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‘I’m not sure I can wait until we get wherever we’re going.’ She rested her temple on his chest.
‘Wait for what?’
‘To have all of you.’
‘Well, you’ll have to. Let’s get out of the harbour. We don’t want to rock the boat this close to home.’
‘Is that a pun?’
He settled himself at the helm. ‘You’ll see.’
Rhona lounged on one of the sofa benches and flicked him a wink and a smile. ‘Then show me what you’re made of.’
‘Let’s just go slow.’
‘I meant with the boat.’
‘So did I. What else could you possibly mean?’ With a smirk, he pulled the tiller and began manoeuvring the boat from the marina.
Chapter 15
Rhona
Rhona’s gaze bobbed between Calum and the view. In all her years living on Mull as a youngster, she’d never been on a boat from Tobermory and seeing the island from this point of view was new and interesting. But admiring Calum was better. Her gaze strayed his way. ‘Where are you taking me?’
‘You told me once, the sea opens up the islands, like it did for your ancestry people.’
Rhona smirked. He’d actually listened to her!
‘We could follow their footsteps or boat paths or whatever.’ He pushed a button on the digital console in front of him. ‘Skirt around the north coast of Mull and out to the Treshnish Isles or we could go straight ahead and cross over to the north tip of Coll.’
‘Really? Could we do that? I’ve never been there.’
‘Sure. It’s a brilliant cruise. You’ll love it. It’ll take a couple of hours.’
‘Plenty of time to chat then.’ She cast him a look. ‘And for me to find out all about you.’
His lips curled and he gave a brief headshake. ‘Ok. If that’s what you want. Or you could take yourself on a tour.’
‘Wait until we’re away from the land. I’m enjoying seeing places from a different perspective. It brings it home how things worked in the past. For people with boating skills, it was easier getting to Coll on a boat than getting to the other side of the island on foot when there were no roads.’
‘Yup, we’re living your dream.’
Had the people who lived at Kilnarkie in ancient times arrived in boats from somewhere else? Or were they born on the island to a family who’d lived there through generations? Her romantic ideas kicked in, clashing with cold facts. She wanted to see goodness and cheer in what must have been a harsh and unforgiving life. ‘In the Iron Age you and I would have been considered old and wise by now.’
‘Yeah?’
‘The life expectancy wasn’t much over forty, though if you survived infancy, you were in with a fighting chance, but yes, we could be experienced elders by now.’
‘And if our families fell out back then, I suppose we’d have gone round their doors and murdered the lot of them.’
‘Possibly. Or I’d have been sold to you as a peace offering.’
‘Sounds dreadful.’
‘I was joking. Though no one knows for sure. Most women probably had their first child around fifteen or sixteen. It was about survival. The sooner they reproduced, the better. I could be almost a grandmother by now.’
‘And this is a life you want to relive?’
