Chapter 27
‘I have two interconnecting rooms – if you prefer.’
‘Oh really?’ Jake much preferred that idea. He could keep the interconnecting door open. And there was always the option to slam it shut in Marcus’s face if he was getting on his nerves, which was definitely a possibility.
Marcus had already spoiled his trip. It was hard enough that he was back in Aviemore without Marcus having followed him. The night’s stay in the airport hotel hadn’t helped. He’d debated whether to get a flight home in the morning, back to London, leaving Marcus in Scotland. The only thing that had stopped him was that phone call. The tone of Faye’s voice said he had better do as she asked and collect Marcus from the police station. So there he was, babysitting Marcus, who wasn’t looking any better despite resting in the back of the car for the whole trip.
‘Right, let’s head on up to the two rooms in the attic.’
‘The attic?’ Marcus halted on the second stair.
‘Yes, there are lovely views of the Cairngorms.’ She added, ‘And you’ll get a glimpse of the Rosses’ holiday home … too.’ Gayle stopped, and slowly turned around, her eyes wide. She looked down at them both and winced. ‘Sorry, I kind of said that on autopilot.’
Jake guessed she mentioned The Lake House to all her prospective guests, in case they wanted to catch a glimpse of one of the wealthiest families in the country, whom they’d only ever normally see if they popped up in the news.
Marcus looked as though he hadn’t heard her. His attention was on navigating the stairs.
Jake thought that one staircase was enough for Marcus to negotiate just then. He frowned at Marcus. If the stairs up to the attic were anything like those at The Lake House, Marcus didn’t have a hope of making it up to the top of house and the two interconnecting rooms that Jake rather fancied. Jake sighed and took Marcus’s arm to give him a helping hand, wondering why he was sweating. He’d barely taken two stairs.
Jake resigned himself to the fact that they’d have to take whatever room was available on the next floor. ‘Actually, we’ll take the mid-range twin room, after all.’ He added, ‘I’m sure there will be other guests who will appreciate the view more.’
Gayle looked at him for a long moment. They both knew he wasn’t talking about the views of the Cairngorms. She said, ‘I understand.’
Jake nodded, wondering if she thought the mention of the views towards The Lake House might have put him off those rooms. After all, he reckoned she must be wondering why on earth the two of them were not staying there. Thankfully, she didn’t ask, but he did notice her smile slip a little. He imagined she would have charged much more for two rooms, and the views.
Jake added, ‘But we’ll still pay the same room rate as if we were staying in two rooms on the top floor.’ It’s not like we don’t have the money. Jake didn’t say that out loud.
‘I do not accept charity, Mr Campbell-Ross. You will pay the room rate for your chosen room, and nothing more.’
‘Of course, of course.’ Jake felt embarrassed for even suggesting it. But what about the whole house , Jake suddenly thought. They could, if they wanted, just rent the entire house, and compensate Gayle, her mother, and her guests handsomely to stay in a rather swanky hotel while Jake and Marcus had the run of the guest house.
He looked at Marcus, and was wondering if he should suggest something that outrageous when a huge dog came belting towards them.
‘What the hell is that?’ yelped Marcus.
‘Ah, there you are,’ said Gayle smiling. ‘I wondered where you were hiding. Say hello to Olive.’
‘Olive?’ exclaimed Marcus, holding on to the banister for dear life. ‘I’d rather not.’
Jake, on the other hand, rather fancied petting the exuberant Old English Sheepdog that was belting towards them, her tongue hanging out of her mouth, her long fur rising and falling as she ran down the hall.
Gayle rushed back down the stairs towards them. ‘Sorry. I’ll take her into the kitchen and shut the door.’
Jake said, ‘Ignore Marcus. This is not one of his better days.’ He stepped from the stairs and crouched down to say hello to the large dog.
Olive ran into his arms, tail wagging furiously, giving Jake lots of doggie kisses as though he was a dear, dear friend whom she hadn’t seen in an age.
Gayle stood there with her hands on her hips, tutting. ‘Really, Olive, anyone would think you don’t get any fusses in this household.’
‘You have a lovely dog, Gayle,’ commented Jake.
‘Ah, she’s not mine. She belongs to Mr Addison.’
‘The guy from the housing development?’
‘You’ve met Nick?’
‘Only in passing, when we bumped into him.’ Jake decided not to get into where that had been. ‘I mentioned that I was looking for somewhere to stay the night, and he said follow the lark. ’
Gayle grinned. ‘That was Robyn’s idea. Did you like the little signs guiding you here?’
‘No.’
Jake turned around and glared at Marcus. ‘We did – yes. I’d like to meet Robyn.’
‘I’m sure you will. As I said, she does pop to see me, so you might be lucky. Now, if you ever need any interior design work on the—’ Gayle halted.
Marcus sat down on the stair, holding on to the banister spindle, and looked at Gayle. ‘On the …?’
Jake rolled his eyes at Marcus’s rudeness. They both knew what Gayle had been about to say. ‘We’ll be sure to pop into her shop and ask. Won’t we, Marcus?’
Marcus frowned at them both. He said, ‘You accept pets here?’
Gayle turned around and looked at him. ‘Well, we accept Olive. I hope that’s not a problem.’
Jake stepped in before Marcus got them both thrown out. ‘That is not a problem at all. I think she’s so cute.’
Gayle smiled. ‘Yep, she seems to have that effect on most people.’ Jake caught her giving Marcus a sideways glance .
He gave Olive a scratch behind the ears, which she seemed to enjoy. He smiled. He’d never had time for pets, although unbeknown to Faye, he had been looking for a puppy for Natty. But he had told Natty that the puppy would have to live at his house because Natty had told him Mummy didn’t have time to look after a pet, even though Natty had promised she’d do it herself.
As with everything else Natty had asked for when he’d been babysitting her, he’d had no hesitation putting his hand in his pocket and spoiling her rotten. But after Faye’s reaction when she discovered all the toys, all the things Faye could not afford, he realised he’d made a huge mistake. He imagined she was probably thinking, how do I compete with that? What sort of expectations was he giving her daughter? Expectations that she could have whatever she wanted, he realised. It was little wonder that Faye had stormed out and was barely talking to him.
Olive attempted to get past Jake and say hello to Marcus too.
Gayle noticed. She quickly stepped past Marcus on the stairs, and joined Jake at the bottom of the stairs, taking Olive by the collar. ‘Right, back to your bed in the kitchen, Olive. We can’t have you monopolising my guests. I’m sure they would like to see their room now, and have some time to unpack before dinner.’
‘Dinner?’ repeated Jake. You do evening meals here too?’ He’d assumed that it was bed and breakfast only.
‘Oh, yes. We do now. We used to be just a bed and breakfast, but since I stopped hairdressing, I’m now devoting all my time to running Lark Lodge. I thought, why not offer my guests an evening meal too? It’s optional, but I do a nice selection.’
Gayle walked down the hallway, pulling a reluctant Olive along with her. Gayle called out from the kitchen, ‘This evening, there’s a pot roast or a cottage pie. If you’re vegetarian I do a vegetable curry, or vegetable lasagne with lashings of cheese sauce.’
Marcus commented under his breath, ‘I think I’m going to throw up.’
‘You’d better not!’ Jake exclaimed. He threw Marcus a black look. ‘For god’s sake, get up.’
Marcus held on to the banister and pulled himself up.
‘What was that?’ Gayle asked, emerging from the kitchen and closing the door.
Jake turned around as Gayle rejoined him at the bottom of the stairs. He was thankful she hadn’t heard Marcus’s comment. Jake glanced at his bandaged hands. ‘Um, you mentioned that you used to be a hairdresser. Sorry, but I thought you said you’d been a nurse?’
Gayle chuckled. ‘Yes, I took early retirement when I returned home to look after my parents. Then I fell back on hairdressing, something I used to do before I went into nursing. My father passed away and left me this house. It was my friend’s idea to turn it into a guesthouse.’
‘Your friend, Robyn?’ Jake asked.
‘Yes, that’s right.’ Gayle smiled. ‘Now the guest house has really taken off, I gave the hairdressing up too – although if my guests need a haircut or colour, I will certainly oblige.’
Jake furrowed his brow.
Gayle must have caught his expression. ‘Ah, you’re thinking that if my little guesthouse is doing so well, why have I got so many rooms free?’
Jake nodded. ‘Yes, the thought had crossed my mind.’
Gayle chuckled again. ‘Ah, you’ve been lucky. Apart from my two longer-term guests, my last holidaymakers, who were on five-night breaks starting Friday, left today. There are just two nights, tonight and Thursday, when I have no one booked in. Then it’s busy again from Friday onwards, apart from the odd single-room vacancy. You see, I do special offers on three, five, and seven-night breaks, and that does attract a lot of guests.’
Jake thought it was his lucky day. Two nights fitted in with his plans perfectly. He was away in Scotland for seven nights – his return flight booked for a week’s time. Once he’d seen Arnold Wright, and Martha – whoever they were – he hadn’t planned on sticking around Aviemore any longer than he had to. Scotland was a big place. There were plenty of other areas to explore that wouldn’t come with painful memories of the previous Christmas.
Gayle said, ‘Sorry, I didn’t mention that I’m fully booked from Friday. I hope you weren’t planning on staying longer.’
‘Not at all. Two nights fits in perfectly with my plans.’ Jake glanced at Marcus, hoping that he had bucked up by the time they checked out of Lark Lodge on Friday, when Jake intended to take him back to the airport. Marcus was not accompanying him on his onward journey for the remaining five nights of his stay in Scotland. Besides, Marcus had a business to run. Thinking of which, he raised his eyebrows, wondering whether he’d told Lydia, or anyone else, where he was.
‘Shall we head up to the room?’
Jake looked at the suitcase. He could manage it, but not his bag as well. ‘I’ll nip back down for the bag.’
‘I’ll take it.’ Gayle picked up the bag and put the strap over her shoulder.
Marcus started up the stairs first, holding tightly to the banister, taking it slowly.
Jake frowned at his back, wishing he’d just get a move on.
A little way along the landing, Marcus came to an abrupt halt outside a bedroom door. He was still sweating, Jake noticed.
Marcus turned to him. ‘I need to lie down.’
Gayle continued past them. ‘The room is along here, at the end of the hallway.’
Jake glanced at Marcus. He sighed and called out to Gayle, ‘Is this room free?’
Gayle turned around. ‘Yes, but—’
‘Great, we’ll take it,’ Jake replied.
‘Um … alright,’ she said slowly.
As he watched her walk back down the hallway towards them, it occurred to Jake that she’d just had two men walk into her house. One looked ill, and the other as though he’s been in a fist-fight. They were lucky – if it wasn’t for that fact that Gayle knew who they were, it would not have surprised him in the least if, like her mother, she’d just shut the door in their faces.
Gayle paused at the door. ‘I’m afraid this room just has a double bed.’
‘Ah.’ Jake hadn’t thought to ask. He looked at Marcus’s pleading eyes. He’d just have to take a separate room. Unless … ‘Is there a couch?’
‘Yes.’
‘Great.’
Gayle looked at them both. ‘Well, if you’re sure …’
‘Yes, absolutely.’
‘This room is the most expensive one, I’m afraid.’
‘Of course it is,’ Marcus commented under his breath.
Jake turned around and glared at Marcus. ‘Ignore him. Marcus is a little out of sorts,’ he began, biting his tongue to prevent himself from saying, Marcus is an idiot . If he carried on, he was going to get them thrown out of this nice lady’s establishment. ‘He’s feeling a bit under the weather, so I wanted to keep an eye on him tonight.’ He added as an afterthought, ‘You know how it is.’ He wasn’t sure what he meant by that last comment, but Gayle’s mother’s strange behaviour came to mind.
Gayle’s gaze drifted to Marcus. She leaned in, peering at him.
Marcus took a step back. ‘What are you looking at?’
‘Marcus!’ Jake berated him. ‘For god’s sake, don’t be so rude.’ Jake swiftly turned to Gayle. ‘Sorry. He had a rough night last night.’ Jake would rather not get into where Marcus had been.
‘Yeah – and whose fault was that?’
Jake ignored him. He looked at Gayle. She was an ex-nurse. He wondered what she made of Marcus. Whatever she was thinking, she didn’t say. Jake wondered whether he should ask her to check Marcus over. He decided to hang on until the morning – maybe Marcus would be feeling better by then.
Gayle put her hand on the doorknob, but she didn’t open the door immediately.
‘I want you to know that I don’t normally make this room available to paying guests. It’s usually reserved for friends only, but I’m going to make an exception just this once.’
‘Thank you,’ said Jake sincerely. ‘That’s most kind.’ He glanced at Marcus, hoping he kept his big mouth shut and didn’t come out with some sarcastic comment.
‘This room was re-decorated as a surprise gift from a special friend,’ Gayle continued, ‘so I would ask that you to treat it respectfully, please.’
‘Yes, of course.’ Jake said earnestly.
Gayle looked at Marcus. So did Jake.
Marcus, who had been staring off in another direction, realised that everything had suddenly gone quiet. He looked first at Gayle, then at Jake.
There was a moment’s uncomfortable silence in which Jake, who a moment earlier had wanted Marcus just to keep his trap shut, was now wishing for exactly the opposite.
Gayle stood there, one hand on her hip, the other resting on the doorknob, keeping the door to the room firmly shut.
Jake rolled his eyes. Marcus hadn’t heard a single word she had said.
‘Be assured we’ll treat the place as if it were our own,’ mumbled Marcus.
Jake stared at Marcus, dumbfounded that he had even been listening.
Satisfied with Marcus’s response, Gayel unlocked the door and walked in, depositing Jake’s bag on the floor by the couch. She turned around a full three hundred and sixty degrees, taking in the room as if for the first time, smiling approvingly at the old-fashioned deep red and gold wallpaper and the large oak fireplace with its cast iron grate, its brick hearth, and its basket of wood and kindling.
Marcus shuffled into the room.
Jake stood in the doorway, eyeing the double bed. He decided the situation was ridiculous. He needed another room.
‘You’re sure you don’t want another room?’ Gayle read his mind.
But instead of saying yes, Jake found himself saying no. ‘The couch will be fine.’ He trundled Marcus’s suitcase over to the bed before picking up his own bag and slinging it on the couch opposite the bed.
Catching Gayle’s disapproving glare, he lifted his bag gingerly off the couch and placed it carefully on the floor. ‘As long as that’s still fine with you,’ he smiled tightly.
‘I’ll fetch you a spare duvet, and some pillows.’
‘Thank you, Gayle.’ Jake closed the door and sighed in relief. He looked at Marcus and thought, this is going to be a long two nights .