Chapter 40
Gabe turned the truck away from Applemore, the wheels splashing through rivulets which crossed the narrow road as they headed steeply downhill before turning up and into the first long stretch through the neat rows of pine trees that had been planted years before by forestry workers like him.
They chatted as he drove, Meg telling him how happy she was to discover that Laurel was enjoying her job and laughing about her description of Una in the office.
‘It sounds like she’s got Una’s number,’ he grinned. ‘She’s good at heart, but she’s a bit like a terrier. She guards that office as if her life depends on it.’
‘I think Laurel’s so glad to have found a job she’ll do whatever Una says.’
‘That sounds like a match made in heaven.’ Gabe pulled off the main road and up the private track which marked the entry to Lochbrannich Estate. He looked across at Meg, who was gazing out of the window at a white camper which was driving parallel to them on the road towards Inverness.
‘So you’ve decided you’re not the sort of person who lives in a van?’
‘I’m not.’ She made a rueful face. ‘Do you think that means I’m a bit boring?’
He snorted with laughter. ‘Is that the official measurement?’
‘It feels like it these days. Everyone seems to think it’s the most amazing adventure. Turns out I like my adventures to be more… catered.’
‘Nothing wrong with that.’ He looked at her again. Her mouth was parted slightly, her short upper lip turned upwards in that way that made him want to pull over the truck and find an excuse to kiss her. Not that he needed an excuse, but –
‘I think Rilla up at Applemore House is going to buy the van.’
His heart quickened, and he shot her a sideways glance.
‘Does this mean you’re going to be stranded in Applemore for the foreseeable future?’
Meg’s mouth tipped upwards in a little smile and she put a fingertip to her mouth, as he’d noticed she did whenever she was thinking before she spoke.
‘It turns out my friend Helen’s staying in Santiago for a while longer.’
He shook his head slightly and couldn’t suppress the smile that spread across his face.
‘Well, that’s good news.’
Meg took a breath as if she was about to speak, but said nothing. She paused for a moment, and he watched as she looked out of the window as they drove through the green canopy of the trees.
‘So this mysterious walk we’re going on,’ she said a moment later. ‘Where exactly are we going?’
‘Well,’ he said, smiling to himself in anticipation as he drove towards the summit of the hill, ‘I’ll show you rather than tell you. It’ll be worth it, though.’
‘And we’re not trespassing?’ Meg pointed to one of the discreet signs hanging on a gate that blocked entry to a forest path.
He shook his head. ‘No, not at all, I promise.’
‘This is so beautiful.’ She wound down the window for a moment and he caught the coconut scent of the gorse bushes. ‘And it smells amazing. It’s like being on a tropical beach.’
‘Only slightly colder,’ he said, making her smile. He caught a movement to the left ahead of them and pulled up the truck to show her. ‘Look at that.’
‘What am I looking at?’
‘Just there. A hare. Can you see him?’ He tapped the window gently to direct her focus and a moment later she gasped in surprise.
‘He’s huge!’
‘They’re enormous, aren’t they? I’d never seen one in real life until I came up here.’
‘It must be amazing working outside and seeing so much wildlife.’
He watched her watching as the hare stood frozen for a long moment, staring directly at the truck, as if trying to gauge whether they were a threat. Eventually he seemed to make a judgement call, and with a leap over a tussock of grass, he hurtled off into the safe cover of a hawthorn bush.
He drove on, lost in thought.
It didn’t matter about the skipped dinner, or the fact that they’d eaten fish and chips on their knees in the truck in the rain. The truth was he wanted to spend time with her, and he didn’t care what they were doing. Una had made a million jokes about trying to set him up with single friends of hers, and the lads had teased him about finding a nice girl in the hotel bar on a Friday night, and he’d laughed them off every time, saying that he’d been there and done that and he was more than happy single.
He glanced at Meg as they reached the top of the hill, wanting to see her reaction as the view of the glen opened up.
‘Oh,’ she said, mouth dropping in surprise. He felt himself break into a huge smile as he watched her.
Loch Brannich sparkled in the strange bright light that followed a storm. The trees – now in leaf – danced in the breeze, and the fields were jewel bright and dotted with distant cattle and sheep. The place had changed since his last visit, as if it was a kaleidoscope picture.
‘Look at that.’ Meg pointed ahead. A bird of prey hovered for a moment and then plunged into the undergrowth.
‘It’s pretty amazing, isn’t it?’ He pointed ahead. ‘Still snow on the mountains, look.’
She shook her head in amazement. ‘I can’t believe how beautiful it is.’
‘It really makes you think, doesn’t it? Why would you live in the city when you could have all this on your doorstep?’
‘It helps if you’re landed gentry with a castle,’ she said, laughing.
‘Funny you should mention that…’ Gabe said with a wry smile.