Page 44 of The Christmas Highland Lodge

John’s close-cropped brown head was swinging between Blake and me like he was struggling to keep up. ‘Yes, I do. In fact, I love it. Not so keen on New Year mind, but I’ve always enjoyed Christmas.’

I couldn’t conceal a small smile of satisfaction. ‘So do I. Most magical time of the year.’

‘No such thing as Christmas magic. I’m more likely to bump into ET.’

‘I would feel sorry for ET,’ I muttered.

The woodland light sifted through Blake’s dark layered hair. Under his generous beard, I could swear I saw his jaw tense. ‘Each to their own. A load of commercial, overrated crap.”

‘Yes, I’m well aware of your thoughts about the festive season,’ I smiled sweetly. ‘But thanks for your input.’

Blake glowered and was on the brink of saying something else when his mobile rang out.

He tugged it out of his back trouser pocket and peered down at the screen. I noticed his eyes turning hard. He stared down at the flickering phone for a few more seconds.

‘Are you going to answer that, mate, or communicate with the thing telepathically?’ asked John.

Blake blinked at his phone and then back up at John and me, as if he had forgotten for a moment that we were both still standing there. He reluctantly raised it to his ear and strode a few feet away for some privacy.

John waited until Blake had turned away from us both and waggled his brows at me in a ‘I wonder what’s going on?’ kind of way, before vanishing back inside the second cabin.

It was time I headed back to Craig Brae. I had now seen for myself how great the log cabins were looking already and the prospect of being in Blake Dempster’s company any longer than I had to was about as appealing as a bout of flu.

I hitched my bag further up my shoulder and proceeded to leave the woodland and head back in the direction of my car.

I had taken several steps away, when Blake’s agitated voice rang out behind me.

‘Amy, don’t give me that. Two years ago, you cleared me out, so enough of the bullshit!’

Blake’s voice reverberated through the trees. Even though he was trying to keep his conversation private, his voice was becoming louder and more agitated. This Amy, whoever she was, was sending his emotions all over the place. He clamped his phone tighter to his ear and shot me a self-conscious look from over his broad shoulders. ‘I’m not continuing this conversation. I’m at work. I’ve got a meeting in five minutes.’

Blake fell silent, listening to what the woman at the other end of the line had to say.

I moved off until he let out a burst of sarcastic laughter that made me draw up again. ‘Are you joking? After what you did?’

I stopped and peered over my shoulder at him, back through the trees.

His expression had darkened. ‘You are not getting another penny from me, is that understood? Don’t you think you got more than your fair share?’ He paused to listen again, before snapping back, ‘Now trot off back to lover boy and leave me alone.’

My feet had ground to a halt on the crunchy twig-strewn mass.

What was all that about?

He lifted his phone and jabbed at the screen. He kept his broad back facing away from me for a few seconds.

What should I do? Should I pretend I hadn’t heard any of that and just head back to my car? Or should I do the decent thing and go back and ask him if he was ok? He was an arrogant sod, but just because he behaved like he’d had a soul bypass, didn’t mean I should. He must have known I’d heard at least some of the conversation.

He had sounded shocked and thrown by that phone call. Whoever this Amy was, she had rattled him.

I looked around myself, debating what to do. I hovered, caught between letting him get on with it and asking if everything was ok.

Before I could think about it any longer, I realised my feet were taking me back towards Blake.

He had turned around by this time and spotted me returning. He struggled to make eye contact with me.

I hopped from foot to foot. What should I say? Should I just be bold and ask him what that was all about? Who was Amy and why was he arguing with her? Or should I not refer to the call and just stand there like a prize lemon, like I was doing now?

It was almost a relief to see I wasn’t the only one on the receiving end of frustrating messages today.