by Joan Fleming
Anna laughed. ‘No thanks, George. I’m used to travelling on my own, and Roddie will meet me at the station.’
‘What if he’s not there? If he’s delayed?’
‘So, I’ll get a taxi. But Roddie’s very reliable – he’ll be there.’
They could hear the noise of carriage doors being shut.
‘Time to go,’ George said. ‘Good luck with your project, and take care!’ He gave Anna a fierce hug, planted a kiss on her forehead, and then he was gone.
Fortunately, there were few passengers in Anna’s compartment, and she made good use of the three-hour journey to make some more progress on her work. She had no desire to have another wrangle with Cindy on the phone. The closer she was to Glasgow, however, the harder it became to concentrate on her work. She was so looking forward to seeing Roddie again.
In the car during the short journey to their flat, they were like two teenagers, talking over each other in an effort to pack in as much information as they could.
‘How did you feel when you met your birth mother for the first time?’
‘Have you sorted out your office problems?’
‘Did Jake…?’
‘How did you…?’
As Roddie parked the car, they both laughed.
‘Let’s wait till we’re inside, and we can start again,’ Anna said.
CHAPTER 43
‘Home, sweet home,’ Roddie said, as they walked into the living room of the flat. Anna looked around. Everything looked the same as it had done when she left. Same furniture, same curtains, same carpets.
‘I expected to find files and papers all over the place,’ she said. ‘How did you manage to clear it so quickly?’
‘With the help of Jake and Flo. Both have worked non-stop since the tradesmen finished in the office.’
Anna did notice one difference: a vase of yellow roses stood on the mantelpiece above the fireplace.
‘Flowers? For something special?’ she asked Roddie.
‘To welcome you back,’ he said. ‘We’ve missed you.’
‘That’s really sweet of you, Roddie. Thank you.’
It was so reassuring to feel wanted in the flat, to find that nothing had changed.
‘Where are the others?’ Anna asked.
‘There’s only Jake. Yvette decided she had found her true love – elsewhere.’
‘And he hasn’t found a replacement yet?’
‘No. But he’s searching,’ Roddie said, with a laugh. ‘And there’s a tiny hint he’s been working extra hard to help me since Flo came on the scene.’
Anna decided she would analyse her reaction to this news later, when she was on her own.
‘But there’s no way I could have my business partner living here if she and Jake become an item,’ he went on.
‘No, I suppose not.’
Anna took her things through to her bedroom. Everything there also looked the same. It felt rather stuffy, though; no doubt after all the fresh air she’d been breathing in recent weeks. She opened the window and caught the scent of roses from the small flowerbed below. Even the smell was as she remembered it.
Yes, everything – more or less – was the same. But Anna wasn’t. She had changed. Would she recognise the young woman who left here a fortnight ago? No. She felt like a different person now.
She had found Janet, her birth mother, and George, the man Janet planned to marry. And already they had made such a difference in her life.
She picked up the parcel Janet had given her and pulled off the brown paper wrapping. It was one of Janet’s paintings – but not as she’d suspected, a picture of a beach. It was a painting of Heather Cottage, with Loch Scridain in the background. Standing gazing at the azure-coloured water with its shoreline in the background, Anna felt a plunging sensation in the pit of her stomach as she relived the events that had taken place there. And the prospects it meant for the future. Tears sparked in her eyes to match the shimmer which overlaid the entire scene.
As she was transported back to the time spent with Janet and George there, she remembered her response and accepted she had succumbed to the spirit of the magic of a Hebridean island.
She had become a true Daughter of Mull.
When she went back into the living room, Roddie was standing by the fireplace, one hand on the mantelpiece, deep in thought. He looked up as she came into the room, then they stood a few feet apart, like strangers, as if uncertain what to do next. Or what to say. It was Roddie who made the first move.
‘Come here,’ he said, his arms open in invitation. Anna hesitated for a few seconds, then walked into his embrace.
‘You know I can’t go on with this purely business routine, don’t you? I love you, Anna. There, I’ve said it now. Yes, I promised to stick to the business arrangement when you moved in, but how was I to know I would fall in love with you?’ As he spoke, Roddie cradled her into his chest, stroking her hair. ‘It’s become harder and harder to live in the same house and be unable to lay a finger on you.’
When Anna said nothing, he continued. ‘It was only when I came to Mull that I confronted my feelings. That night, when you walked through to the living room…’
Clasping her shoulders, he moved her back gently so that he could look at her face. ‘I can’t go on like this, Anna,’ he repeated. ‘It’s torture having you so close, when all I want to do is…’
‘Kiss me?’ Anna clasped her hands at the back of his neck and pulled herself up so her lips were almost touching his. ‘Go on, then. Kiss me.’
Roddie’s eyes lit up as he drew her in close, and kissed her in a way she had been kissed only once before – by him.
Much later, they sat together on the sofa, holding hands.
‘Does that mean I’m released from our purely business agreement?’ Roddie asked.
‘It rather looks like it.’
‘Because, otherwise, I’d have to evict you.’
‘For not sticking to the terms of the agreement?’ Anna asked.
‘Something like that,’ Roddie mumbled, his voice thick as he pulled her to him once more.
Anna eased herself gently out of his embrace.
‘Let’s take it slowly, Roddie,’ she said. ‘There’s no need to rush things. We have all the time in the world.’
‘As long as you’re serious? How do you feel about me, Anna? Could you fall in love with me, do you think?’
‘I’m pretty sure I’ve done that already,’ she said. ‘Yes, Roddie, I love you, but…’
‘But?’ he asked, a note of anxiety in his voice.
‘But, in the meantime, did you say something in the car about going to Stravaigin for dinner?’
‘Just the two of us?’
‘Yes, the two of us.’
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joan Fleming was born and educated in Edinburgh, Scotland. After university there, she became a teacher of French and German for a short period in the London area, then in the West of Scotland.
Since leaving education, she now concentrates on creative writing. She has had short stories and articles published in magazines in both the UK and America, and has won a number of awards for her writing.
Joan is a member of Erskine Writers, the Scottish Association of Writers, the Romantic Novelists’ Association and the Society of Authors.
Her interests include: reading, walking, travel, islands (anywhere!) and the life and work of Robert Burns.
She now lives in a flat on the outskirts of Glasgow overlooking the West Highland Way.
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Get in touch with Joan:
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/joan.fleming.562
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Joan_Fleming
Blog - http://joanfleming-writing.blogspot.co.uk
Tirgearr Publishing - http://www.tirgearrpublishing.com/authors/Fleming_Joan
OTHER BOOKS FROM JOAN FLEMING
THE MAGIC OF MULL SERIES
WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS, #1
Released: July 2
014
ISBN: 9781310866395
Amy Wilson was left the family cottage on Mull. It's a place near to her heart, as she spent her summers on Mull, a place where many of her dearest memories were made. She takes every opportunity she can to return for retreat. Unfortunately, her partner Matt doesn't feel the same about Mull. As the story opens, Amy has arrived at Mull on her own, as usual, while Matt is away on a business trip to New York. Just what she needs -- time away from real life, a break from work, a break from Matt, if she's honest with herself. Two weeks to unwind, walking the sandy strand, visiting the isle of Iona across the sound (a place she can see from her cottage and relishes), and visiting with old friends. Bliss!
That is until she reads the contents of a packet that had been delivered to the cottage just prior to her arrival. Oceanview Holiday Homes was in the proposal stage, a development to be built on a parcel of land between her beloved cottage and her view of the abbey on Iona across the sound. Worse, the person behind the proposal is none other than the boy she fell in love with during her summer holidays, her cousin, Sandy McFarlane.
Sandy's older brother, Angus, has recently passed away and made Sandy the executor of his estate. Part of that estate includes building a holiday resort on Mull, using a strip of family land along the seafront. Locals won't dispute the added income will help support the community, but everyone knows about the land dispute between the McFarlanes and Amy's family. No one knows who owns the land, but they do know Amy won't allow the development to go through until the disputed ownership of the land can be solved.
Sandy has always been an enigma. Cousin to Amy from a side of the family which had been avoided by her people, there was always something *different* about the boy he once was. It still didn't stop her from feeling soft toward him as children and falling in love with him. Now, ten years later, the proposed development has thrown them together. Unbeknownst to Amy, family secrets are about to be let out of the closet, and they could change Amy's life forever.
SPIRIT OF THE ISLAND, #2
Released: November 2015
ISBN: 9781311063670
Scarred physically and emotionally after a car accident, Kirsty Mitchell fears that her two-year-old marriage may be falling apart. Her husband Adam has cancelled their planned holiday cruise to the Caribbean, as he has to work in London. After a blazing row, the couple part on seriously bad terms.
As Kirsty approaches her thirtieth birthday, she is looking ahead to six weeks’ holiday from her job as a classroom assistant in a primary school in Glasgow. She is facing a long, lonely summer in her city-centre flat.
Encouraged by her friend Freda, Kirsty decides to spend some time on the Isle of Mull, the Scottish island of which she has happy memories of visiting her late grandmother. She finds accommodation in a small guest house run by the Fergusons, a couple she knew from her younger days. Another friend she first met on the island as a teenager, Amy Wilson, now also lives on Mull, and Kirsty plans to make contact with her.
At the guest house, she comes into contact with Finn, a charismatic diver, who makes it clear he finds her attractive in spite of her scar, and they spend some time together.
Kirsty is facing an uncertain future. Will her stay on the island help her to recover from the accident? She is tempted to respond to the attentions of Finn, but should she make an effort to patch up her marriage to Adam?