January 2015
Back in the present, Sam wasn’t giving up on his hare-brained idea.
Mallory knew he had been feeling a little homesick for the open spaces of Canada and she also knew that he loved the similarities between his home and the Highland vistas of Scotland. It had been those things that had driven him to do his usual ‘just looking’ on the Scottish property websites and it had beenthenthat he’d discovered Sealladh-mara Cottage – or Seaview Cottage in English – at Clachan Seil, twelve miles south of Oban on the West coast. The little whitewashed house sat near the water’s edge on Seil Island, a stunning seaside location close to the beautiful hump backed Atlantic bridge and in one of their favourite locations. He had evidently fallen head over heels for the place.
He had decided that he had spent too much time working for his brother and even though he had been living with Mallory since their fourth month of being together he wanted to buy a place of their own, and to do something completely different, maybe write a historical novel.
He insisted they could afford it now, with the shop doing so well and his inheritance – a combination of money left by his beloved father and Uncle Jacob, his father’s eccentric and wealthy brother. And if they could sell her little house they could have a comfortable life in Scotland.
‘Why wait until we’re too old to really enjoy it, huh? At least say you’ll think about it, Mally?’ he pleaded as she rested her head on his shoulder in a warm embrace and Ruby tried her best to squeeze in between them. ‘I mean, we could go and visit a few more times first before we relocate completely?’ he implored. ‘And Josie is more than capable of runningLe Petit Cadeaufor you now. She’s there more than you are. Sealladh-mara Cottage has a workshop, so you could concentrate on making stuff for the business again, which you know you’d love. Look at it. It’s the perfect seaside escape.’ He desperately tried to convince her of the prospect of such an idyllic lifestyle.
Mallory turned and picked up the printout of the pretty whitewashed, stone-built cottage and began to read the description. Three good-sized bedrooms, one en-suite, one family bathroom, lounge, dining room, farmhouse-style kitchen, utility room and, best of all, the detached workshop.
She and Sam had spent some happy holidays over the past couple of years in Argyle in the Highlands and had visited the little isle with its pretty bridge that spanned the inlet of the Atlantic Ocean. And admittedly they had talked about how wonderful it would be to live there someday.Someday. But the thought of making such a huge change now was a scary one. Would she be crazy to consider it? Realising that notallof her spur of the moment decisions had been mistakes she looked at the idyllic cottage in its location by the water and sighed.
‘It does look very pretty,’ she mumbled, not realising she had done so out loud.
‘Does this mean you’ll think about it?’ The look on Sam’s face was reminiscent of an excited schoolboy. How could she possibly resist?
‘I’llthinkabout it. But I meanthink.’ Almost before the words had left her lips he swept her up in his arms and swung her around, kissing her passionately, before leading her up the stairs to their bedroom.
