Page 84 of The Next Chapter

Seb rolls his eyes.

‘We’re talking about FaceTiming your cat like it’s a totally normal thing to do now, are we? I know you’re dodging talking about you and Noah.’

I look around again, checking that he’s not about to appear. He’d said this morning that he was going to repair the fence around the other side of the hotel, the side by the loch. It’s on the business plan I drew up when I’d had a spare couple of hours at 2am ten days ago. But knowing my luck, he’s absolutely going to emerge any second now, declaring that he heard the whole thing.

I drop my voice to an angry whisper.

‘There is no me and Noah…’

Seb levels me a look.

‘Wow, you are stubborn.’

‘I’m not! I’m realistic. There’s no future me and Noah. There can’t be. Even if he takes this job which means he’s home some of the time, he’s still some free-spirited wildling and I’m…’

‘Anally uptight?’

‘I was going to say “me”, but thank you, for filling in the blanks in such a positive and life-affirming way.’

‘My pleasure. But let’s circle back to the thing you said about Noah potentially staying here.’

‘It’s nothing,’ I say, still hunched over my laptop to whisper. ‘He just mentioned that he had the chance to go for a position which would mean shorter trips and more time in the UK. He’s not sure whether to take it and I’m not going to try to sway him either way. Even if we did give in to this thing and have a summer fling, everyone knows that summer flings don’t last. The key is in the title – summer, as in, over by autumn.’

‘But you like the guy, right?’

I think about Noah. How at first, I’d thought he was just nice to look at. And he is, don’t get me wrong. The man doesn’t have a bad angle. But that was shallow. I was shallow. Because there’s a lot more to him than that. He’s sexy, sure, but he’s thoughtful and kind too. Like the fact that when I went to top up Harper’s Pringle stash from the hotel shop I couldn’t because Noah had already bought them all.

Sigh.

‘You get that I’m still here, right? Your tongue is lolling out of your head.’

‘It is not lolling. But please, it really doesn’t matter whether I like Noah or not.’

Seb lets out a groan. ‘See, admit it, you’re incredibly stubborn.’

I’m outraged! Or vaguely irate at least. ‘I am not stubborn!’

‘At least admit that you like the guy.’

‘Fine, I like him.’ My voice is getting louder and louder. ‘I’m madly in love. I’m obsessed. I want him to wife me up right now. There, are you happy?’

Movement in the corner of my eye causes my head to snap up.

‘I’d just come to see if you had any Pringles, but I’ll, er, come back later.’ Harper is smirking at me.

Is there no privacy to be had on the Isle of Skye?

‘Yes, that would be great, Harper, if you don’t mind. I’m just on an important work call.’

I can hear Seb laughing through my laptop, but I feel like it’s important to maintain eye contact with Harper. Like you’re meant to if you come face to face with a bear. I link my fingers together on the table and smile at her, hoping that she isn’t about to run back to her foster parents and tell them that some crazed maniac is living in one of the hotel cottages.

‘See you later.’ She’s still smirking as she turns to leave.

‘Oh my god.’ I wait a couple more minutes until I’m sure that Harper has gone before I scuttle off inside, back to angry whispering. ‘Why is it that every time I talk to you something bad happens?’

‘Can’t answer that for you, babe.’

‘What if she tells Noah that I’m in love with him? When I’m not, I’m not!’ My voice is getting higher and higher.