Chapter 21
CHAPTER 21
MAGGIE
‘ R eady for the next one?’
Luke was grinning at her and bouncing on the balls of his feet like an excited toddler, but Maggie held up her hand to stop him in his tracks - then started to laugh when he stuck out his bottom lip in an exaggerated pout.
‘As fascinating as it’s been to traipse all over Crumcarey looking at derelict spiles of stone in the evening sunshine,’ she said, digging her heels in as he tried to draw her playfully towards the truck, ‘you seem to have forgotten that I’ve got my own pile of stones waiting for me at home.’
Luke grinned, but Maggie crossed her arms. She wasn’t going to be swayed just because her knees trembled every time he threw that high-voltage smile at her. She had a feeling there was more to this magical mystery tour than introducing her to hidden corners of the island.
Every single place Luke had taken her to visit had been uninhabited and in a state of disrepair… and now Maggie wanted to know what he was up to. As much as it had been fun having her brain squeezed for ideas about what she’d do with each of the buildings, it was time for him to clue her in.
‘Come on, out with it,’ she said, ‘what are you up to? What’s this really about?’
‘Well,’ said Luke, ‘I want to know if you’re interested.’
Maggie raised both eyebrows at that. ‘Interested in what, exactly? Come on Luke Harris, you’re being very mysterious and it doesn’t suit you!’
Luke let out a hoot of laughter. ‘Well… I’ve had this idea…’ he paused and ran his fingers through his hair. If she didn’t know any better, Maggie would guess that he was nervous - but for the life of her, she couldn’t imagine why.
‘Look,’ he continued, ‘I know this is a bit out of the blue… but I want to renovate some of these old ruins.’
‘You do?’ said Maggie in surprise.
‘I do. With you.’
‘With me?’ she parroted.
Luke laughed and then nodded.
‘I want us to team up – your mad, amazing design skills and my odd-jobbery… and Uncle Harris’s ability to sniff out or scrounge all the goodies we need to get each job done,’ said Luke. ‘With permission, of course. I think we’d make a great team.’
‘But… I… you…?’ Maggie spluttered, trying to take it all in. So it definitely hadn’t been a random evening pottering around the island, then. ‘But… why?’ said Maggie.
A little flower of hope had suddenly lifted its head. Did this mean he wanted to stay on Crumcarey?
‘The island’s turning a corner,’ he said. ‘Everyone’s been saying it. With Ray’s dive school and the new runway at the airport. Then there’s the publicity around the standing stones…’
‘I heard they’re fake?’ said Maggie.
‘Shhhh!’ said Luke, rushing to her side and placing a hand over her mouth, looking around him with exaggerated care.
Maggie giggled and shoved his hand away.
‘I will neither confirm nor deny such rumours,’ muttered Luke. ‘Either way, it doesn’t stop the tourists turning up, does it?’
‘True,’ agreed Maggie.
‘Olive hasn’t got enough rooms for them all at The Tallyaff,’ continued Luke. ‘She’s been turning bookings away all summer.’
‘Also true,’ said Maggie, ‘and the conference centre…’ she trailed off delicately, scrunching up her nose.
‘Until Joyce either sorts that place out or sells up, it’s not really fit for purpose,’ sighed Luke. ‘Plus, it’s full all the time anyway, with those poor archaeology students!’
Luke shook his head and waved a hand impatiently at himself, clearly irritated that he’d wandered off topic.
‘Anyway, the point is, loads more visitors are discovering the island. The more people we can get to spend time on Crumcarey, the better. The right ones fall in love with the place – they always do – and then they want to come back. I want to give them places to come back to!’
‘Mr Harris is going to hate this,’ chuckled Maggie, imagining the impending grumbling about traffic and campervans.
‘On the contrary,’ said Luke, shaking his head. ‘He’s all in! He’s really enjoyed having something to focus on over the last few days while we’ve been working on your place… and I think he likes having family around.’
Maggie swallowed. Part of her barely dared to believe what she was hearing.
‘I’m sorry,’ said Luke. ‘I know all of this is a bit sudden, but it’s kind of how my brain works.’
‘It’s… that’s… don’t apologise!’ said Maggie, her mind churning with a mixture of possibility and excitement, and fear and doubt. ‘I mean… do you have the capital to buy all these places? Are they even for sale?’
‘They’ve been empty for decades,’ said Luke with a shrug. ‘There’s a byelaw here that means they revert to being owned by the community if they sit empty for long enough.’
‘What does that mean?’ she said. ‘Practically, I mean?’
‘It means we need to get Olive on side,’ said Luke. ‘But I don’t think there’s any worry there. She’s head of tourism - and basically everything else too. I’m sure she’ll be on board. Having more places for people to stay would be good for the economy. I don’t want to sound too hard-headed - I just think we have an opportunity to do something really special here… to bring these corners of Crumcarey back to life.’
Maggie had been nodding slowly while Luke had been talking, and she could feel the beginnings of pure excitement in the pit of her stomach. The chance to bring these lovely old places back to life? She’d loved to be involved!
But… she dreaded to think what Russell would say. Probably that she didn’t have the imagination or the skill.
Maggie shook her head irritably. It wasn’t up to him, was it? Not anymore. This was her life now. Maybe even hers and Luke’s… if he was going to stay. But it was like Olive said, she needed to give it time…
‘I need to think about it,’ she said. ‘Is that okay?’
‘Of course,’ said Luke, shooting her a warm smile, even though Maggie suspected she saw a tiny hint of disappointment that she wasn’t jumping for joy and diving in head first.
‘Can… can you drive me home?’ she said in a small voice.
‘Sure,’ said Luke with a little nod.
‘Hey Luke?’ she said, reaching out and threading her fingers gently through his.
‘Yeah?’ he said, crooking one eyebrow at her.
‘Thanks for the magical mystery tour,’ she said, pulling him in and planting a light kiss on his lips as the sun gleamed golden across the sea.
Luke had dropped Maggie off at the front of the cottage, and as hard as it had been not to beg him to accompany her inside, Maggie hadn’t been joking when she’d said she needed to think.
Her head was full and her imagination was ablaze… especially after Luke had told her about Stella and Frank’s reactions to her drawings on the way home. She needed an evening on her own to let her mind wander through all the new possibilities that had appeared at her feet.
Popping the kettle on, Maggie padded around the cottage, admiring her new windows. It was already growing dark outside, and she couldn’t wait to experience their full effect in the morning. Right now, though, she had something she wanted to do.
Dashing through to the bedroom, Maggie hunted until she found the plastic box where she’d stashed her good drawing paper and her fine liners. Making her way back out into the living room, she popped her supplies down onto her lovely new kitchen table.
‘Strong coffee first,’ she said, spooning grounds into a cafetiere and then pouring herself a huge mug of the stuff to keep her going. Then she flicked on the various lamps she’d been gifted to get as much light as possible, before settling down at the table. She needed to unload her overflowing imagination before she burst with ideas, and this was the best way she knew how.
Fidgeting in her chair for a second, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the crumpled piece of kitchen roll Luke had given her back at Peedie Croft, along with two or three more she’d pilfered to make notes about the other places.
The sketches were scrappy beyond belief, but they were exactly what she needed to jog her memory. Picking up her favourite pen for the first time in forever, Maggie un-clicked the cap and then paused for a long moment with the nib hovering over the clean sheet of paper.
With a deep breath, she started to draw.
Peedie Croft came first, and then Maggie worked her way through the other houses they’d visited in turn. She’d always been good with remembering details, and it wasn’t long before she had immaculate sketches of the buildings as they stood now, surrounded by design ideas she’d love to bring to life.
Russell had hated it when she’d gone through this process for Pear Tree Cottage. He’d resented the fact that she had the ability to imagine the project as a finished whole. For all his talk about wanting to work on their home together, he’d turned out to be a weird mixture of control freak and completely useless when it came down to anything practical.
Maggie paused for a long moment, frowning as she lifted her nib from the drawing of the final cottage they’d visited. Did she really want to get involved in this? To tie herself up with yet more dilapidated parts of Crumcarey that needed more care and attention than she could possibly give them? What if she ended up with it all landing on her shoulders? She couldn’t take that again.
‘No. This is Luke,’ she muttered, shaking her head. ‘He’s not Russell. He’s nothing like Russell.’
Reaching for a sip of coffee, Maggie laughed, realising that she must have drained the mug hours ago. She really ought to think about going to bed… but she wasn’t quite finished yet. She had a decision to make before she could go to sleep, and it wasn’t something to be taken lightly.
Did she want to dive into this hair-brained plan with Luke – a man she barely knew?
‘But I do know him!’ she muttered. She might not have known him long, but she knew his heart. There was no side to Luke Harris. He was adventure personified… and kindness, hard work, and warm kisses on the sofa.
Maggie shivered and let her eyes drift over the table bearing page after page of drawings, full of plans and ideas. Every single cottage had its own special character. These places were more than a sum of their slightly decrepit parts. The views, the mountains, the coastlines, the gardens – each cottage had its own unique blend of all these things. Maggie could just imagine them coming back to life and delighting anyone who visited.
Yawning widely, Maggie scrubbed at her eyes and glanced at the clock on her kitchen wall.
Wow… midnight?!
No wonder her stomach was growling - she’d completely lost track of time. She’d also run out of paper.
She needed something to eat.
She needed to sleep.
She needed to talk to Luke!