Page 75 of The Christmas Highland Lodge

The Styleses met my suggestions with enthusiasm.

‘I also wanted to come back to you both soon with some ideas I’ve been trying to pull together for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day? I know we’ve just received a couple of cabin bookings for Mother’s Day in March, so I thought possibly making it a bit more of an event could make it a bigger draw.’

Stephanie nodded along. ‘I think doing something a bit special for those weekends would be a great marketing ploy.’

The next topic to be discussed was looking at the potential cost of placing a few adverts on social media. ‘I thought this might be a good way of reaching out to a more varied demographic.’

I referred again to the scrawls in my notebook. ‘I will look into the costings for placing these ads.’

‘Yes, please do that, Lottie. We would be interested to know how much the quotes are and then we can take it from there,’ said Stephanie, making a few notes herself.

I jotted down a note on my to-do list to action that.

Max glanced down at his watch. ‘Right, ladies. How about we stop for some lunch? I’ll ask Kim if she wouldn’t mind popping down to the village to get us some sandwiches.’

He gestured to his print-out of the agenda lying on the polished table in front of him. ‘Once we’ve had something to eat, we can have a quick discussion about ideas for the cabin brochure and then call it a day.’

‘I’m so sorry, Lottie, for you keeping you this long,’ whispered Stephanie, when Max vanished next door into Kim’s office to speak to her. ‘Max got called away by his accountant and it delayed things a bit.’

‘There’s no need to apologise,’ I assured her. ‘It’s good to be able to discuss all this and get things moving.’

Kim vanished in her little lilac Ibiza to Craig Brae and returned twenty minutes later, bearing delicious hazelnut lattes and a selection of fresh sandwiches, oozing with everything from turkey, stuffing and cranberry to egg and cress and prawn salad.

I stared out at Rowan Moore House’s lawns, slumbering under a quilt of thick, sparkling snow as I finished eating my sandwiches and clutched my hazelnut latte. Max and Stephanie were seated opposite me, enjoying theirs.

‘It never ceases to amaze us how beautiful the scenery around Craig Brae is,’ sighed Stephanie.

I nodded and smiled, as Blake drifted into my mind again. Yes, it was stunning, but it could also be treacherous in the wrong conditions. I hoped he and his climbing clients were safe and well. I glanced down at my watch and took a thoughtful sip of my latte. He should be back by now, or certainly very soon.

We resumed our meeting, mulling over possible ideas for a glossy colour cabin brochure. I had just started suggesting offering a discount for NHS employees when there was a knock on the dining room door.

Max boomed. ‘Come in.’

Kim appeared in the doorway, looking self-conscious. ‘Sorry to interrupt,’ she said, hopping from foot to foot in her suede ankle boots and short tartan skirt.

‘Don’t worry,’ said Max, sitting back in his chair. ‘It’s good to have a bit of a breather. What’s up, Kim?’

She laced and unlaced her fingers in front of her. ‘I don’t suppose any of you have heard from Blake at all?’

I shot up straighter in my chair. ‘What is it? What’s wrong? Aren’t he and his climbers back yet?’

Stephanie glanced across the table at me, a knowing look passing across her handsome face.

‘I’ve just received a call from the Craig Brae Book Club. They go on a scheduled ramble with Blake every Monday afternoon at one clock.’ Kim glanced at me. ‘One of the group members has been ringing both Blake’s office number at Rock Solid Ramblings and also his mobile, but he isn’t answering either phone.’ She paused. ‘They were growing concerned, so they thought they would ring here, to see if Blake had returned from his earlier hike or was on the way back.’

An uneasy feeling clawed at me. ‘And he hasn’t returned yet from Ben Linn?’

Kim shook her white-blonde pixie cut. ‘No. I’ve tried ringing him myself, but my calls are just going straight to voicemail on both numbers.’

Her concern was evident. ‘Blake and his two clients haven’t been seen since they set off for Ben Linn first thing this morning.’

Chapter Eighteen

I jumped to my feet.

‘We need to speak to Craig Brae Mountain Rescue. They could be in danger.’

I whirled round to look out of the dining room window.