Spirit of the Island

by Joan Fleming

  Duncan hadn’t finished. ‘And as for the young Mitchells, I’m allowed to tell you that Adam, as a newcomer to the island, made himself a firm favourite with Charlie when he found the precious Politician whisky that had disappeared from Lochside. I think the future here looks good for all three couples we’re celebrating today.

  ‘All that’s left for me to do now is to have the wedding cake brought in. The ceilidh band has arrived, and you can all dance your way into the wee small hours.’

  As the band started playing a Scottish waltz in slow time, the guests waited for the three couples to start off the dancing.

  * * *

  ‘Well, lass, we’ve done twenty-five years together. Are you up for another twenty-five?’ Charlie whispered to Elsa.

  ‘Of course, I am,’ she said.

  * * *

  ‘On a scale of one to ten, how happy are you?’ Sandy asked Amy.

  ‘Ten,’ she said. ‘How about you?’

  ‘Twenty,’ he said.

  * * *

  ‘I’m so pleased we’re here together for the party. Thanks for being with me, Adam,’ Kirsty said.

  ‘Was it the right decision, to try again?’ Adam asked her.

  ‘Yes,’ she said.

  ‘Was it because you still love me?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes, that–and the magic of the island.’

  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.

  * * *

  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 2014

  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, vising 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 did'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.