The Secrets of the Glen (Scottish Highlands #2)

Chapter 21

A short distance outside Aviemore, they joined a winding road, travelling in the opposite direction to Lark Lodge. It wasn’t far along the road, and they turned off. Robyn turned to look at him. ‘Mr Gillespie, I thought you said—’

‘You can call me by my Christian name, you know.’

‘I don’t know what that is.’

‘Ah, right. It’s Duncan. You were asking me a question?’

‘Yes, I noticed we’ve turned off the main road already. I thought you said it was a bit out of the way.’

‘Yes, it is. There’s a way to go along here.’

Robyn had noticed a brown tourist sign pointing to a loch. ‘Is David’s house by a loch?’

‘Oh, aye.’

They drove along the bumpy single-track road through a forest of pines. Robyn glanced over her shoulder at Gayle’s car, which was following. It had slowed down to travel along the bumpy road and was now some distance behind. Robyn wasn’t surprised. Gayle wouldn’t want to damage her dad’s old car, and the suspension on the old Bentley wasn’t that great. She bet it was a very uncomfortable ride, especially for poor David. He was going to feel every jolt along the poorly maintained road.

‘It’s not a very good road, is it?’

‘That’s the Forestry Commission. I expect they’ll come and repair it one of these days. People come here to walk around the loch, and fish. I used to bring the boys here, take a boat out fishing.’

‘When they were kids?’

‘Oh, yes. Highlight of the weekend.’

Robyn had thought that all he’d done was to take David to hockey practice. She said as much.

He glanced at her. ‘Who told you that?’

‘Who do you think?’ She had a thought. ‘How did you get a boat to the loch when you took them fishing?’

‘I didn’t have to bring one with me. There was a boat at the boathouse.’

‘The boathouse?’

Robyn noticed Duncan take his eyes off the road for a second to look at her. ‘David didn’t mention the boathouse to you?’ he said.

She shook her head. ‘No. Not at all. He didn’t even mention that you took your sons fishing.’

‘David clearly loved those trips so much that he went and bought the place – well, that’s what he tells me. I don’t know where he got the money from. I guess he’s been a saver, unlike his old man.’

‘What place?’

‘The boathouse I used to rent for the summer. We’d have to sleep upstairs in the little room in the eaves. We had a cooking stove, sleeping bags, and I’d tell them stories around the fire.’

Robyn stared at him. This was not the childhood that she had pictured from what David had told her. He had never mentioned any of this.

‘What do you mean – you don’t know where he got the money from?’ Robyn didn’t think an old boathouse would cost that much money. Besides, he had money from playing professional hockey. She told Duncan her thoughts.

Duncan shook his head, and smiled. ‘What sort of money did you think he earned in professional ice hockey?’

‘I have no idea. A lot?’

‘You’re thinking of professional footballers.’

Robyn shrugged. ‘I guess.’

‘Look, most players probably earn an average wage, if they’re lucky. However, salaries can really vary. David was reaching the top of his game, the peak in his sporting career. He could have earned ten times that – six figures.’

Robyn recalled what David had told her; he’d just transferred to one of the teams that played in the Elite Ice Hockey League, the top tier of ice hockey in the UK. ‘He said that two Scottish teams compete in the league, and he was going to play for one of them.’

‘Aye, that he was.’

They continued along the single-track lane in silence. Robyn was about to ask him how the accident had happened that had ended David’s career, when he said, ‘You’ll see what I mean when we arrive. It’s quite a place.’

‘He had it renovated, then?’ Somehow she didn’t imagine David in an old wooden boathouse, even if he had renovated it and enlarged it to live in. She’d pictured him in a modern, architecturally designed property. She didn’t know why.

Duncan chuckled. ‘Renovated? He had the old boathouse torn down and built something in its place.’

Robyn smiled. That was just what she’d pictured – something newly built. Robyn cast her gaze around the beautiful scenery. She imagined it would be amazing.

Her smile at the thought of finally seeing where he lived was tempered by the circumstances surrounding her first visit. She should be travelling with him to see his house, not with his father.

‘What’s the matter?’ Duncan asked, catching her expression.

‘It’s nothing.’

‘You two have had a lovers’ tiff, I take it?’

Robyn frowned at him and didn’t reply. They were not lovers – not yet, anyway. She didn’t appreciate his choice of words, even though she knew it was just an expression.

They travelled on in silence, passing a detached cottage, then a couple of bungalows, also detached, and finally a farmhouse.

‘Just a couple more miles, then we arrive at the loch.’

Robyn didn’t think it was as remote as he made out. Other people lived along this stretch of country road, and it wasn’t too far from the main road. Although if you wanted to nip out in the morning for a latte and a croissant, this certainly would not be the place.

She thought how a house by the loch would be right up Nick’s street. Nick would love it there – as would Olive. She could just imagine the two of them going for a bracing run around a loch first thing in the morning. She smiled. Sometimes Nick did just that. He had to take Olive in the car, though.

‘Not far now.’

They’d turned into a wide drive, the road surface so smooth compared to the bumpy, pot-holed single-track road they’d just travelled along that she felt they were floating along.

Gayle and David were some way behind. They’d lost them around a gentle bend.

Up ahead, through the trees, Robyn could see a pitched, tiled roof with a chimney. Nothing else just yet. But she said, ‘It looks like a house.’

‘That’s because to all intents and purposes it is. You’d only know it was a boathouse from the loch. That’s where you’ll see the boat on the water underneath.’

‘He has a boat too?’

‘Oh, aye. Above is a wooden balcony overlooking the loch. I like to call it a veranda. It leads off the reception room on the first floor which has exposed brick walls, a log burner and a beamed ceiling. It’s got a real cabin-in-the woods vibe. The veranda looks over the loch, obviously, and you get stunning views. I enjoy sitting out there, watching the sun set over the mountains.’

Robyn turned her gaze on him. By the sound of it, Duncan was feeling quite settled in his son’s home.

‘The kitchen is pretty impressive too. I’ve got a soft spot for the big American fridge.’

Robyn got the picture. ‘It sounds wonderful. I think David should recuperate at home, not go and stay at Lark Lodge.’

‘I concur. But then I would say that, wouldn’t I? I’m biased. I love the place. It’s just going to be a bit lonely out here without him around. Although to be fair, I spend a lot of my time in the shop, and he spends a lot of his time running around after you, like he’s your personal taxi service.’

Robyn looked aghast. ‘No he doesn’t!’

‘In my van.’

Robyn was still shaking her head. ‘No, he’s been out on deliveries for you.’

‘Oh, aye. He seems to spend a lot of time making just a handful of deliveries.’

Robyn pursed her lips. Of course, he was quite right: David had been her personal taxi service. And now he wasn’t. It occurred to her that if he was way out here, in his boathouse, recuperating, she would hardly get to see him over the next six weeks, or however long it took for him to get back on his feet properly, and back in the van.

They rounded a bend in the drive and there it was – David’s boathouse.

Robyn drew in a deep breath.

Duncan pulled the car to a stop outside the three-storey property. It looked like a stone-built house under a pantile pitched roof. There was no evidence that it was a boathouse from where they were; as Duncan had explained, that part could only be seen from the loch.

Duncan turned in his seat to look at her shocked expression. He chuckled. ‘I knew you’d be surprised.’

Robyn was surprised all right. She remembered the place.

‘Come on, let’s go inside before they arrive. I’ll get the kettle on, and we can sit down and persuade David to see sense.’ Duncan got out of the car and marched up a garden path through an open, grassed garden area next to the house.

Robyn saw him turn around when he realised she wasn’t following. He marched back to the car and opened the door. ‘Come on. They’ll be here any minute!’

Robyn reluctantly got out of the car. She slowly shut the car door and turned around to face the house. She didn’t remember the drive because it had been dark when she’d been there before – she was sure of it. But who could forget this boathouse? She couldn’t explain it away by convincing herself that she must have seen something similar in a magazine. This house was individually architecturally designed.

Robyn was reluctantly walking towards the house when an alarm went off.

‘Oh, hell’s bells!’ Duncan shouted over the din.

Robyn instinctively turned around and ran to the car.

‘Where are you going?’ Duncan called after her. ‘Come back here and give me a hand with this darned thing. I need to shut it off.’

Robyn already had the car door open, about to jump in, and she had no idea why. She slammed the car door shut and joined Duncan at the front door. He was furiously punching some numbers into a keypad. ‘God, why does this always happen to me? Any suggestions?’

‘Do you know the key code?’ As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she thought he’d tell her off for asking a stupid question.

‘I did. But he keeps changing it, and I keeping forgetting what it is. I swear he’s doing it on purpose. Urggh! This infernal thing! I told him not to have an alarm installed, but of course he went ahead anyway.’ Duncan stopped stabbing his finger on the keypad for a moment, and turned to Robyn. ‘What’s your birthdate?’

‘I’m sorry – what?’

‘Your birthday?’

Robyn thought about her details that had been found by the police through the DVLA because her driving licence was missing in the car accident. ‘Why do you want to know?’

He rolled his eyes at her. ‘Why do you think?’ he shouted above the din, pointing at the keypad.

‘You think he’d use my birthday? I don’t think I told him what that was.’

He tried the six digits anyway. They didn’t work.

Robyn rolled her eyes. ‘See. I told you.’

‘When did you two first meet?’

That was easy. Robyn looked at the keypad. ‘Christmas Day – when we literally bumped into each other on the road.’

‘Oh, yes – the date of the accident.’ He shrugged, shouting in her ear, ‘Worth a try.’

Six digits entered into the keypad later, there was blessed silence.

‘Oh, thank god!’ Duncan shook his head as he unlocked the door.