She sighed. ‘I want to see him. And I want to get his opinion on my curry. An opinion I hope will be better than adding frosting.’
Isla hooted out a laugh and woke Carly up. ‘Oops! Well, Dan’s putting her to bed later. And after that long nap, I pity him.’ Isla walked up to her daughter, cooing at her.
Aileen packed up the container in a bag, wrapped a dinner roll in foil and made sure the curry was stacked upright before plopping the bread into the bag.
She hand-combed her brown-hair and pinched her cheeks to add some colour to them. Callan had seen her in worse shape but… Well, she stared into her eyes, as dark brown as her hair. He thought her eyes held fire in them. All she saw were two brown orbs, nothing alluring like Callan’s electric blue with their special glint of grey.
Aileen shook her head. That man was blind in love with her.
It took them ten minutes to load Carly into the car and lock up the back door of the inn. Aileen’s part-time housekeeper was in. She’d promised to keep an eye out, but they were fully booked, so they would have to refuse any walk-in guests.
Added to a full inn, today had dawned and stayed sunny, a rarity in their wee north-western corner of Scotland. Hell, anywhere in Scotland, the sun was a scarce sight, but in Loch Fuar, it made everything so much cheery.
The green grass gleamed, a contrast to the greyish-blue waters of the Loch Fuar. The mountains in the background also shimmered adding that awestruck gasp to the entire scene.
Life was good.
Aileen buckled herself in and struck up a conversation with Carly about the unicorn on her left shoe. The bairn had developed a new love of ‘ooni-corns’ and babbled on and on about them.
‘She’s been asking for a stuffed unicorn. Haven’t you?’ Isla said as she turned left to exit Dachaigh’s car park.
Carly said, ‘Aye! Birthday gift.’
Aileen chuckled. ‘Your birthday’s ages away. By then you won’t want unicorns anymore.’
‘No! I love them! They fly.’
‘Fly?’ Aileen turned to Isla, who shook her head.
‘Her nursery teacher showed them a picture of a Pegasus the other day. She didn’t like that it didn’t have a horn, so my brilliant daughter used a Sharpie to draw on it.’
Aileen laughed. ‘Well!’
‘God, Aileen. It was the teacher’s copy. And Carly pulled it out of their class library and sketched on it when the teacher wasn’t looking. I’m not sure if that’s smart or deviant.’
Aileen looked at the girl in the back seat, who was trying to peer out the window to look outside. With her strawberry curls and twinkling eyes, she looked ever the innocent. And she was. Aileen loved the bairn to bits. But she’d seen her ‘negotiate’ with Callan and win, so Aileen never stood a chance of saying no to the girl. ‘She’ll be alright. It’s better to be bold than a doormat wanting to please everyone.’
Isla hummed as they raced across the stone bridge towards the market square. ‘You’re not—’
Aileen caught the glint of metal and heard the drone of an engine before she saw the car. ‘Watch out!’ she cried.
A car – a shiny navy convertible – hurtled towards them. It was a vintage model, only it made a horrendously loud noise, like that of a new race car. Its headlights, a sort of hooded pair of eyes, flashed at them.
The driver didn’t slow down, honking as he barrelled his way towards them instead.
Isla cursed and swerved to avoid it.
Aileen pressed a hand against the dashboard, trying to grip it, knowing there was nothing she could do but pray Isla had control of the car.
They continued off the road, heading for the ditch that ran alongside them.
‘Oh shit!’ Isla yanked on the handbrake as her left foot hit the clutch and her right the brakes.
Aileen braced herself as the car skidded closer to the ditch. Time slowed, the sound of gravel under the car’s tyres grating in her ears.
Instinct had Aileen pushing into her seat, as if her backward momentum could halt the car in its tracks and save them from plunging into the ditch.
A wail pierced the air. Carly.
Their journey forward didn’t seem to slow down.
Isla cursed when the car’s tyres kissed the verge, and they tilted downward.
Hell!
