Chapter 43
43
JOE
Skye went to go downstairs, but taking the initiative, Joe held her back, deciding he would rather spend this unexpected time alone with her in the attic where they wouldn’t be interrupted.
‘Let’s go this way first,’ he whispered when she seemed surprised about him stopping her from going down to the lower floor.
‘Why?’ she asked, giving him a knowing grin.
‘Because I want to be alone with you,’ he whispered, aware she knew perfectly well what his motives were. ‘Unless you have other ideas?’
She shook her head. ‘Nope,’ she said so he led the way up the stairs to their rooms.
As they went upstairs Joe wondered what might have happened if he had decided on that first day here to change his mind and leave Skye to run the farm by herself. No, Joe decided, he was a gentleman and would never have done that to her. Or to Lettie and Brodie. It was strange how things worked out though, and this time he was relieved how amazingly well they had turned out for him.
At the top of the stairs, Skye pulled him into her room. His breath became shallow as he stared at her. Not wanting to presume anything, Joe waited for Skye to close her bedroom door behind them.
They stared at each other and Joe waited for her to make the first move, working out that Brodie and Lettie’s bedroom might be right under this one. His mood dipped slightly.
‘You do know that Lettie’s…’
‘Yes,’ Skye said quietly. ‘I worked that out too. But that doesn’t stop us from kissing.’
Pleased with her suggestion, he smiled. ‘No, it doesn’t.’ He took her into his arms. ‘You really are the most gorgeous woman,’ he murmured, kissing her mouth then her neck before gazing into her eyes. ‘In so many ways.’
‘I’m glad you think so.’ Skye slipped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
Not caring about anything else, Joe lost himself in the sensation of kissing this woman he might never have met if it hadn’t been for Brodie speaking to Melody. She pressed her body tight against him and he wished they were alone in the house once more.
Eventually, Skye moved slightly back and looked up at him. ‘I wish we could have had longer by ourselves here.’
‘I was thinking the same thing,’ he admitted. ‘This isn’t over yet though.’
‘I’m glad.’
Hearing Brodie call for the dogs to take them walking, Joe thought they should probably go down and see if they were needed for anything. He went to speak, but Skye began kissing him again and, not wishing for the moment to end, he pushed everything else to the back of his mind.
The dogs began barking excitedly outside just as Joe heard a car coming down the drive.
‘Who can that be?’ Skye asked, hurrying over to the bedroom window. She gasped. ‘It’s a taxi. You don’t think…’
‘What?’ Please don’t let it be Lindy and Gareth already , he thought. They must have caught an earlier flight than he and Skye had supposed, and this was their home.
‘It is. It’s Lettie’s parents.’ Skye turned to him, a slight frown on her face. He assumed she was thinking the same thing as him. ‘That means Lettie and Brodie won’t be needing our help any longer, doesn’t it?’
It did seem that way, Joe thought miserably. ‘They’re not going to expect us to leave straight away,’ he said, trying to make Skye feel a bit better. ‘Although I do have my bungalow to return to, if necessary.’ He thought of living with his mother and Roger again and withheld a groan of regret. ‘They won’t send you away early though, surely?’
She stared at him and sighed. ‘But it won’t be the same here without you.’
‘Nothing will be the same as it has been.’ He pulled her back into his arms and held her tightly. Her hair smelt of summer days and her warm body pressed against his, making him wish he never had to let go of her again. To go from the high of them sleeping together to having to face parting with no idea what future they might be able to make together, if any, was too depressing.
‘Hey, where are you all?’ Brodie yelled from somewhere downstairs. ‘You’re never going to believe who’s here.’
Joe stared silently into Skye’s dark brown eyes. ‘We’ll think of something. Our time isn’t finished yet.’
‘Do you promise?’
She had such a look of sadness on her face that he felt compelled to comfort her, desperate to make her feel better. ‘I do.’
‘Joe, Skye, Lettie, where are you all?’ Brodie bellowed.
‘I think we’ve got too used to being alone here and left to our own devices.’ Joe reluctantly let go of Skye and saw the regret on her face that mirrored his own. ‘Come along,’ he said. ‘We’d better go and greet them.’
‘I suppose we should.’ Skye took a deep breath and smiled widely.
Amused by the comical look on her face, Joe asked, ‘Are you attempting to look happy?’
‘I most certainly am.’ She nudged him in the side. ‘I suggest you try to do the same thing.’
He noticed her lips, slightly swollen from all the kissing they had been doing recently. ‘You look very pretty, you know?’
Her fingertips went to rest on her lips. ‘Yes, I know I look as if I’ve had a filler of some sort.’ She laughed. ‘In fact, I now know that if I’m ever tempted to have any that all I need to do is find a cute man to have a kissing session or two with.’
He narrowed his eyes and kissed her again. ‘In that case, can I volunteer to be first in line?’
‘If you like.’
‘Where are you all?’ Brodie was beginning to sound exasperated. Lindy was a lot to deal with especially when she was excited, Joe knew. ‘I think Brodie needs our support.’
‘Let’s go and put the poor man out of his misery.’
‘I suppose we should. Otherwise, poor Lettie is going to have to cut short little Isla’s feed and that really wouldn’t be fair of us.’ As much as he would love to remain alone with Skye he couldn’t in all good conscience do that, he decided.
They hurried downstairs without saying anything further. ‘Brodie, what’s the matter?’ Joe asked as if he didn’t already know.
‘It’s Lindy and Gareth,’ Brodie said, quietly motioning for them to follow him to the front door. He stopped with the door half open and turned to them.
‘Lettie loves her mum but knows how Lindy will try to take charge from the moment she’s home, especially with Isla being her first grandchild. I have a feeling she’s going to be even more determined to have her own way than she usually is.’
‘Where’s my grandbaby?’ Lindy bellowed from outside, pushing the front door open seconds later and stopping in front of the three of them. She peered around them. ‘Where’s Lettie and the baby?’
‘Um, they’re in our bedroom,’ Brodie replied. ‘Lettie’s feeding her.’
Lindy beamed at him and then, when he didn’t immediately move out of the way, she gently pushed past him, Joe and Skye. ‘Sorry, no time to waste. I need to have a hold of that little angel.’
The three of them looked at each other.
‘We should go and help Gareth with the luggage,’ Joe suggested.
They found Gareth standing among four large suitcases with two smaller cabin bags, an expensive-looking carrier bag and Lindy’s handbag.
‘She doesn’t travel light, does she?’ he whispered to Skye as they waited for Gareth to settle with the taxi driver.
‘I suppose they have been away for a while,’ Skye said thoughtfully. ‘And visited lots of places. Lettie told me that they have balls and smart dinners on board, as well as needing casual clothes for everyday lunches, visiting places and that sort of thing.’
Joe wasn’t sure he would be suited to going on a cruise if that was the case. ‘I wouldn’t have enough clothing in my entire wardrobe to fill one of these cases.’ He gave her a questioning look when she didn’t immediately reply. Skye had only come with a small bag of clothes, and he couldn’t imagine her having a massive wardrobe full of clothes back at her gran’s. ‘How about you?’
Skye laughed. ‘No. I’m far too uninterested in clothes shopping to own anything other than what I usually wear.’ She shrugged. ‘I could probably do with buying some new stuff though, now I think of it.’
‘Why? You always look lovely.’
She pulled a face. ‘You’ve only ever seen me in one of my two pairs of shorts, or my jeans. I can look well turned out if I try.’
Unsure why she was reacting in this way, Joe said, ‘I can well imagine. I didn’t mean to infer that you didn’t bother, you know. Only that…’ What had he been trying to say? He wasn’t exactly sure. ‘I suppose I’m just taken aback that anyone can own as many clothes as Lindy.’
The taxi driver drove away, leaving the four of them standing in the yard.
‘Here,’ Brodie said, going over to Gareth and picking up the first two heavy cases, his face reddening and cheeks bulging when he felt the weight.
Aware he needed to do follow suit, Joe did the same. ‘Oh my word!’ he exclaimed as he lifted them.
‘Heavy?’ Skye asked, looking sympathetic. She went to pick up the two cabin bags.
‘No, I’ll take those,’ Gareth said. ‘You take Lindy’s bag, if you will. I’m bound to put it somewhere I shouldn’t and annoy her.’
Joe followed Brodie into the house and wondered how well Gareth and Lindy got on during their trip. Both had always spent their lives working in different areas of their farm, Lindy taking charge of the house, guests and her baking while Gareth took charge of the farm animals and crops. Spending weeks together, with no family to distract them, must have been interesting.
‘Leave one of the cases at the bottom of the stairs, both of you,’ Gareth said. ‘I’ll take them up to the bedroom afterwards.’
‘It’s fine,’ Brodie called from halfway up the first flight.
‘Yes, no worries.’ Joe was glad they had stopped at the four cases. ‘We’ll have these up there for you in no time.’
He followed Brodie into the bedroom and placed the cases he carried next to Brodie’s.
‘Hell, those were heavy,’ Brodie grumbled, shaking his hands. ‘I’m sure I’ve damaged the circulation in my hands.’
Joe laughed. ‘You’re not the only one. What have they packed in them, lead weights?’
They were still amused as they reached the ground floor and found Skye in the kitchen chatting to Gareth as he waited for the kettle to boil.
‘It sounds amazing,’ she said. Then noticing Brodie and Joe enter the room, added, ‘Gareth has been telling me all about their transatlantic journey, then stopping at ports along the east coast. It sounds incredible.’
‘It was astounding. The beauty we’ve seen and the magnificence of some of it.’ Turning to Brodie and Joe, he asked, ‘Tea, coffee or beers for you lads?’
‘Coffee for me, please,’ Brodie said. ‘I have to get back to the surgery.’
‘Yes, I’d better only have a hot drink too,’ Joe said. ‘I’ll have coffee as well.’
‘I wonder how Lettie’s getting on?’ Brodie said, half to himself. Then appearing to realise Gareth was in the room and how what he’d said might sound, added, ‘Sorry what I meant was?—’
Gareth laughed. ‘It’s fine. My wife is ecstatic about her granddaughter.’
‘Our granddaughter, Gareth,’ Lindy reminded him as she and Lettie entered the room.
He pulled a face filled with sarcasm. ‘Yes, I know Isla is our granddaughter, Lindy. I’m also not kidding myself that I will have to take a step back and wait my turn when it comes to giving her a cuddle.’ He rolled his eyes and smiled. ‘As I was trying to say to our family and friends here, I never imagined you would cut short our trip even for this adorable baby.’ He addressed everyone else. ‘But my darling Lindy insisted she couldn’t wait to get back.’
‘Neither could you, Gareth. Don’t make out this is all me.’ She sighed. ‘We’re sorry it took as long as it did for us to arrive back here though,’ she said to Lettie and Brodie.
‘Don’t be. We understood, Mum.’ Lettie kissed her mother’s cheek.
‘Of course we did,’ Brodie agreed. ‘We took the opportunity to spend some time by ourselves at the cottage and made the most of Joe and Skye being here to look after everything.’
‘And we were happy to do that, weren’t we, Skye?’
‘We were.’ She gave Joe a look that to anyone else might just reaffirm what she had just said, but Joe read the meaning in her eyes and it made his stomach clench.
He wished his mother had found somewhere else to live so he and Skye could move to his bungalow for a while, at least until she decided to return to Edinburgh. Realising the others were watching him and probably waiting for him to speak, he added, ‘It’s probably worked out well for everyone that things turned out this way.’
Gareth spooned coffee granules into two mugs. ‘Everyone except my bank balance,’ he said, laughing. ‘Those extra flights cost a fortune.’
‘Oh, Dad, stop teasing.’ Lettie laughed. ‘We all know you were happy to pay whatever it took to get back here.’
‘Maybe,’ he said, giving her a wink.