Page 65 of A Scottish Island Summer

Iona’s bitter expression relaxed. ‘Oh. Er. OK. I’ll pull together some proposals and we can take it from there.’

She bustled back behind the counter, snatched up a notebook and began scribbling in it with relish. She looked up from her notes and waggled her pen. ‘Perhaps we could have a singing dinosaur stationed outside the shop.’

Logan cringed. I snatched his arm and tugged him away before he said something rude.

I waved at her. ‘Bye, Iona. See you soon.’

No sooner had we reached the street outside Rock God, than Logan let out a howl of frustration. ‘See what you’ve done? You’ve created a monster! Singing bloody dinosaurs? Over my dead body!’

I tried not to laugh. ‘She thinks she’s helping.’

He let out a grunt. ‘Making me a laughing stock in Portree, more like.’

‘Just wait and see what she comes up with. You might be pleasantly surprised.’

‘I won’t hold my breath.’ Logan rubbed his forehead in frustration.

As Logan moved to unlock his truck, I remembered yesterday morning’s boat trip with Robbie. ‘Oh, sorry, Logan. Hold on a sec.’

I darted back into his shop.

Iona jerked her head up from her notebook. ‘Hi again. Everything OK?’

‘I think I might’ve left my phone here on the counter?’

Iona cast her eyes around. ‘No, it doesn’t look like you did. Where did you last have it?’

At that moment, my phone, stuffed in the back pocket of my jeans, let out an indignant message ping. I slapped my forehead in a dramatic fashion. ‘Silly me! Sorry, Iona. I’ve got it on me. Must’ve forgot.’

I hovered for a second. ‘Did Logan tell you we had a boat trip out with Robbie yesterday?’

‘Aye. He did.’

I nodded, scrambling for the right words. ‘He’s a nice guy, Robbie. Attractive too.’

Iona set her pen down and propped her pointed chin on her hand. ‘He is.’ Her face carried a faraway look. ‘I’ve always thought so. He’s got a great sense of humour too.’ She realised I was watching her and snatched up her pen and straightened her back. ‘He’s never given me so much as a second glance though.’ She flicked her hair away from her face. ‘Not that I’m bothered though.’

Yeah, right.

I hesitated. ‘He seems rather keen on you. Robbie, that is.’

Iona jerked her head up from her notes. ‘Are you joking? He barely talks to me.’

I shook my head. ‘I’m not joking. Logan said the same. Apparently, Robbie’s carried a torch for you for years, but he’s been too shy to do anything about it.’

Iona snorted with derision but stopped when she saw my expression.

She fell quiet. ‘Aye. Well. After what happened with my marriage, I’m off men.’ But her face was flushed as she said it.

From outside, Logan blasted his horn.

‘Sorry, better go. More mud to walk through and muscles to pull with your impatient brother.’

Iona waved and called after me. ‘Have a great time with Indiana Jones. Maybe you could talk some sense into him about trying to promote this place?’

‘You too. I’ll do my best.’

‘What were you talking to Iona about just now? Not more ideas about PR for the shop, I hope?’ Logan asked from behind the steering wheel, as I jumped in beside him. He shoved a hand through his hair. ‘I’ll be coming back to circus performers, mime artists and dancing girls.’ His mouth twitched. ‘Mind you, I might not object to the dancing girls so much.’

I offered him a withering look. ‘I’m sure you wouldn’t.’ I shrugged. ‘I thought I’d left my phone in the shop, but it turned out I had it on me.’

Logan gave me an odd look. ‘OK. Not like you to misplace that. You’re permanently attached to the thing.’

I gazed out of my passenger side window. At least I’d planted a seed in Iona’s mind about Robbie.

Logan flicked his truck into first gear. ‘Let’s drop you back at The Gorse. Then I thought we could meet up again later. I need to show you more of Skye for your book.’

But there was a sudden, distant look in Logan’s eyes, which made me think he wasn’t about to drop his idea for tracking down Campbell Adams any time soon.