Wildflower Bay

by Rachael Lucas

  ‘Whoa,’ said a drunken voice behind her, as someone propelled her forward so that she found herself jammed between the cyclist’s thighs.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ she said, trying to step backwards. There was nowhere to go, the crowded bar having surged into the space that she’d previously filled.

  ‘Don’t be,’ he said, looking delighted. He turned to his dark-haired companion. ‘Roddy, this is –’ and he looked at her with a slightly triumphant expression – ‘Isla.’

  Jinny emitted a tiny, excited squeak.

  ‘Very nice to meet you,’ said Isla, reaching out her hand to shake that of the dark-haired man. He ran his spare hand through his hair, ducking shyly, looking up at her through a flopping fringe.

  ‘Roddy Maxwell.’ He shook her hand firmly with impeccable manners, despite the chaotic surroundings. ‘How d’you do?’

  ‘Good, thank you.’ Isla pulled a face as she was elbowed in the back once again by someone making their way past with a drink, which sloshed over her elbow.

  ‘You girls coming, or what?’ Shannon’s deep voice carried across from the doorway where she stood waiting.

  ‘I’ll get out of your way.’ Isla stepped backwards, carefully. As she did, her leg brushed against the blond man’s leg and she felt a rush of something – gin, probably – going to her head.

  ‘Jesus, Isla,’ Jinny was actually twirling round in circles outside. ‘You don’t mess about. Straight to the top, eh?’

  ‘What are you on about?’ Shannon grabbed Jinny by the arm so that she had to stand still for a moment.

  ‘Did you not see what happened in there? First I nearly hit bloody Roderick Maxwell in the head with my bag, and then two seconds later Isla’s being introduced to him – quite the thing.’

  ‘By who?’ Shannon looked across at the bar window, where the silhouettes of drinkers could be seen against the light.

  ‘I know he’s a fast worker, but how the hell d’you know Finn MacArthur already?’ Jinny cocked her head, looking at Isla with interest.

  ‘Isla, you’re a dark horse.’ Shannon let out a low whistle. ‘Mind you, with his reputation, I’m no’ surprised.’

  Isla shook her head, utterly confused. The drinks must have been a lot stronger than they seemed. ‘What are you two on about?’

  ‘Finn MacArthur. Total charmer, or a bit of a ladies’ man, if you know what I mean, depending on who you talk to. Anyway, there’s no’ getting away from the fact he’s gorgeous. Knows it, mind you.’

  He certainly exuded an easy self-confidence.

  Shannon hitched her bag over her shoulder and set off towards home, the other two following. ‘Aye, and Roderick Maxwell is the Laird of Duntarvie Estate. His best mate. No’ the sort of person that hangs around with hairdressers.’

  Chapter Thirteen

  Ruth was on her way back from the chemist, bag filled with the ridiculous pills that Doctor Lewis was insistent she take daily, when she passed the steamy window of the hairdresser’s.

  ‘Hello, Ethel.’

  Her friend looked up from the magazine she was reading whilst waiting for her appointment.

  ‘How’re you this morning?’

  ‘I’m fine, thanks, Ruth. Just trying out this hotshot new hairdresser we’ve got as a special guest.’ She looked across at Isla, who was busy blow-drying Sandra Gilfillan’s blonde hair. Sandra, who owned the hotel with her husband Murdo, had always been quite vociferous about the fact that she couldn’t get a decent haircut on the island for love nor money, so it was testament to the spreading news of Isla’s skill that she’d honoured them with her presence.

  ‘I see herself is in the hot seat.’

  ‘Aye,’ Ethel gave a giggle. They’d been friends since school, and in all those years her laugh hadn’t changed. ‘Well, with the seal of approval from Her Majesty, this place will have bookings through the roof from all the ladies who lunch. I hope Jessie’s ready for it when she comes back.’

  Ruth had a sneaking suspicion that Jessie wasn’t going to be so keen to get back to long days on her feet after a couple of months off playing granny. ‘Well, we’ll see.’

  ‘Ruth.’ Isla turned away from Sandra, smiling a greeting.

  ‘All right there, Mrs Mac,’ said Shannon, squeezing past her in the doorway, ‘you’re no’ in today, are you?’

  ‘No, just popping past on my way back,’ Ruth explained, ‘thought I’d say hello.’

  ‘Well,’ said Shannon, sliding Isla a mischievous look, ‘We were out last night, and Isla seems to be getting on like a house on fire with your Finn.’

  Ruth watched Isla frown at Shannon in the mirror, but was interrupted as she opened her mouth to speak.

  ‘If I could just pay before this turns into a mothers’ meeting.’ Sandra stood up, preening herself like a fat hen, allowing Isla to slip her out of the gown and pick up her handbag as if she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth.

  Once the payment was completed Sandra bustled out of the shop, almost knocking Ruth over in passing. Edging aside with her stick, Ruth said, ‘Actually, Isla, I was wanting to have a wee word with you. I’ve been thinking that a wee bit of gentle exercise would do me the world of good. Do you fancy a little stroll tomorrow afternoon?’

  Isla, who still looked perplexed, gave her another smile as she brushed down her top, which was covered in a scattering of Sandra’s hair.

  ‘That would be lovely. We close at half past twelve.’

  ‘I’ll get the bus along to town, then,’ said Ruth, watching as Ethel was wrapped in a black salon gown by Jinny and bustled off to the sinks to have her hair washed. ‘See you here tomorrow lunchtime.’

  ‘I’ll look forward to it.’

  On the bus home, Ruth looked out of the window at children skimming stones on the beach and waited for the stop that was handily right outside her little cottage. Goodness knows what Shannon was playing at – she was a right little minx, that one, always stirring up mischief.

  Safely indoors, she sat down on the sofa, feeling a bit out of breath. These new pills didn’t seem to be doing a thing. Maybe a little snooze might help . . . Hamish hopped up with a chirrup of approval and settled down on her knee. As she dropped off, she hoped that Finn hadn’t been up to his usual tricks. Isla was a nice girl . . .

  Jinny flipped the CLOSED sign over in the face of a disappointed teenager, and her mum who was standing with hand poised to push the door open.

  ‘Sorry, we’re closed!’ Jinny mouthed, motioning at the sign dramatically. ‘And I’m off the island pronto, because I’ve got to get to Reiki training this afternoon and if I miss that next boat I’ll be swimming across to the mainland, so tough luck, guys and girls . . .’

  Shannon shook her head. ‘You do talk a lot of bollocks, you do.’

  ‘Well,’ Isla closed down the computer screen, ‘you guys need to have a think about what we’re going to do, because I vote we start opening full days on a Saturday. We’re turning people away, and that’s crazy.’

  Shannon and Jinny both groaned in unison. ‘Noooo, we need our Saturdays.’

  ‘You get more days off than anyone I’ve ever worked with. And think of the money. You’ll get a pay increase, of course.’ Isla hadn’t actually run it past Jessie, but her aunt had been so vague on the phone the other day that Isla was sure it’d be fine. The salon’s takings were up, word seemed to be getting around, and it was ridiculous to be closed on the busiest day of the week. Even in tiny Kilmannan people wanted to get dressed up on a Saturday night and head out to the pub, and not everyone could fit in – or for that matter afford – the journey to Glasgow on a Saturday, not to mention the cost of a salon over there.

  ‘Ah well, if you’re talking money,’ Shannon perked up. ‘That’s a different matter.’ Jinny nodded.

  ‘OK, let’s have a chat about it on Tuesday when we’re back in. Meanwhile, have a good weekend, you two. Oh look, Shannon, someone for you.’ Outside, face scarlet, arms full of flowers from the florist (which had
turned out to be quite lovely, to Isla’s delight), was Shannon’s beau, the beleaguered Rab, who had been subjected to her determined study of The Rules.

  ‘Awwwww,’ said Jinny through a mouth stretched wide as she applied lipstick looking in the mirror. ‘You can’t say he’s no’ trying.’

  Shannon looked cross. She pulled her ever-present handbook out of her bag.

  ‘Is that no’ due back at the library by now?’ Jinny peered over her shoulder.

  ‘Shut up. I renewed it.’ Shannon snapped it shut, blushing slightly.

  ‘There’s nothing in there about what to do if they turn up with flowers. He’s not supposed to be doing that bit yet.’

  Isla burst out laughing. These girls. They’d made working here so much more fun than in any of the starchy, perfect salons back home. ‘I think if I were you, I’d go along with it. There’s a man out there with half the florist in his arms. I think that’s a good sign.’

  Shannon, by now as pink in the face as the hapless Rab, looked quietly delighted.

  ‘All right. If this all goes wrong, I’m blaming you two.’

  She headed outside, where Rab leaned across and gave her a sweet kiss on the cheek before they walked off, hand in hand.

  Isla gave the place one final, routine check-over. Jinny hauled her bag full of books and goodness knows what else over her shoulder. ‘Ready?’

  They were closing the door when Isla felt something wet at the back of her leg, followed by a heaving, straining, panting noise. She turned around to see a scruffy-looking boy attached to a hefty Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

  ‘Oh God, no, Leo,’ said Jinny, in despair. She looked across the road to the harbour where the boat was already backing into position, ready to disembark the passengers from the mainland.

  ‘Dad’s had to go and fix a bike across at Jimmy Colhoun’s place, and I’ve got a football match in half an hour. It’s the tournament up at the school, I can’t miss it.’ Leo looked anxious. ‘He says he’ll definitely be back, but can you take Mavis until then?’

  Isla hid a smile. Only in Jinny’s world would a dog built like a brindled barrel, with a back broad enough to serve afternoon tea on, be called Mavis.

  ‘I can’t.’ Jinny tucked her hands behind her back.

  Leo pushed the lead in her direction. Mavis, slobbering, grinned toothily at him.

  ‘Leo, I’m going on that boat, and there’s no way on earth I’m taking a bloody dog to a Reiki session! Tie her up at football, come on . . . someone will take her for you.’ Jinny’s voice was pleading.

  ‘He’ll be back in half an hour. You can catch the next boat.’ Leo looked at the lead in his hand, sizing up his options. ‘I’ll just leave her here . . .’

  ‘She’ll run away and steal steak pies from the butcher’s if you don’t take her, and then she’ll get put down,’ Jinny said darkly. ‘And then Mikey will be upset, and it’ll be all your fault.’

  It was like listening to two children squabbling over a toy, only neither of them wanted it. Isla shook her head despairingly. ‘Look –’ she reached out a hand, taking the lead from Jinny’s brother – ‘I’ll take her. I’m going for a walk anyway.’ How difficult could it be?

  ‘Have we got some extra bodies for our little walk, Isla?’

  Ruth’s appearance seemed to create enough of a disturbance that Leo shot off, disappearing in a second. Ruth patted Mavis, who snorted a greeting before dribbling on Ruth’s handbag and attempting to steal her walking stick.

  ‘Where are you going for your walk?’ Jinny, half an eye on the boat, which was now preparing to load passengers, turned to Ruth.

  ‘Well, Isla,’ Ruth looked at her, ‘I was thinking a wee stroll around the park behind the castle. Nothing too strenuous.’

  ‘Excellent.’ Jinny pulled her phone out of her bag. ‘Mavis loves it there. I’ll text Dad and tell him to pick her up there when he’s done in half an hour.’

  Leaning down to pat the dog, she hitched her bag onto her shoulder and hurtled off towards the boat, calling as she went, ‘Thanks, Isla, I owe you one!’

  Walking Mavis turned out to be slightly less relaxing than Isla had imagined. Ruth, who seemed a bit wheezy, couldn’t manage anything more than a very slow pace with her stick. Mavis, who was enormously strong, was clearly used to slightly less sedate exercise and consequently spent the whole time pulling like a train until the muscles in Isla’s arm were aching.

  ‘Hello, Mavis,’ said a woman being towed in the opposite direction by a huge, incredibly hairy German Shepherd. ‘Are you taking some new people for a walk today? Look, Petal, Mavis has some new friends!’

  Isla smiled politely as the dogs circled each other, their leads wrapping into a maypole pattern. She untangled it, and they moved onwards.

  ‘So I gather you met my Finn,’ Ruth began.

  Isla opened her mouth to reply. Just then a brown and white spaniel, who wasn’t on a lead, leaped up to them. It bounced over the top of Mavis’s back, bounded around Ruth in a circle and headed back towards its owner, who was waving and calling from the far side of the park.

  ‘Yes,’ Isla began to reply, cautiously, having checked there were no other dogs. Mavis had slowed her pulling a little now, meaning she could concentrate on what she was saying. ‘Well, you could call it meeting – he crashed his bike when I was out running.’

  ‘Oh yes, that was a nasty one. He didn’t hit you, did he?’ Ruth turned to look at Isla.

  ‘No, I was fine. He was lucky it wasn’t worse.’

  ‘Yes, well, as I said the other day when we were drinking tea, he has a habit of just getting by, that one.’ She tutted, fondly.

  At that, Mavis gave a bark of excitement and started galloping on the spot, just giving Isla enough notice to gather her thoughts before she was towed halfway across the grass towards a tall man with shoulder-length hair who was waving happily at her.

  ‘Wait there,’ Isla called back to Ruth, who had already made herself at home on a wooden bench. ‘I’ll be back in a moment.’ Ruth waved acknowledgement.

  ‘Hello, beautiful,’ said the man. Mavis rolled over happily, waving her paws in the air.

  ‘You must be –’

  ‘Paul. Jinny’s dad.’ He had a silver hooped earring in one ear. He reached out a hand that was streaked with some kind of engine oil, looked at it, and pulled it away in the time it had taken Isla to wonder whether it would be polite to just nod a greeting instead of shaking hands.

  ‘Jin’s really loving working with you. She’s full of it every night. Lovely to see her so inspired.’ He took Mavis’s lead and wiped his hand on his jeans, absentmindedly. ‘You’re a born teacher, from what I hear. She’s been soaking it all up, coming home, telling us all about how I can run my business more effectively. You’re a bit of a hit, from what I’m hearing.’

  Isla felt herself blush. ‘Well, she’s a lovely girl. And she’s determined to make something of herself, too.’

  ‘Glad to hear it. The world needs more sparks like Jinny, if you ask me.’ He ran a hand through his hair, pushing it out of his eyes.

  ‘Well, anyway,’ Isla turned, motioning to Ruth, who looked quite happy on her bench, ‘I’d better let you and Mavis get on.’

  ‘Thanks for taking her. Really appreciate it.’

  ‘No problem,’ said Isla, happy to have handed her over. She was definitely a cat person. Her skirt was covered in dog drool and fur.

  Walking back over to Ruth, Isla noticed that from here you could see the wide sweep of Kilmannan Bay. In the far distance, Jinny’s boat was heading off to the mainland. The park was beautifully kept, neatly cut grass surrounded by a row of towering oak trees, underneath one of which Ruth sat patiently.

  ‘I don’t think I’ll be in a rush to get a dog,’ called Isla as she approached.

  Ruth’s infectious laugh rang out. ‘Well, not one like Madam, perhaps.’ She patted the space on the bench next to her. ‘Come and have a sit down.’

  ‘I thought you fan
cied a walk?’ Isla crossed one leg over the other, turning to face her.

  ‘Och, that’s enough of an exercise for me. I tell you what, though, I quite fancy a cup of tea at the cafe outside the castle, if you’d like to join me? My treat.’

  ‘I’d love to.’ Isla noticed Ruth was still a bit out of breath, even after sitting down for a rest. ‘Are you OK to walk, or do you want to give it a bit longer?’

  ‘Oh, don’t worry about me, I’ve just got a bit of a wheeze.’ Ruth shook her head. ‘Look at that.’ She pointed with her walking stick to the edge of the bench, where some tiny blue flowers were growing. ‘D’you see those?’

  Isla peered down at them. They looked like miniature bluebells, but finer and more delicately drawn. ‘They’re pretty – what are they?’

  ‘Harebells. When I was a wee girl, this field wasn’t a park at all, but a big meadow – the secondary school behind you wasn’t there, of course, because we just had one school in the town, where the little art gallery is now.’ Ruth looked thoughtful. ‘I used to sneak up here when I could get away with it – I had a lot of brothers and sisters, and I was in the middle, so I always got stuck with all the worst jobs, looking after the little ones.’

  Isla smiled. It was amazing to think that Ruth, at eighty, had lived her whole life here on this little island. Even though she had to grudgingly admit that the place wasn’t as grim as she’d first thought, eighty years seemed like a long time to be stuck here.

  ‘I was a reader and a daydreamer,’ continued Ruth, ‘but my mother didn’t have a lot of time for that sort of thing. I used to bring my favourite books up here and lie under that oak tree over there and pretend I lived somewhere beautiful. My favourite was Anne of Green Gables – I loved the way she renamed all her favourite places.’

  ‘Oh, I loved her too!’ Isla had suspected from the offing that Ruth was what Anne would have called a kindred spirit.

  Ruth put her gnarled, age-spotted hand over Isla’s, looked at her and smiled.

  ‘Then I shall share a secret with you. I always thought Kilmannan was such a hard name for such a pretty place. When I sat here surrounded by harebells and daisies I renamed it Wildflower Bay. I never told a soul that until now.’