A Fresh Start on Crumcarey (Crumcarey Island #5)

Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

LUKE

L uke was having the time of his life. He had tons to do – and that was just the way he liked it.

Putting his foot down, he urged Connor’s truck to speed up a bit as he pressed the button to turn on the radio. His friend had been more than happy to let Luke commandeer his truck for the day – which was a bit of a blessing, considering Mr Harris had cows to tend to after he’d taken Maggie to work. Luke knew his uncle no longer checked on his beasts on foot – he preferred to do it in style - trundling around the fields in his truck.

Luke hummed a couple of lines of a country tune as it blared from the radio, and McGregor promptly started to howl from the passenger seat.

‘Nice harmonies there, lad!’ chuckled Luke, glancing in his rear-view mirror just to make sure the windows and back boiler he’d collected were still safe and sound in the back. He was glad of the little dog’s company today – it would be a bit quiet in Maggie’s little cottage otherwise, considering it had a hive of activity of the previous day as everyone had pulled together for the main part of the clean-up operation.

‘What do you say to a quick detour first?’ said Luke, glancing down at the little dog.

McGregor let out a little woof and wagged his wiry tail.

‘Ice cream, you say? Okay – sounds like a plan.’

Luke indicated and pulled off the road into the little patch of parking above Big Sandy. He hadn’t been expecting to have to squeeze into a spot between one of Olive’s hire cars and a very snazzy-looking camper van, complete with a couple of surfboards strapped to the roof.

Hopping out, he quickly clipped McGregor’s rarely-used lead onto his collar – just in case the feisty little fellow decided to make “friends” with the tourists. Then he grabbed the box containing Maggie’s drawings. He wanted to take another look at them while he had this rare moment to himself.

‘Ready?’ he said, glancing down at McGregor, who was already straining towards the beach.

Luke grinned and ambled towards Ruby, the gorgeous vintage ice cream van that belonged to Stella and Frank.

‘Huh… a queue!’ murmured Luke, spotting five or six people lined up, waiting their turn at the hatch. It was a bit of a rare sight on Crumcarey… in fact, it was unheard of. Part of him wished he’d thought to bring his phone so that he could snap a photo to commemorate the occasion!

Joining the back of the line and keeping McGregor on a very short leash as he strained to sniff at the nearest pair of ankles, Luke craned his neck, trying to catch Stella’s eye. It took a couple of seconds, but when she did look up, Stella shot him a bemused grin – and then shrugged. Clearly, she was as surprised by the sudden rush as he was.

Crumcarey was alive with visitors – and going by the excited chatter of the ice cream hunters ahead of him, they all seemed to be overjoyed to have discovered such an unexpected opportunity to grab a 99 with a flake and real raspberry sauce!

‘Excuse me?’ said the woman in front, turning to him.

‘Sorry!’ he said in horror, realising too late that McGregor had hold of the ends of her shoelaces and was tugging at them with all his might.

‘Don’t worry about him!’ chuckled the woman. ‘He seems to be having fun…’

Luke smiled uneasily at that. As long as the little monster’s fun didn’t head towards the slightly more vicious kind! Luke had witnessed a good few ankles being savaged in McGregor’s youth, though he did seem to have mellowed a bit in his old age.

‘I just wanted to ask,’ said the woman, ‘you’re local, right?’

‘Erm…’ Luke thought about explaining his complex relationship with the island he’d always thought of as home… and then he shrugged. ‘Yep. Local,’ he agreed.

‘Well, I was just wondering if you could tell me where the art gallery is?’

‘Art gallery?’ he said raising his eyebrows.

‘Yes – one that sells paintings like the ones in this!’ she pulled a copy of the new Crumcarey guidebook out of her pocket, and Luke caught a glimpse of one of Rowan’s beautiful paintings on the front cover.

‘I don’t think there’s a gallery on Crumcarey,’ said Luke.

‘Oh,’ said the woman, wilting slightly. ‘That’s a shame, I would have loved to buy an original while we’re here. I thought the artist was local.’

‘She is – but she’s off painting around the world at the moment,’ said Luke. ‘Why don’t you ask Olive at The Tallyaff? If Rowan’s got any paintings for sale, she’ll know all about it. I’m sure she’ll be happy to put you in touch.’

‘Oh, perfect,’ said the woman. ‘Thank you!’

Luke smiled, and then gave McGregor’s lead a surreptitious tug, just as the little dog started to nibble at the bottom of the woman’s jeans. McGregor gave him a look as if to say spoilsport.

It didn’t take too long for Stella and Frank to make their way through the queue. As the crowd dispersed, Luke ambled up to the window and Stella greeted him with a broad smile.

‘How’s it going?’ he said.

‘Mad,’ said Frank, grinning at him from over Stella’s shoulder.

‘Good,’ added Stella.

‘Unexpected!’ they said together, and then started laughing.

Luke smiled at the pair of them. Stella was Olive’s daughter, and she’d moved back to Crumcarey not that long ago, bringing with her both her true loves – Ruby and Frank.

The pair of them were mad about the cold weather and isolation Crumcarey offered, so he could only imagine this unprecedented influx of visitors was a little bit unsettling for them.

‘It’s all good,’ said Stella. ‘We’re making the most of the visitors now and looking forward to a peaceful winter.’

‘Good call,’ said Luke. ‘On that note… can I have a 99 with a flake please.’

‘Fudge sauce?’ said Frank. ‘I’ve just made a new batch.’

‘Oh yes!’ breathed Luke, lifting his nose and catching the hot, sweet caramel scent in the air. Maybe he should bring Maggie down here when she was done with her shift…

‘Why don’t you grab a seat. I’ll bring it over to you,’ said Stella.

Luke grinned. There weren’t any seats in sight, but he was more than happy to plonk his bum down onto one of the wide, flat stones at the top of the beach while he waited.

Now that the rest of the visitors had disappeared, he decided it would be safe to let McGregor off his lead. The little dog promptly pottered off to do a circuit of the van, licking up patches of spilt ice cream as he went, before ambling down onto the beach to chase bits of seaweed as they fluttered in the fresh sea breeze.

Luke rested Maggie’s box of drawings on his lap and took the lid off. Then, carefully taking hold of the bundle of pages, he began to look through them.

They were just as beautiful as he remembered – and even more detailed. So – it hadn’t just been his first impression then – Maggie was seriously skilled. As for the materials she’d used, they really were well-considered.

Obviously, this being an island without any trees, new timber wasn’t exactly easy to come by. But there were plenty of abandoned buildings with roofs that had caved in. That meant there were old rafters and sarking boards that could easily be re-purposed with a bit of extra work. There was any amount of stone available, too - and the thick roof slates from the ancient buildings made beautiful flagstones.

‘What have you got there?’ said Stella, sinking down next to him on the stone.

‘Oh!’ said Luke, looking up in surprise. He hadn’t heard her approaching. Frank was making his way over from the van too, bearing his 99 complete with a flake and plenty of gooey fudge sauce. ‘You guys on a break?’ he said, rather than answering her question. Maggie had entrusted her drawings to him… but she hadn’t given him permission to show them around.

‘A much-needed break!’ said Frank, sinking down on the other side of him so that he was sandwiched between them.

‘Here,’ said Stella, removing the plastic box from his lap and then taking the wad of drawings from him so that he could hold his ice cream.

‘Cheers!’ said Luke.

Well… it would be rude to try and hide them now, wouldn’t it?!

Hopefully, Maggie wouldn’t mind. He didn’t know her that well yet, but he didn’t think she would.

‘Wow!’ said Stella, glancing down at the top drawing. ‘Luke, where did you get these?’

‘Maggie,’ he said through a thick mouthful of ice cream and sauce.

‘The lass at Brae Burn?’ said Stella.

‘The place they renamed Pear Tree Cottage?’ said Frank.

Stella snorted – clearly, she disliked the new name as much as Maggie did. ‘Aye, that’s her,’ said Luke, watching as Stella carefully looked through the drawings, one page at a time, before handing them over to Frank.

Luke winced slightly as the top page picked up a tiny drop of fudge sauce on its way past. Frank quickly whipped out a clean handkerchief and dabbed at it.

Oops, he’d have some explaining to do!

‘Sorry!’ said Stella. ‘Erm… maybe tell her that’s her coupon for two free ice creams?’

‘I will!’ Luke laughed.

‘These are really something,’ said Frank.

‘Right?’ agreed Stella. ‘I love them. Can you tell her we love them?’

‘Erm… sure?’ said Luke.

‘I mean… I don’t really know her, but she’s clearly a natural,’ said Stella. ‘I know she’s only just starting to brave the rest of us, and she’s had that disaster at her cottage, but do you think she might have time to come and look at our place?’

‘Great idea!’ said Frank, nodding enthusiastically without taking his eyes off the drawings in his hands. ‘Our place isn’t anywhere near as bad as Maggie’s, but we just don’t have any ideas about what to do with it.’

‘We like small, cosy spaces,’ said Stella, ‘like the van. So we don’t want to open it up like a few other people have done on the island.’

‘Open plan… yuck!’ said Frank with an exaggerated shudder.

Stella snorted. ‘Yeah, I agree. But there’s something about the layout at our place that doesn’t really make sense, and we’re useless – we can’t figure out what needs to change to make it right.’

‘And judging by these… Maggie might just have some ideas,’ said Frank.

‘Well, I can ask her – no harm in that, right?’ said Luke.