THIRTEEN #2
He’d printed everything off, hole punched it and put it together in an A4 ring binder. I flicked back to the first page and noticed a Post-it note on the inside cover of the file.
Call me if you need anything. Anything.
I looked at the note for a moment and then up at Oliver. He looked back.
‘Anything,’ he said.
Then continued in that business-like way of his. ‘The nearest GP is Dr Muirhead, and the local police officer is Ryan Mackenzie. I’ve let them both know the score up here, so if you have to call them, you won’t have to explain anything.’
‘You called them already?’
‘This morning.’
‘Of course you did.’
I sat back in the chair.
He reached over again to the folder and flicked through to the emergency generator page and a diagram of it, where he had annotated in pen.
‘The override switch is on the left, not the right. The diagram in the manual is wrong. If you can’t get it going, ring me.
I’ll organise a temporary one and will have a number of someone who can fix it.’
‘Oliver,’ I said again. He looked at me. ‘Thank you. I mean it. I’m really grateful for everything.’
I didn’t just mean the folder, and I could tell by the way he looked at me, without saying anything, that he knew too.
‘Glad to help,’ he said eventually. And then more gently. ‘You’re staying here alone. It’s my responsibility to ensure it’s safe for you.’
He picked up his coffee, and I turned back to the folder. We sat there for a moment, and I couldn’t help starting to think that I may actually be safe this time.
‘I wanted to take you over to the wellness suite before I head off tomorrow,’ said Oliver. ‘That’s where your office and consulting room are.’
‘Great. When do you want to go?’
‘Now?’
We put on our coats and headed out of the lodge. Noah ran on ahead, cutting a path through the snow.
‘He looks happy,’ I said.
‘He is. He loves being up here.’
‘Who wouldn’t?’ We were down by the edge of the loch.
‘Noah, don’t run off,’ called Oliver.
There was a tension in his body language. It was the first time either of us had been down to the loch and the pontoon since that night.
‘It looks very different during the day,’ I said. ‘It’s like it has two sides to it. The beauty and the beast.’
‘You just have to be respectful of any body of water,’ said Oliver.
We carried on past the pontoon, passing the rear of the main lodge.
‘So, Noah is looking forward to living up here,’ I said, trying to lighten the mood. ‘He won’t miss his friends?’
‘Hopefully, he’ll make new friends, and he will be going back to London regularly. His mum lives there.’
‘She didn’t mind him moving up here?’ There was that tension back in his shoulders. ‘Sorry. That’s none of my business.’
‘No. It’s okay. I don’t mind you asking. Marsha prefers life without any responsibilities. I’m not entirely sure why she wanted a baby, but I’m glad she did.’
‘Something good from something bad.’
‘Something like that.’
We had made it around to the other side of the loch now, and I could see the single-storey building ahead of us. It looked like a stone croft, painted white, with a wooden door and windows on each side.
Oliver unlocked the door, and we stepped into a large open entrance room with flagstone flooring.
‘This is the reception area. Office to the right, waiting room to the left.’
He opened each door so I could look inside. It was all very well fitted out, contemporary and unfussy. I followed him through to the back, where another, larger room was.
‘This will be your office, and on the other side the consulting room.’
‘It looks amazing,’ I said.
‘Back here is the storeroom where your medical supplies will be. That’s something we need to discuss and get in place, and then, through here, the gym and beyond that the heated indoor pool.’
It was like walking into a Tardis. The little croft cottage just went on and on.
‘This is wonderful,’ I said, looking all around me. ‘I can’t believe I’m going to be working somewhere like this.’
Oliver smiled. ‘I’m glad you like it.’
Noah skipped down the hallway to us. ‘Dad said when it’s my birthday, I could have a pool party and invite my friends.’
‘Oh, pool party. Very nice,’ I said.
‘You can come too,’ said Noah.
‘I don’t think I’ve ever been to a pool party before.’
‘Well, we will have to remedy that,’ said Oliver. ‘Third of March. Put it in your calendar.’
As we left the wellness centre, I couldn’t help smiling to myself at the idea that Oliver had invited me to his son’s party.
Whether he meant it or not, I didn’t know.
He may well have been saying that just to humour Noah.
I kind of hoped he wasn’t and was already making a mental note to buy a swimsuit.
The rest of the evening passed far too quickly. We headed back to the lodge, and Oliver cooked again for us all. I checked on Grainger, who was in good spirits despite pretending otherwise. He and Paddy enjoyed winding each other up and it was great entertainment for the rest of us.
‘So you’ll be staying in here with Grainger on your own,’ said Paddy.
‘I guess so,’ I said.
‘Only for a couple of weeks,’ said Oliver. ‘I’ll be back up in a fortnight, and we can get the lodge all sorted for you. By that time, Grainger won’t need a housemate.’
‘Two weeks of being bossed around,’ grumbled Grainger.
‘I can always arrange for you to be readmitted,’ I said.
Grainger glared at me. ‘You wouldn’t dare?’
I raised my eyebrows. ‘Wouldn’t I?’
‘Hmm,’ said Grainger.
‘Oh, I wish I could stick around to see you bossed around by the doc,’ said Paddy. He turned to me. ‘Please don’t go easy on him.’
‘You wait until I’m out of this bloody plaster,’ said Grainger. ‘I’ll kick your arse from here to London and back again.’
‘Don’t make promises you can’t keep,’ said Paddy, who was clearly thoroughly enjoying himself at Grainger’s expense.