Sealed With a Kiss

by Rachael Lucas

  ‘What’s that you’ve got?’ laughed Roderick, bending down to take it from her.

  ‘Stop!’

  Kate shoved him out of the way, grabbing the offending article from Willow’s mouth and trying to stuff it in her pocket.

  ‘It looks like—’

  ‘Never mind what it looks like,’ snapped Kate, carefully pulling off the other boot and checking the contents, before lining it up with its pair by the door.

  ‘A pair of knickers,’ finished Roderick, bursting out laughing.

  Please, ground, swallow me up now and I will die happy, thought Kate. And I promise I’ll never, ever, ever pull my jeans and knickers off together and throw them in a heap on the bedroom floor again.

  ‘It was a sock.’

  Roderick looked at her, disbelieving. ‘A sock. Right.’

  ‘Coffee, you two? Have you had breakfast?’ Melanie appeared at the kitchen door, kettle in hand.

  ‘Perfect.’ Roderick nudged Kate, laughing. ‘I get the impression that someone might have got up in a bit of a rush.’

  Kate and Roderick spent the journey home working on final details for the bunkhouse. The main work on the building was nearly finished, and Kate sketched out her plans for the interior over a cup of tea on the boat. ‘Shall we pop in on Bruno on the way back?’ Kate was surprised that Roderick wasn’t desperate to get back to Fiona. The idea of a coffee and one of Bruno’s gorgeous cakes was heaven, though. They drove off the ferry, turning right along the High Street of Kilmannan and parking the Land Rover opposite the cafe.

  ‘Two nicer faces I couldn’t wish to see.’ Bruno greeted Kate with a kiss, and Roderick with a hug. Without asking what they wanted, he busied himself at the coffee maker, while they found a tall stool each by the counter.

  Bruno put down three steaming mugs of coffee. The cafe was surprisingly empty for the school holidays. Usually at this time of day it was full of teenagers lingering over fizzy drinks, nagging Bruno to turn up the jukebox, teasing him good-humouredly about the ancient selection of music available. Bruno took a reverential sip, looking at them with an expression of bliss.

  ‘Gorgeous, if I say so masel. So what’re ye sayin’ tae it today then?’

  Kate looked out of the window at the tired benches that overlooked the bay. Even on a grey January, the views were breathtaking. But the High Street was dotted with boarded-up shops, and everyone she spoke to bemoaned the lack of heart on the island, compared to the way it used to be.

  ‘There used to be thousands of tourists here every summer, didn’t there?’

  ‘Aye, there did,’ said Bruno, ‘I used tae be packed wi’ them every day afore people started goin’ on package holidays.’

  Roderick looked up from the paper he was reading. ‘It’s the same all over the islands. It’s hard to persuade people to come this far.’

  ‘Ah,’ said Kate, smiling, ‘but that’s where you come in.’ Now was as good a time as any – there was no Fiona, for one thing, and Bruno seemed like he’d back her up. ‘I’ve had an idea for the cottages.’

  ‘Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to like this?’ said Roderick. ‘You’re not going to tell me we should turn the house into a luxury hotel, are you?’

  ‘Yes, that’s exactly what I had in mind,’ Kate pulled a face at him. ‘I thought we’d turf you out, and you could live in a caravan in the garden. In fact, I thought Sandra could run the place.’

  Bruno burst out laughing. He handed Kate a piece of carrot cake.

  ‘So tell me, what have you got planned?’ Roderick speared a piece of Kate’s cake with a fork and stole it. She slapped his hand.

  ‘You know the island better than anyone. Why not take advantage of that? You could take people on wildlife-spotting tours. You could rent the cottages out all year round. An ecology centre, maybe even working in conjunction with Mark and the Seal Sanctuary. Boat trips. In fact there are three more derelict cottages. Families would love it here – the beaches are perfect for children.’

  ‘Who’s going to come all the way up here?’

  ‘I did.’ Kate looked him in the eye, waiting for a flat refusal. The idea of guiding tourists round the island wouldn’t appeal to the diffident Roderick, but she knew that his passion for the island and its wildlife would make him the perfect guide. Tourists would love him, and the fact that he was the laird, with a house that looked like a castle, would definitely help pull in visitors.

  ‘You’re not like other people.’

  Kate raised her eyebrows. ‘Is that an insult or a compliment?’

  ‘I’ll give you this, boy, ye’ve got a way wi’ words,’ laughed Bruno.

  ‘I’ll have a look online, do some research, but I don’t really fancy dragging a load of tourists around, frightening the animals.’

  Kate climbed off the chair and handed her mug back to Bruno. They shared a conspiratorial smile. ‘I knew he’d love it,’ said Kate, in an undertone.

  ‘I wouldn’t go that far,’ growled Roderick.

  ‘Your mum’s been on the phone, Kate,’ said Jean, as they walked into the kitchen.

  Willow hurtled up to Roderick’s dogs, who were sleeping peacefully in a basket by the Aga. She threw herself on top of them, barking loudly. Stupefied by the heat, neither of them moved. Willow bounced off to investigate the crumbs under the table.

  ‘Why? What’s happened?’ Kate pulled her mobile out of her bag, realizing as she did so that it had been switched to silent mode all day. Oops!

  ‘She tried your mobile about five times and couldn’t get hold of you – I think she assumed you’d be working up here.’

  She was due on the island tomorrow afternoon. Kate thought about the mess at Bruar Cottage and decided that she’d leave Roderick to research wildlife holidays by himself.

  ‘I’d better get going. I have a house to tidy.’

  Jean turned to Roderick, looking disapproving. ‘And Fiona rang twice. She says they’re expecting you at the hotel for dinner?’

  Roderick, who was sitting at the table with his head over the laptop, already absorbed in research, looked up irritably. ‘Oh God, I’d forgotten about that – that’s the last thing I want to do this evening.’

  Kate caught his eye and raised her eyebrows. ‘Don’t let her catch you saying that, or you’ll be in trouble.’

  It was almost easier to bear, now that she’d accepted that Fiona wasn’t going anywhere. She and Roderick could be friends, and she’d stick to her ‘no men for a year’ rule, and then she could leave the island happy. The trouble was that even thinking about leaving the island gave her a lump in her throat. Never mind, she thought, I can worry about that later. She took a deep breath. Jean gave her an odd look. Sometimes it felt as if Jean knew exactly what she was thinking, and it was quite unnerving. Jean reached into the fridge, handing her a Tupperware jug with a lid on, full of soup.

  ‘At least that way you don’t have to worry about what she’s having for dinner tomorrow night.’

  Kate sighed with relief. ‘Thanks, Jean. I’ll bring Mum over when she gets here. She’s dying to look around the house. She’s under the impression it’s a proper castle.’

  Roderick snorted.

  ‘Is she indeed?’ said Jean crisply. ‘I’d better get the drawbridge polished, in that case.’

  13

  A Word to the Wise

  ‘Elizabeth Jarvis.’ Kate’s mother held out her smooth, elegant hand to Morag, who had been walking up the hill from the ponies’ field. Kate was fulfilling the dual purpose of walking Willow and showing her mother around the estate in the thin, late-afternoon sunshine.

  The two women shook hands, Kate’s mother taking in Morag’s filthy jodhpurs, wellies and patched, ancient sweater. She, in contrast, was dressed in black trousers, a long floral tunic and a camel-coloured wool coat. It was amazing, Kate thought, how quickly one slipped into the casual way of dressing that was normal on the island. She remembered her own spotless jeans and pale suede boots from her first day,
and looked down now at her walking boots, fleece and crumpled, mud-splashed jeans.

  ‘D’you fancy a cup of tea, Morag?’

  ‘That would be lovely. Come to me, though – I have coffee cake, just baked today.’

  ‘Perfect,’ said Kate’s mother with a grateful smile.

  While Morag was washing her hands in the downstairs loo of the cottage and Kate was putting the kettle to boil on the Aga, Elizabeth gazed out of the window and over the countryside. She could see why her daughter had fallen in love with the place. It was so peaceful, and so beautiful. Outside the dusk was sneaking across the valley, the sky streaked red-gold as the sun disappeared beyond the distant hills. And the people seemed so welcoming – she’d had a lovely chat on the ferry with the woman who worked in the cafe bar. She’d hinted that there was more than friendship between Kate and her new boss.

  ‘Big slice or small slice?’ Morag appeared from the bathroom, drying her hands on a towel. She lifted the lid of a cake tin, revealing a huge cake smeared with buttercream and studded with walnuts.

  ‘I should say small, but I’m on holiday,’ smiled Elizabeth.

  ‘If you’re having a big one, Mum, so am I.’

  Elizabeth shot an almost imperceptible glance at Kate’s thighs. Kate ignored her, and nothing was said.

  They sat in the comfortable kitchen, warmed by the Aga, chatting until long after dark had fallen. Kate stood up to turn on the lamps, looking at her mother and Morag chatting animatedly. She’d never thought about Morag’s age before, but Kate realized that the two women were of the same generation.

  ‘Oh, I haven’t ridden for years,’ her mother was saying.

  ‘We’ll have to sort that out while you’re here. Come up one afternoon and we’ll go together – it’s the best way to see the island. In fact, come out now – I’ll take you to meet Thor,’ said Morag, keen to show off her favourite pony.

  ‘Coming, Kate?’ Morag held the door open for her, the cold air whistling in, cutting through the warmth of the kitchen. Kate shivered, reluctant to leave the cottage.

  ‘I’ll be there in a second – I’ll clear the plates away first.’

  ‘I was never happy when she was with that Ian.’

  Kate paused on the doorstep, hearing her mother’s voice as she stepped out into the chill air of the stable yard. It sounded as if Morag was working her magic again. She had an amazing knack of extracting the truth from people. She thought back, remembering the long chat they’d had when she first arrived on the island. Morag’s skill was in listening to the words that weren’t spoken, and yet she held her own secrets very closely. Kate stood for a minute, torn between announcing herself and a terrible urge to listen in. The terrible urge won.

  ‘By the sounds of things, he was a bit of a wet blanket – what on earth did Kate see in him?’

  ‘I think she was just happy to settle with the first man who’d have her, and along came Ian. He was nice enough – but he had nothing about him. She’s worth so much more.’

  Kate smiled to herself. Her mother had always been so nice about Ian. It was a relief to discover what she really thought of him.

  ‘So you’ll not have been sorry to see the back of him?’ asked Morag. The two women were standing in Thor’s stable, their voices carrying clearly across the silent evening.

  ‘Not at all. I think moving up here has been the best thing for Kate. She seems much happier in herself, don’t you think?’

  Kate almost gasped, a hand across her mouth in shock. To hear her mother admit that moving away was a good thing was almost unthinkable.

  ‘She’s a lot more confident now than when I first met her, that’s certain,’ agreed Morag. ‘And she’s met a couple of nice men while she’s been up here, although I’m sure I probably shouldn’t be telling you that.’

  No, you blooming well shouldn’t, thought Kate. I’ll be getting the third degree tonight over dinner. Mum might have loosened the apron strings, but given half a chance she’ll be strangling me with them again.

  ‘Well, that’s the best thing that could happen to her, if you ask me. I’d hate for her to end up like me.’ Kate’s mother sighed.

  ‘In what way?’ Morag’s voice was gentle.

  ‘I’ve spent fifteen years on my own.’ There was a pause, and when she spoke again her voice was lower, and quiet. ‘I didn’t feel it was right to replace Kate’s father.’

  There was a scuffling. Kate could imagine Thor shuffling backwards obediently as Morag opened the stable door, letting Elizabeth out.

  ‘You know,’ said Morag reasonably, ‘you can’t live your life through her.’

  ‘I see that now. It took Kate going away for me to realize that. I was trying to cling onto the life I had before Malcolm died, but that’s no way to live, is it?’

  ‘No, Mum, it’s not.’ Kate had stepped forward out of the shadows and across the stable yard. She stood in front of her mother, tears in her eyes.

  ‘My darling. I felt it was my fault you lost him. If we hadn’t argued, he wouldn’t have stormed off. And if he hadn’t stormed off, he wouldn’t have been hit by that car.’ Kate’s mother reached forward, taking her daughter’s hands. ‘I had to be mother and father to you. It was the least I could do.’

  And she’d given up the last fifteen years of her life to do so, Kate realized. All that time she’d felt smothered, but her mum had been trying to do the job of two parents, drowning in guilt.

  ‘I don’t blame you for Dad dying. I never did.’ Thinking of the house full of photographs – a life preserved exactly as it had been the day her father died – she felt a wave of sadness. ‘And I hate to think of you being on your own because of me.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Kate.’ Smiling sadly, Elizabeth looked into Kate’s eyes. ‘If you’ve felt suffocated, that was never my intention. You were all I had, and for a long time I felt that if I could just keep you safe, it would make everything else okay.’

  Kate let go of her mum’s hands, throwing her arms around her instead. ‘Don’t be sorry,’ she said, muffled by the camel coat.

  ‘I just want the best for you. I want you to have the best life you can – to make up for ruining your childhood.’ Elizabeth’s voice was choked with emotion.

  ‘Look,’ Kate pulled away, looking at her mother. ‘I love you, Mum, and you didn’t ruin my childhood, so you have nothing to feel guilty about. I promise. People die. We’ve only got one life. I want to enjoy this one.’

  Her mother fished in her handbag for a tissue, before blowing her nose.

  ‘Let’s make a pact,’ said Kate. ‘You start living your own life now, and I’ll live mine. Mistakes and all.’

  ‘Deal.’ Elizabeth gave a watery smile.

  ‘Well, I’m glad that’s all sorted,’ said Morag briskly, closing the stable door. ‘Although I’m afraid you’ve got horse-slobber all down your lovely coat, Elizabeth.’

  Kate’s mum looked down at her expensive coat. It was smeared with a frothy green slime. Amazingly she started to laugh, and threw her arms around a surprised Thor’s neck. Never one to miss an opportunity, he whiffled hopefully in her pockets.

  ‘It’s a small price to pay for clearing the air, I think. Now, Kate, shall we get back for some of this famous soup you’ve been telling me about?’

  Elizabeth took her daughter’s hand. Morag watched, smiling to herself, as they set off down the lane to Bruar Cottage.

  It was amazing what a difference there was in her mother. Instead of finding fault with everything, and criticizing the muddle in Kate’s cottage, Elizabeth curled up on the sofa with Willow, drinking soup out of a mug, watching old DVDs and laughing about Kate’s escapades on Auchenmor.

  ‘What’s the plan for tomorrow? Are you going to take me to meet the famous Roderick?’

  Kate groaned. ‘He’s a normal person, Mum. He just happens to be the Laird of Duntarvie.’

  ‘And owner of a castle, and five hundred acres of land, and a house in Oxfordshire with more land – and s
ingle.’ Her mother winked at her.

  ‘Enough!’ Kate stood up, collecting the mugs. ‘I thought we’d go for breakfast at Bruno’s cafe – you’ll love it. And then perhaps I’ll take you over to see the cottages. One of them is occupied, but I can show you the smaller cottage, and you can see how we’re getting on with the bunkhouse.’

  ‘That sounds perfect, darling.’

  Bruno placed breakfast in front of Kate’s mother. The soft curds of creamy scrambled eggs covered two slices of Italian rye bread. On top lay thin curls of crisply fried pancetta.

  ‘And fresh plum tomatoes as well,’ added Bruno. ‘You’re getting the special treatment, you two. Black pepper?’

  ‘This looks delicious.’ Elizabeth smiled up at him. ‘I was expecting a greasy spoon and fried everything, not a breakfast that would fit perfectly in a cafe in Rome.’

  ‘Aye, well, we do our best.’ Bruno looked rather proud of himself, settling an identical plate in front of Kate with a grin.

  ‘It’s gorgeous.’

  ‘It always is,’ explained Kate, her mouth full of toast, ‘that’s why I can’t let myself come too often, or I’d end up the size of a house.’

  Bruno returned with coffee, slipping into the booth alongside Elizabeth. ‘Can I join you two girls for a moment?’

  ‘That would be lovely.’ Elizabeth smiled at him, shuffling sideways with a little giggle.

  If I didn’t know better, thought Kate, I’d say there was a bit of flirting going on here. Her mother and Bruno had hit it off immediately, sharing reminiscences of teenage years spent in cafes that looked identical to this one. The two of them had spent ten minutes flicking through the songs on the Wurlitzer, laughing and remembering tunes from their dancing days. Kate had sat quietly at the table, leafing through the local paper, amused at how well her mother was slotting into island life.

  ‘So where are you girls off to this morning?’

  ‘Kate’s taking me over to the cottages she’s been working on. I’m looking forward to seeing what she’s done.’