The House on the Shore (5 page)

“I was,” Anna replied, straining to keep the bitterness out of her voice.
“But a long-legged blonde called Stella started work in our department.
Mark was smitten.
He gave her my promotion
, s
o I gave him back my job.”

“Mark didn’t know what he had in you, my girl.
You’re smart and gorgeous.
Just look at you -
you’ve got hair halfway down your back the colour of a new penny and a lovely figure.
”
Anna blushed.
“
By contrast,
” Morag continued, “
I’m as tall as any man in the village, skinny as this wooden spoon, with hair so kinky I’ve no hope of running a brush through it.
I’m still amazed that my Lachlan even noticed me.”

“Lachlan loves you, Morag, that’s all that matters.
Mark, well, I don’t think he’s capable of loving anyone except himself.”

Morag chuckled.
“Perhaps you’re right.
That man is
too good looking, and he knows it.
I daresay this Stella woman won’t be the first, or last, to tempt him to wander.
He’s a right patter merchant
. H
e’d talk the knickers off you, and sell them back at twice the price!
Besides, you should never trust a Sassenach.”

Anna laughed.
“Sassenach.
I haven’t heard that word
used
in years.”

“Sassenach—English—we’d all be better off without them, Anna
, y
ours in particular, or so it would seem.”

“He isn’t mine, Morag.
Not anymore, a
nd to be honest, I was getting fed up with him, always sprawling on my sofa expecting to be waited on hand and foot, and discovering his dirty underwear in my laundry basket.
And his snoring
.
D
o you know the man roared all night like
a wart
hog?”

“Is that so?”

“And that’s not all.
His idea of going out for dinner always included staying for breakfast too.”

“It sounds to me as if you’re well rid of him.
You’ll get over him soon enough.
Besides, what you need is a true Highlander.
Scot
ti
s
h
men
know how to treat
a
women.”

Anna raised an eyebrow.
“Really?
Is that why most women in the glen spend part of their time chained to the kitchen sink and the rest balancing a baby on their hip as they Hoover and dust?
Oh, and did I mention they a
re expected to help with lambing, and hay-making too?”

“Sarcasm does not become you young lady, even if you are right,” Morag chided gently.
“What I meant to say is that a good man would never treat you the way Mark did.
If he promised you the job, then he should have kept his word, especially if you were better qualified than this ‘cat-walk model’ you describe.”

Despite feeling a little embarrassed, Anna smiled.
“I didn’t mean to be rude, Morag.
I guess the wound is still a little raw, especially as I’ve given up my flat in Edinburgh too.
You said Lachlan is away.”

“Aye, that’s right.”
Morag chuckled, not hiding the fact that she loathed her husband working away on the oil rigs.
“He’s only been gone a few days, and it feels more like a year.
I’ve another three weeks and two days on my own before he comes home.
T
he money is good, and if he keeps the job for another couple of years, we’ll be able to buy the farm he’s hankering after.
I just hate him going, that’s all.”

“You’ll get used to him being away given time.”

Morag managed a tremulous smile.
“There must be plenty more jobs out there for someone with your qualifications,
I
f
you
stay at the croft all summer,
how will you manage for money?”

“I’ve some savings, and the small legacy grandmother left me.
I thought if I could get a part-time job, I’d have enough money to see
me through the summer.”

Morag looked thoughtful.
“Well, lass, there’s no denying we’re short-handed.
The hotel is full to capacity.
The mornings are so busy, what with cleaning, preparing lunch, not to mention answering the phone.
There’s a fancy chef who comes in to prepare dinner, but Ewan likes to keep lunch a simple affair.
He’s away to
Inverness just now, otherwise I woul
d ask him for you.
I’m sure he’ll take you on to help out with the tourist season.
The pay won’t be much,
mind
,
just minimum wages
,
certainly nothing like you’re used to.”

“
As
long as it supplements my savings,
i
s all that matters.
I’ve an idea for a book. I’m giving myself the summer to write it.
If I’m not
offered a contract, I’ll find another teaching job.
And if I can’t, then I suppose I could sell shoes in
Jenners’
Edinburgh store until something more appropriate comes along.”

“A book
, you say?
What sort of book?”

“A novel
.
It’s
a love story set in Scotland at the time of the Clearances.”

“That sounds interesting.
I just hope you’re not planning on using me as a mod
el for one of your characters.”

Two dimples appeared in Anna’s cheeks.
“That’s not a bad idea.
I must make a note of it.
You mentioned there have be
en some changes on the estate.”

“Aye,
and
the tenants are none too happy about them, I can tell you.
But as I’m about ready to serve lunch, why don’t
you
tell
me
about them this evening over that bottle o
f wine you’re going to buy me
.
”

“O
kay
.
It’s about time
I
was going anyway.
I’ll see you about
seven-
thirty
.
”
Anna said, and turned to leave.

“That’s fine.
I’ll see you then
,
and I’ll let you know what Ewan says about the job.
He should be back be
fore I go home.
Bye just now.”

A
s Anna reached the lobby, the hotel doors swung open and she faced a large
thickset
man as he entered reception.
His ice-coloured eyes were set close together in a pox marked face under a jutting brow.
His coarse overgrown crew cut had the texture of
horsehair
.
His colourless
eyes narrowed as they met hers. H
is square jaw tensed, and he tightened his grip on hi
s rifle case and small holdall.

“Excuse me,” she said, and stepped aside.

He said nothing in response, and stormed up to the desk.
In gruff
,
halting English he asked Katrina, the receptionist, for tea and sandwiches to be sent up to his room.
W
hen his cell phone rang
,
he barked into it in a heavy language Anna couldn’t understand.
Polish?
Estonian?
Certainly eastern European.
Involuntarily, she put a hand to her throat.
If ever there was a man who would strangle me in my sleep, this is the one.

She sped out of the hotel to the car park, wondering why he disturbed her so much, and hoping
his stay would be a short one.

***

Luke
phoned the boatyard, and
then
contemplated having a drink in the
bar. H
e sure as hell needed one,
b
ut something told him not to keep the lady—no, strike that—
ill-mannered hermit
, waiting any l
onger than necessary.

As a successful artist, he was rarely without a companion, but lately he’d become tired and bored with the dating game.
The
women
he escorted
were smiling and all too eager to get in his pants.
And his wallet.
His work too, had become stale, and although his paintings sold well, he felt that each canvas
was a mirror image of the last.

His solution came to him over a prolonged lunch in the
Impudent Oyster
with a beautiful bored Boston housewife
.
He
realized
he needed to get away.
He’d returned home
,
and spent the
rest of the
week stocking the yacht with sufficient provisions for a month.

It was his own driving need for the unexpected that made him set sail with no firm destination in mind.
Well, my boy
, Luke muttered to himself
,
as he strode across the car park towards the waiting Land Rover,
you
certainly found the unexpected,
and she has long legs and em
erald-green eyes.

He found Anna leaning against the driver’s door.
Casually, he rested his hand against the
doorframe
above her shoulde
r
.

“The boatyard is ordering the part.
It should be here later in the week, or the beginning of next.
They also said something I didn’t understand, something about putting it on the mail van
.
”

“That’s correct.
Provided
your package i
s not too large,
it
will be delivered with the mail.
It’s the same throughout the Highlands.
It’s more convenient, and the easiest option for pe
ople who live in remote areas.”

“
T
hat’s fine, except how on earth is
the mailman going to deliver it when
Sandpiper is m
oored in the middle of the loch?
”

“He’ll leave any parcels here at reception along with my mail.”

“Oh yeah?
And then what?
I walk the twelve miles down the glen every day to see if he has?”

“No, you knock on my door and ask me nicely to collect it for you.”

“Great,” Luke replied, shooting her a twisted smile.
The prospect of having to rely on this prickly female didn’t inspire him with overwhelming confidence.
“And what do you suggest I do in the meantime?”

“Look around you, sailor-boy.
This land may appear barren and inhospitable, but it is breathtakingly beau
tiful, not to mention a walker
and naturalist’s paradise.
Go for a hike, or take a swim in the loch, although I should warn you, the water’s pretty cold, even in summer.
If you ha
d sailed west, you could have moored somewhere more civili
z
ed, like Portree Harbour on Skye.
Instead, you chose to drop anchor in one of the remotest and most inaccessible lochs in Scotland.
Oh, and did I mention, it’s
also
one of the deepest?”

“O
kay
.
I’ll
admit it; I should have paid more attention to the chart.
”
Luke took a
step closer, until his face was only inches from hers.
“
T
he sooner you get back in that heap of junk you laughingly call a vehicle, the sooner
I
…”

Two black and white heads snarled
at him
through the driver’s window.

Anna side
stepped him.
“Before you what?
Get bitten?”

Luke yanked open the driver’s door.
Anna took the hint, but the look she gave him as she climbed aboard would have mad
e most animals curl up and die.

“Good dogs,” she
patted
the two
dogs
,
and then
nudg
ed
them aside.
“Go on, in the back.”
She turned to Luke.
“Are you getting in or planning
on
standing there all day
?”