A Fresh Start on Crumcarey (Crumcarey Island #5)

Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20

LUKE

P ausing just inside the door of The Tallyaff, Luke watched Maggie as she chatted with Anna McCluskey. He’d spent all day desperate to talk to her again… to see her again… and now she seemed to have robbed him of the power of movement.

The kiss last night had haunted him all day. It hadn’t helped that he’d been working at Pear Tree Cottage again. Every time he caught a glimpse of Maggie’s new-old sofa facing the wood burner, his spine tingled with anticipation… which was stupid, because she might not want to revisit the moment.

He did though. Very much. Preferably, as soon as humanly possible!

Luke had driven himself practically insane with mental images from the night before as he’d fixed Maggie’s new windows in place. They’d flooded the little cottage with more light than the poor old place had seen for months… and he hoped she’d like it. He hoped all the changes would help her feel like the place was hers… and like she could truly settle and call it home.

As for him… Maggie had turned his world upside down in just a few short days. He’d thought he had a plan. Come to Crumcarey, spend time with Uncle Harris and help out wherever he was needed until the ferry refit was done and dusted. Then he’d be off to explore somewhere new.

Well… that plan was well and truly wrecked!

Last night had left him feeling both scattered and completely grounded. Maggie had blown everything he thought he knew about himself to pieces, leaving his feet planted in Crumcarey’s sandy soil in a way they’d never been before.

That hadn’t been a normal kiss… there had been some kind of magic at work, he was sure of it.

Maybe that’s why he’d completely forgotten to tell Maggie about the drawing with the ice cream spatter, and Stella and Frank’s request for her to redesign their cottage for them. They had a lot to talk about, that was for sure!

‘Luke!’ cried Olive, beaming at him as she appeared through the doorway that led to the rooms upstairs.

Maggie’s head whipped up at the sound of his name, and for a brief moment, her eyes gleamed at him with undisguised joy… before a hint of confusion muscled its way in.

‘Hi Olive,’ he said. ‘Sorry, I’m here a bit early for Maggie… but I’ll wait.’

‘You’re here for me?’ said Maggie, her confusion turning to worry. ‘Is Mr Harris okay?’

‘He’s fine!’ said Luke, feeling decidedly warm and fuzzy about the fact that she clearly adored the salty old gent as much as he did. ‘Exhausted from bossing the pair of us around all week, I think. He’s chilling back at the farmhouse this evening.’

‘Phew, okay good,’ said Maggie with a nod. ‘I was worried I was causing him a bit too much trouble.’

‘Rubbish,’ chuckled Olive. ‘That man’s middle name is trouble. Fancy using your uncle as an excuse to pick up our Maggie!’

Luke felt the prickle of a blush spread across his forehead, and he grinned sheepishly at Maggie.

‘Fine,’ he huffed. ‘I muscled in because I wanted to be the one to come and steal you away for the night.’

He watched as Maggie turned a delicate shade of beetroot, shooting an embarrassed glance at Anna. Anna let out a delighted squeal.

‘I’ll leave you lot to it,’ she said. ‘You wait till I tell Ray that Little Miss Independent here has tamed the beast!’

‘Tamed?’ squeaked Maggie, shaking her head and turning an even deeper shade of red – if such a thing was possible.

‘Beast?’ gasped Luke in mock outrage.

Bang went any hope of keeping his intentions towards Maggie on the down-low! Now it would be all over the island before they’d even left The Tallyaff.

‘Well, as you manned up and admitted it, I guess you can steal your girl away five minutes early,’ said Olive.

‘I’m not…’ started Maggie.

‘She’s not…’ muttered Luke.

‘Okay, okay – just – shoo!’ chuckled Olive, handing Maggie her bag from behind the bar and then making ushering motions at the pair of them.

‘Sorry about that,’ muttered Maggie, as they tumbled out through the door into the car park.

Luke shrugged his shoulders. ‘It’s Olive. I’m used to it!’

They both fell silent for a long beat, and Luke realised he was digging the tip of one grubby work boot into the gravel like a nervous schoolboy.

‘Erm… so…’ said Maggie, glancing at the truck and then back to him.

‘Sorry for dragging you away early,’ said Luke.

‘Don’t apologise for that!’ said Maggie. ‘I’m more than done for one day.’

‘Long one?’ said Luke.

‘Oh yes!’ said Maggie.

Luke waited, but when it became clear she wasn’t about to elaborate any further, he ran his fingers through his hair, trying to muster the courage to set the next part of his plan in action.

‘So… I’ve got an idea… if you’re up for it,’ said Luke.

‘Ooh, intriguing,’ said Maggie, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.

‘Let’s hop in the truck and I’ll explain as we go,’ he said. ‘As long as you don’t need to head straight home?’

‘Nope – I’m up for it!’ said Maggie, looking excited. ‘Though, this is all very cloak and dagger. What are you up to, Luke Harris?’

Luke grinned at her. He liked the way she said his name. He liked the fact that she was excited to go along with his hair-brained plan without knowing what it was, even though she must be completely knackered from a long day at work.

Hell… he just liked her. Everything about her.

Luke let out a breath and returned her grin. Suddenly, this didn’t feel risky, or stupid, or way out of midfield. It just felt right.

‘Ready for a magical mystery tour of Crumcarey?’ he asked, pulling on his seatbelt before turning to meet her bright eyes.

‘Always!’

They drove in companionable silence for a good ten minutes, and Luke took the road that led up to the cliffs where the puffins hung out in the summer. They were all gone now, of course, but that didn’t matter. It wasn’t the cheeky little birds he was taking Maggie to see.

‘Nearly there,’ he said, shooting her a smile as he turned down a rough track.

Once upon a time, he imagined it would have been carefully tended, its potholes filled once a year and the hump in the centre scraped back. Now, though, there was a good chance they’d both need to visit a chiropractor after bouncing down the narrow, rutted path.

‘Where on earth are you taking me?’ giggled Maggie, bouncing around in her seat and eyeballing the sad-looking cottage at the end of the lane.

‘Welcome to Peedie Croft,’ said Luke.

‘O-kay…’ said Maggie slowly, turning to stare at him.

‘Come on – let’s have a poke around!’ he said, not quite ready to let her in on his plan just yet. He wanted to see what she had to say without confusing her with all the details.

Maggie shrugged and hopped out of the car, grabbing a bobble hat from her jacket pocket and pulling it on to stop her long hair from going crazy in the wind.

‘How long’s this place been empty?’ she said, craning her neck.

‘As far as I know, at least forty years,’ said Luke, leading the way to peer through one of the windows.

Maggie followed him eagerly. After a brief look, she peeled away and wandered towards the overgrown walled garden at the back.

‘What do you think of the place?’ he said, following her.

‘It must have been lovely once,’ she said. ‘Hey, can we go inside?’

‘Sure!’ said Luke.

It didn’t take them long to look around. The cottage was completely dilapidated, but that’s not what Luke saw in front of him… all he could think about was his plan.

‘So… what would you do with it?’ he said lightly, as they made their way back outside. He’d done his best to make it sound like a throwaway question, but he had a feeling he’d just failed miserably.

Maggie raised an eyebrow at him. ‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean… if it was yours to renovate, what would you do?’

She went quiet for a moment, staring at the old place thoughtfully. ‘Do you have a pen and paper in the truck?’

‘I might have an old napkin?’ said Luke.

‘Better than nothing!’ laughed Maggie.

‘You keep thinking and I’ll grab it for you,’ said Luke.

Five minutes later, Maggie had drawn a stunning sketch of Peedie Croft in the middle of a piece of kitchen roll. Around the edges, she’d added smaller sketches, outlining new features that could turn the shell of the old place into something rather lovely.

Luke shook his head, completely blown away by the sheer talent Maggie had been sitting on for so long.

‘I mean… this is seriously rough,’ she said, adding a few arrows to the drawing before popping the cap back on the biro. ‘Of course, it would all depend on what it was going to be used for. A porch is a good starting point though – kind of essential up here!’

‘And you’ve added more windows along the west wall to make the most of this beautiful evening sunlight and the views over the cliffs,’ said Luke, half mesmerised by the drawing, and half by the way the sunlight was weaving golden highlights into the ends of Maggie’s hair.

‘Exactly,’ said Maggie, peering at her sketch again. ‘So… what’s the plan?’ she added curiously.

‘I’ll tell you at the next place!’ said Luke, grabbing her hand and towing her back towards the truck.