Chapter Twenty-Two
The sound of a shower running in the next room woke me.
Curled up like a dormouse under the covers, I rubbed my eyes.
The first thing that came into focus was a paperback copy of The Hobbit that wasn’t mine, next to what had to be a fifty-year-old digital alarm clock that blinked bright red numbers against a black background.
It was nine thirty in the morning on Christmas Eve.
I’d been asleep for almost eleven hours.
The second thing that came to me was the underwire of my bra digging into my ribs. What was I thinking?
Rolling over to push my legs out of bed, I groaned as I twisted the under band, all of my muscles protesting at being made to do any sort of work while my mind refused to come back online.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d slept for so long, no wonder the neurons were struggling to fire.
Callum’s side of the bed was empty, the quilt pushed back and the mattress still warm when I ran a hand over the bottom sheet.
He’d slept late too. But he’d been up long enough to light the fire and make two cups of tea, both of which sat steaming on his chest of drawers.
Assuming one was for me, I forced my legs to carry me across the room to collect it then found my way to the armchair by the window.
A frost had come in the night, covering everything outside with an icy sparkle, and I felt sure my fingers would come back covered in glitter if I reached out to touch it.
‘Ahh, she lives.’
I twisted in my chair, still bleary-eyed, to see Callum emerge from the bathroom, plumes of steam billowing out behind him like dry ice on a game show.
He had a towel wrapped around his waist, the hair on his head was wet and slicked back and the hair on his chest glistened, just like the first time we met. Well, except for the towel.
‘Morning,’ I said, forcing my eyes back up to his face as my mind treated me to an instant replay of that particular memory. ‘Did you sleep OK?’
‘Not as well as some people,’ he replied with a grin. ‘You weren’t kidding about being able to sleep anywhere, were you?’
Turning back to the window, I pinched my own thigh through my shorts, very aware that I was not looking at this man respectfully and we were still under his mother’s roof. I needed to put some distance between us and fast.
‘What’s on the agenda for today?’ I asked, the sound of drawers opening and closing behind me. ‘Have I got another migraine or do we need to switch it up? Sore throat? Vertigo? A sudden case of Alien Hand Syndrome?’
‘Do I even want to know?’
‘A neurological condition in which a person loses control of one or both of their hands, meaning their hands frequently act against their will.’
‘As tempting as that is, I was thinking of something else.’
When I looked back, he was pulling a grey T-shirt over his head, the muscles in his back flexing under the pale skin.
‘We should get out for the day,’ he said. ‘It pains me to suggest it but—’
‘Loch Ness?’ I guessed. ‘You’re taking me to Loch Ness?’
Pulling a chunky blue jumper from a drawer he shook his head. ‘I’m taking you to Inverness to get a new phone.’
My face fell.
‘And I’m taking you to Loch Ness.’
I didn’t care how thick the walls were, everyone in the house must’ve heard me cheer. And then yelp when I spilled tea on the back of my hand.
‘It doesn’t seem like a good idea to have your pals knocking around the house,’ Callum added, laughing.
Ignoring the mild scalding, I put down my cup and leapt to my feet, jumping up and down on the spot, ecstatic at Callum’s suggestion and the fact I’d decided to sleep in a bra.
‘Give me ten minutes and I’m out the door,’ I said, wiping my wet hand on the backside of my pyjamas. ‘Although Desi and Joel might need a bit more warning. Desi especially, she’s not a morning person.’
‘They already know. Joel’s been up for hours, we had a wee chat while I made the tea. Get yourself ready, I’ll see you downstairs. I’ve left the poor bastard alone with my dad unchaperoned.’
I threw him a salute and marched right into the bathroom, tying up my hair, turning on the shower and only pausing when I reached down to take off my socks.
Callum’s socks. With great care, I rolled them back up into a ball and placed them on the chair in the corner of the bathroom.
Would it be so terrible if I borrowed them as a permanent loan?
‘You’re talking about stealing a man’s socks,’ I whispered as I stepped into the shower.
I definitely needed to get out of the house.
‘I think I can see it!’ Desi yelled, a pair of binoculars borrowed from Mal held up to her face. ‘Wait, no, it’s a branch. Not a monster.’
‘Give me strength.’ Callum blew out a sigh as we followed a well-trodden path along the side of the loch. ‘How many more times is she going to do that?’
‘Twenty times an hour feels like a conservative estimate,’ Joel replied. ‘She’s very excited.’
Even more excited than me, it turned out. Unbeknownst to any of us, Desi had been hiding a secret monster kink and was determined to find the Nessie of her dreams.
‘It’s your fault for giving her that book about the sexy mothman,’ he muttered at me.
‘Never been the same since. If it’s not mothmen, it’s minotaurs.
If it’s not minotaurs, it’s orcs and if it’s not orcs, it’s ogres.
I don’t even want to tell you about the short story she sent me about the kraken. ’
‘Self-published?’ I asked, trying not to smile at his pain.
‘Self-written,’ he replied, eyes bugging out of his head. ‘She’s the monster and you created it. I’ve never seen so many uses of the word “undulating” in one Word document.’
‘There it is!’ my best friend screeched again. ‘Oh, no, log. Never mind, as you were.’
‘Were you never tempted to make a Loch Ness monster suit and have a nice swim?’ Joel asked Callum as we passed another group of women staring out at the water, half of them through binoculars, the others zooming in with their phones.
‘If it weren’t so cold my balls have gone back up inside me, I’d be tempted to do it now. ’
‘You wouldn’t be the first,’ Callum replied, the broadest version of his smile lighting up his face. ‘I avoid this place like the plague. Too many tourists year round.’
‘But it’s gorgeous,’ I protested. ‘How could you not want to be here all the time?’
He rubbed his chin and considered the almost absurd natural beauty around us, the endless mountains, a forever sky and the still water reflecting it all back like a mirror.
‘It is, but I prefer Loch Shin myself.’
‘That’s the loch behind Balmaclay?’
He nodded.
‘There’s something special about it. I don’t know a more beautiful spot on earth.’
I couldn’t help but hear the wistful note in his voice and, as we crossed off the path and onto a pebbly beach, everyone’s warnings came flooding back to me. Balmaclay was more than a house to Callum, Scotland was in his soul. Whatever he said now, his ties to this place ran deep.
‘Not that this isn’t nice,’ he added. ‘All the better for the company, of course.’
‘Desi aside,’ Joel replied, patting him on the back when she shrieked again. ‘Don’t worry, you’ll get used to her.’
Dores Beach, Callum’s chosen visiting spot, sat almost at the most northerly tip of Loch Ness according to the map up at the little pub we’d passed on the way.
From here, you could see for miles, an unbroken view of the narrow stretch of water, hills rising on either side and closing in on the loch until it disappeared in a point in the far distance.
If I were a prehistoric monster who didn’t mind the cold, I could imagine being quite happy there myself.
‘Braw weather today,’ Callum said, eyes closed, face turned towards the sun. ‘Last time I was here it was pure dreich.’
‘Is it me or has his accent got stronger since we left this morning?’ Joel asked, not bothering to lower his voice. ‘I can barely understand the bugger.’
‘You’re the one in my country,’ Callum pointed out. ‘Do you need a translator?’
‘Yes,’ Joel replied. ‘That would be wonderful, thank you.’
‘Callum, can I ask you something?’
Without warning, Desi came crashing through the three of us, sliding her arm through Callum’s and drawing him a little way ahead of us.
‘As long as it’s not about the monster,’ he confirmed. ‘Ask away.’
‘How come you’re single?’
‘Des!’ I yelped. ‘No!’
‘Bad dog,’ Joel shook his head slowly. ‘Very bad dog.’
‘I’m just curious,’ she said, and I saw her tighten her grip around Callum’s elbow. There would be no shaking her off. ‘He cooks, he’s fit, his family owns a castle—’
‘It’s not a castle.’
‘How are you not fighting off the ladies?’ she pressed. ‘Or the gents, or both, or neither. Allies only around these parts.’
‘Feel free to ignore her,’ I said when words appeared to fail him. ‘Or you can pretend she doesn’t exist at all. That’s what I do.’
Callum pulled his shoulders up to his ears as we all came to a slow standstill. ‘She’s going to be disappointed with my answer, that’s all. I work long hours, I’m not on the apps, I don’t like one-night stands.’
‘Why not? Desi demanded.
‘Really?’
‘Really.’
‘Would you ask a woman why she doesn’t like one night stands?’
Desi widened her stance and intensified her gaze as though she was preparing to spear the man off his feet while I contemplated whether or not to launch myself into the loch.
‘No, because I trust women,’ she replied. ‘In my experience, men who say they don’t like one night stands are usually trying to get into a girl’s pants. Ooh, I’m so sensitive, ooh, I’m not like other men, ooh, you can trust me. And it’s all bollocks.’
‘But you still date men?’ Callum asked.
‘Not if I can help it,’ she answered. ‘But unfortunately the heart wants what the heart wants.’
‘Babe, it’s not your heart that wants the D,’ Joel said sadly. ‘Who in their right mind would be attracted to men if they could help it? Have you seen women?’