t lose an entire day of our holiday travelling.’

Faye had boiled the kettle and made two mugs of tea. She turned around and put one in front of Jake, then sat at the table. ‘I suppose I kind of nudged her in that direction. I was thinking of a bus, because that’s cheaper, but neither of us wanted to revisit that bus station any time soon.’

Jake understood. ‘So, do you want to cancel the train tickets, and I’ll book us a flight?’

Faye shook her head. ‘Patrick might be offended.’

Jake frowned ‘What’s it got to do with Patrick?’

‘He offered to pay for the holiday. Insisted, actually. I told him I felt bad not inviting him to come with us, but he said he didn’t want to get in the way, and that when we get back, he hopes he can have a day out with Natty, just him and his granddaughter.’

Jake was surprised Patrick had paid for the tickets.

But then again, maybe he wasn’t. When he’d told Patrick about Faye’s idea for the three of them to go on holiday to Scotland, Patrick had seemed over the moon with the idea.

Jake knew the reason – he could see his granddaughter was very fond of the babysitter.

And he knew she’d called him Daddy. Natty’s real father wasn’t coming back.

Patrick could see Jake as very, very good husband material for his daughter.

Jake, and clearly Patrick, were hoping that during the course of this holiday, Faye would start to see that too.

‘I’ve already got the accommodation sorted, so he doesn’t have to worry about that.

’ Jake suddenly realised that wasn’t true.

His arrangement with Gayle had been made on the proviso that they would be returning shortly.

Now they wouldn’t be arriving until Friday.

He made a mental note to phone Gayle, hoping she had vacancies.

He had to organise two rooms – one for himself, and a family or twin room for Natty and Faye.

Faye took a sip of coffee and commented, ‘Yeah, my dad said we wouldn’t have to worry about booking accommodation.’

Jake was getting his mobile phone out to call Gayle. ‘Oh, really? I didn’t mention whereabouts we’d be staying in Scotland when I got off the phone to you yesterday before you collected Natty.’

‘I guess he presumed we’d be staying at your holiday home.’

Jake’s head shot up. ‘Excuse me? ’

‘He gave me and Natty pocket money, which was kind of funny. I haven’t had spending money for a holiday off my dad for years.’

Jake sat there staring at Faye. ‘Look, about The Lake House…’

‘The Lake House?’

He realised she didn’t know the name of the Ross family’s holiday home, nor that it was, in fact, his house.

For some reason, Jake didn’t feel inclined to tell her.

He didn’t know why. Or perhaps he did. Jake couldn’t take her to The Lake House even if he hadn’t had the excuse that it was in the throes of being redecorated.

Even without that, being back there with Faye, the woman he’d fallen in love with, in a place that would just remind him of Eleanor …

‘Jake – what is it?’

‘The family holiday home, The Lake House, is being redecorated, so we can’t stay there I’m afraid.’

‘Oh, I see. That’s a shame.’

‘Yeah. But I know this amazing little guesthouse. Gayle, the owner, is lovely. She makes you feel right at home.’ Jake really hoped she had vacancies. ‘Natty will love it. There’s a rather special guest that I’m sure she’s going to make very good friends with. Her name is Olive.’

‘Oh, she’ll love to have someone to play with. I hope she likes ball games. Natty insisted on packing her ball.’

Jake grinned. ‘Olive loves playing ball.’

‘Oh, and Natty loves board games. We could all play, but having someone around her own age to play with—’

‘Oh, no, I didn’t mean another child.’

‘Oh, then what—’

‘Olive is a dog.’

‘A dog?’ Faye shook her head. ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea. You know she’ll be pestering me big time for a puppy. She already has been.’

Jake really hoped that all this – the plan to take the train, then Patrick putting it into Faye’s head that they were staying at the Rosses’ holiday home, and now his own faux pas in mentioning the dog – wasn’t a harbinger for things going south on their first holiday together.

Don’t screw it up , Patrick had said. Jake was determined not to. But some things were just out of his control.

Faye surprised him by reaching across the table and taking his hand. ‘You know what? Forget what I said about the dog. Hey, maybe I will get her one.’

‘You will?’ Jake said in surprise, although he was pleased. ‘I can look after it when you’re busy. Take it for walks to the park with Natty,’ Jake quickly said.

‘I know. I can’t believe I’m even thinking about it. But after nearly losing her, doing things like that just doesn’t seem a big deal anymore. I’m going to turn into you, aren’t I? Spoiling her rotten.’

Jake grinned. ‘Sounds like it.’

At that moment, Natty burst into the kitchen and caught them holding hands. She looked wide-eyed at both of them and offered up the biggest grin. ‘This is going to be the best holiday ever.’

Faye eyed her daughter as she let go of Jake’s hand. ‘I hope so, because you haven’t been on holiday for years. You won’t remember the last holiday we had together, which was with your grandfather when he took a holiday to Ireland, and we went too.’

Jake eyed Faye. Nothing was going to get in the way of him making sure this was the best holiday ever. And that was precisely the reason they couldn’t stay at The Lake House. Natty didn’t understand. He was still married. He could not court the woman he now loved at that house.

That was what he realised this holiday was all about for him; an opportunity to court her.

The Lake House held too many memories of the past. As much as he loved the house, he was back to thinking that once the redecorating was complete, he might have to let it go and finally move on from what had happened the previous Christmas.

‘Have you cleaned your teeth, Natty?’ Faye asked.

She nodded her head.

‘Good.’

Natty ran up to Jake. ‘Come on, Jake. Hurry up. Finish your drink.’

Jake smiled at Natty, then finished his coffee and cereal in double-quick time. ‘I’ll just go and shower and change.’ He left Natty looking at a website on holidays in Scotland, grabbed his bag, and headed upstairs.

When he returned a short time later, the clean dishes and cutlery had been put away, and the laptop was closed down. He followed Natty and Faye out of the kitchen. He was waiting for them by the front door as they both slipped on jackets – it looked like rain – when Jake heard his mobile phone.

Faye turned around, glancing towards the lounge. ‘I think you left your mobile in there.’

Jake ran into the lounge and picked it up.

He looked at the number and frowned. He’d forgotten the promise he’d made to Marcus that as soon as he returned to London, he’d return to the Ross Corporation and step into Marcus’s shoes temporarily, so that Marcus could check himself into the rehab clinic.

Marcus wouldn’t know he was back. He’d left him at the airport on Thursday afternoon.

It was only Saturday. He wouldn’t expect him back so soon, after he’d told him that he had unfinished business relating to finding Martha’s son.

That business was still unfinished, along with the discovery that Marcus had been right – someone else had been on that mountain with them on Christmas Day.

Before he told Marcus, he wanted to find out who that someone was, but just then he had something a lot more pressing and important to focus on – winning Faye’s heart.

If he told Marcus that he was back in London already, he’d have to return to the Ross Corporation – and who knew how long that would be for, while Marcus was in rehab?

Jake couldn’t be in two places at once. Jake not only wanted to spend the week with Natty and Faye on days out in London, but he didn’t want there to be any chance he’d have to cancel their week in Scotland at the end of the week .

Jake’s finger hovered over the green icon. All he had to do was answer it, tell Marcus he’d be just a few more days – well, two weeks. Could Marcus wait that long? Jake had made a promise that he’d be back. He would. Just not right now.

But what if Marcus was on another spiral downwards, and needed to check into the clinic ASAP? Then he’d tell him to check in. The company would have to do without him.

Marcus would not do that. Jake knew that. He would not leave the company unless Jake was at the helm once more.

Standing by the front door, Faye called out, ‘Jake?’

Jake was already torn, and he hadn’t even answered the phone. That very thought made up his mind. He had to choose. ‘Yeah – be right with you.’

‘Everything okay?’ Faye asked as he joined them. They stepped outside.

Jake thought, god, I hope so as he put his phone on silent.