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Brenda fidgeted her hands like she might sweep us all inside if we didn’t hurry. “Let’s get you into your rooms so you can settle in after your drive.”
We followed her into the lodge, my greedy eyes scanning everything around me for potential photo ops.
She trundled up an ornate wooden staircase in the main entryway. “To the right is our dining room where we serve full breakfast and supper. To the left is the sitting room where you can relax after your adventures of the day.”
Her lilting Scottish accent and kind, smiling face had me totally smitten already. She gave us a quick tour of the house, but it seemed pretty self-explanatory. At the top of the stairs, she handed out keys to the rooms while Lewis ticked off notes on his clipboard.
“We have a nice tea waiting for you in the dining room as soon as you’re ready,” she said.
“Take a rest, have a bite to eat, and then we’ll set out on an easy hill walk to get you warmed up,” Lewis called down the hallway.
As the two single women, Harlow and I had been paired up by default. Our room held two twin beds, and she dumped her bags next to the closest one. I dragged my things to the second bed but stopped to stare out the window overlooking the valley. I could see part of the town and river, and nothing but green hills beyond that.
My cheeks already ached from all this smiling.
Harlow collapsed onto her bed, burrowing her face into the pillow. I eyed mine, too, but if I laid down now, I probably wouldn’t wake up again before supper, and missing any activity was out of the question.
I wandered downstairs to the sitting room and found a large fireplace set in one wall with a stag head mounted over the mantel. Three plush sofas surrounded the fireplace, each decked out in worn tartan, and a small set of shelves held well-loved books. It defeated the purpose of an adventure tour, but I could have stayed in this cozy room all afternoon.
Rupert, Duncan, and Carlos were already in the dining room when I walked in. Brenda and Ian bustled in with serving trays covered in scones, sandwiches, and fruit. Even though she’d said they only served breakfast and supper, they were sure going all-out for this welcome.
I poured a cup of coffee and heaped butter and jam on a scone before settling onto a chair at one of the tables. The men had been standing around picking at food, but as soon as I sat down, Rupert pulled out the chair across from me, and the rest followed suit.
“You don’t mind if we join you, do you?” he asked.
“Not at all.”
“The other young woman, ah, Harlow? Is she coming down?” Rupert spread a big dollop of cream over his scone.
“I think she’s asleep.”
“You’re not affected by the jet lag, eh?” Carlos’s wide smiles and unbroken eye contact said he didn’t lack for confidence with strangers.
“I’m only awake out of sheer excitement. I’ll probably pass out later.” My body wilted with a vague sense of exhaustion more than actual sleepiness. I would fight it off for a few more hours before I allowed myself to fade into unconsciousness.
“Your first trip across the pond?” Rupert asked.
“My very first.”
My phone buzzed in my jacket pocket. I slipped it out and glanced at the screen.
Could you sigh with your whole body? Good grief, I’d only just arrived. I already regretted signing up for my cell phone company’s international plan.
“Excuse me.” I left the table and walked into the empty sitting room before answering my boss’s call.
“Molly, are you there already?” Lincoln’s casual tone contradicted what amounted to a six a.m. phone call for him. The CEO and founder of website design firm JBQ, he had a lazy air about him completely at odds with his industrial strength case of workaholism.
Not that I had a lot of room to throw stones.
“I’m here,” I intoned, knowing zero chances existed my boss had called just to check if my flights had gone well. Calling me first thing in the morning always meant he was about to ruin my afternoon.
“Great. Look, I’ve got some questions about one of the storyboards you left behind. I’m going to forward those on to you, I’ll need you to get to it as soon as you can.”
I glanced up at the ceiling as though I could see my carry-on bag perched on my bed. I’d brought my laptop “just in case.” In theory, we would have Wi-Fi at every lodge, but that didn’t mean I wanted to test it immediately. “I just got here.”
The sound of him clacking away on his computer rattled through the phone. I suspected he’d bought the most obnoxious keyboard he could find so everyone in the office would know when he was working. And he wasalwaysworking.
“I’m regretting that I agreed to your vacation request so easily.”
