Clyde and all that metal lying around.”
“Bonnie and Clyde!” Ronan repeated, laughing. “I hadn’t meant that to be their names but it does suit them. We’ll make sure Charlie checks the nest every day and we’ll let the crew know. I’ve got nothing I can’t do later in the week, neither have you. And it might be the kick your mother needs to know you’ve gone away without saying goodbye.”
“I said we’d take them to the ferry,” I replied, weakly because Ronan’s idea was growing on me
“Charlie can do that.”
I looked up at him and smiled. He smiled back down to me. “Okay. Go and get Christine and I’ll pack some things together.”
Christine’s holiday crockery and cutlery wasn’t the same as the personal stuff I had stashed away in a box. Not that it was better, just prettier. It would take half an hour to change the bed, replace the towels and other items, to make it feel like it was ours alone, and while Ronan walked over to the office to get a set of Land Rover keys, I rushed inside.
“Where’s the fire?” Maggie called out.
“We’re going to take Christine for a honeymoon,” I said, excitedly.
“That’s all last minute, isn’t it?” she replied.
“I know, but we’ve got a couple of days, according to Ronan, so we thought we’d sneak off. You’re okay with that, aren’t you?” I asked, worried because it would mean leaving her and Charlie in charge last minute.
“Of course, you silly mare. Now go and pack and I’ll rustle up some food for you.” She waved me off.
The one thing I loved about Maggie was that she could rustle up a meal for ten without blinking. No matter what amount of notice we gave, she had provisions. We had three freezers full of pies, sausage rolls, cakes, all sorts. That was in addition to the two meat freezers. We had long since started to stock our own produce in the campsite shop and it seemed to go down a treat. I recalled a couple of emails asking if we could ship pies. It was something to add to the list of things to do.
I ran up the stairs and into our bedroom. I grabbed a holdall and threw in some summer clothes, then some autumn clothes. I added a couple of waterproofs, just in case. Summer in Scotland didn’t necessarily mean we wouldn’t encounter every season in the same day.
I added toiletries and dragged the overflowing bag back downstairs.
“Made up a picnic and some items for the fridge,” Maggie said, and I saw an overflowing basket by the back door. “You just need to add some wine,” she added.
“I’ll let Ronan do that.”
I sent a quick text to my dad to tell him to contact Charlie when he wanted a lift and explained we were off on our honeymoon. I couldn’t just leave without a word, to him at least. By the time I was outside, Max was already in the Land Rover and the caravan door was open. I placed our holdall just inside and went back for the food. Ronan had moved the holdall to the bedroom and he took the basket from me.
“Bloody hell, how long does she think we’ll be away?” he asked, and I chuckled.
Maggie was an overfeeder. She was an over-everything really. She loved to look after people as if it were her calling. I’d often remarked she could have been a nun in a previous life. She grabbed me for a hug and then dabbed tears from her eyes.
“Maggie, we are going away for a couple of days at most,” Ronan said.
“I know, but it’s lovely. You’re married and you’re off on your honeymoon in Christine,” she replied, sniffing.
I wasn’t sure what was so tear-jerking about that, but I patted her arm as I passed to raid the cellar of wine.
With bottles clanking under my arms, I climbed into Christine. Ronan was checking gas bottles and manly stuff while I secured the booze and food. In one way, it was a shame Christine was so popular among our guests. I’d love to have kept her just for us, but then I wondered if I’d tire of using her. She wasn’t up to long journeys, certainly not travelling to France, for example. She was too old for that. I’d had a romantic notion of taking her while Ronan and I travelled through the wine regions with Max. I sighed.
“Are you ready?” Ronan asked.
“Yep. Now where do we go?” I asked.
Ronan