‘Yes, what can I do you for?’ He upped his pace to join them.
‘What’s the deal with your walking tours. When are you back?’
He grinned. ‘Are you missing me already?’
‘No,’ said Olivia, swatting a fly from her cheek. ‘I just want to know what other walks I could do.’
‘Well . . . when I finish here, I have a few days off, then I head to the mainland for a week or so for a tour to Loch Lomond and the Trossachs. That takes us along the West Highland Way, through woodland not dissimilar to this, and a chance for a boat trip. And for the energetic, the chance to bag a Munro, Ben Lomond.’
‘What’s a Munro?’ asked Olivia.
‘It’s a mountain that’s over three thousand feet,’ said Kitty before Logan had a chance to reply.
‘Is that what Goatfell is, then? Can I say that I’ve bagged a Munro once we’ve climbed it?’
‘Afraid not,’ said Logan. ‘It’s not quite high enough.’
‘Okay, sorry, I digress. After you’ve done your Lock Lomond trip, where do you go?’
‘Loch,’ said Kitty and Logan at the same time.
Olivia burst out laughing. ‘Sorry, sorry, I’m more than aware that I need to work on my pronunciation.’
Logan smiled kindly at her. ‘After theLochLomond trip, then I have a few days off, then I’m back here. Off the top of my head, that’s for another trip like this. The coastal path tour is sometime in August. After the Highland Games.’
‘Oh,’ said Olivia, her interest piqued. ‘Highland Games? Like caber tossing and kilt wearing and things like that?’
‘Yes, among other things,’ said Logan. ‘There’s also pipe bands, fancy dress, lots of stalls and dancing.Lotsof dancing. There’s usually a huge ceilidh at the end of the night.’
‘That’s a big social event with lots of traditional Scottish dances. It’s a lot of fun,’ said Kitty.
‘Sounds like my kind of thing,’ said Olivia happily. She felt a ripple of excitement, which was an odd sensation, as it had been a while. ‘I’m already looking forward to it.’
Chapter Twenty-Six
It was the final day of their tour. Kitty was glad that she just had one more day to get through before embracing a quieter life. She had loved having fresh air and exercise and the chance to get to know Olivia and the others, but she was starting to crave some space and time off her feet. They were starting to ache from the thousands of steps she’d been doing every day.
As she brushed her teeth, she looked at herself in the mirror. Her face did have a healthy glow about it, and there was a sparkle in her eyes that hadn’t been there for some time. If she was being honest, she had been feeling increasingly panicked by the pull she felt between her and Logan. It didn’t matter how much she tried to ignore it, she had loved getting to know him these past few days. Yes, she had been careful to keep a bit of a distance and not be overly friendly or flirtatious when talking to him, and she had refrained from sharing much about herself. But trying to maintain that had become increasingly challenging, and she only hoped she could get through one more day without giving him the wrong idea.
There had been several occasions over the past few days when she longed to lay a friendly hand on his shoulder, to touch his arm or reach for his hand. Then she’d caught herself just in time and reminded herself that would be weird. In normal circumstances, Kitty wouldn’t think twice about how she interacted with the opposite sex — it had never been an issue. This time was different, though. She felt a strong attraction to Logan and genuinely enjoyed his company. He was an uplifting person to be around, and she felt herself relax when talking to him. Then the little whispering voice would appear, telling her not to relax too much or make a fool of herself. She needed some distance from him, and from that voice in her head.
Rinsing her mouth, she pulled her curls back from her forehead and wrapped her hair into a bun. She smeared some sunscreen on her face, chest and arms and pulled on her outfit for the day. Let’s face it, that was the easy bit of all of this walking malarkey. You couldn’t really overthink what you wore to go climbing, as it had to be fairly practical. Today she wore grey outdoor trousers and a deep-green T-shirt with a long-sleeved fleece tied around her waist — Logan had warned it could be cooler as they reached the summit. The usual obligatory waterproof and extra tops, in case it was super cold, were stuffed in her backpack.
‘Olivia,’ she called, ‘are you up?’
‘Yes,’ she yelled back from her room. ‘I won’t be long.’
It was Kitty’s turn to make their packed lunch today, and she found a recipe on Instagram the night before for spicy chickpea wraps. She quickly assembled them, wrapped them in tinfoil and added a parcel of homemade flapjacks to each of their lunches. She got some apples from the fridge and then filled up their water bottles.
‘That’s me, I’m good to go,’ said Olivia, stifling a yawn. ‘All this exercise is exhausting. A lie-in tomorrow will be nice.’ Olivia eyed Kitty suspiciously. ‘You look nice today. Not that you don’t usually,’ she added hastily, ‘but there’s something about you that looksdifferent.’ She raised an eyebrow quizzically and smirked.
‘I’ve brushed my hair, that’s what it will be,’ said Kitty hurriedly, realising she should have left it tied up as usual rather than leaving it to hang loose. ‘Come on, we don’t want to be late.’ She didn’t want to admit to Olivia that shehadactually spent longer doing her hair this morning, and had even dabbed on some lip gloss.
* * *
They were meeting outside Arran Brewery, where the walk would start, and when Kitty saw Logan she felt the same annoying flutter in her stomach she’d been feeling since she first laid eyes on him.
‘It’s a shame we aren’t starting with a beer,’ joked Adam.
