Secrets at the Loch (Loch Lannick #5) - Hannah Ellis Page 0,4
who liked their outdoor pursuits. With winter approaching, things were tailing off.
Lexie was working on the fourth cabin, taking the bin bag to the patio, when a familiar voice called out to her.
“Hi,” she replied to Nick. “Are you here for kayaking?”
“Yep.”
Lexie groaned. She still had one more cabin to clean. “Are you early?”
“Aye. A bit. Why?”
She pulled her phone from her pocket and checked the time. “I need to hurry up.”
“Do you want a hand?” he asked as she turned to go back inside.
“Erm …” Lexie glanced around. She’d get in trouble for roping Nick in to help, but she was also going to be in trouble for not cleaning the cabins on time.
“I don’t mind,” he said, walking over to her. “What do you want me to do?”
“Could you vacuum in here?” she asked in a panic. “Then I can get started on the next cabin.”
“Sure.” He shrugged and walked past her.
“The vacuum cleaner’s in the hall,” Lexie called after him. “Thank you!”
She picked up speed to clean the final cabin and was just making up the beds when Nick appeared.
“Do you want me to do this one too?” he asked, lugging the vacuum in.
“Yes, please,” she called out. The noise grated on her, but at least she managed to get everything done with Nick’s help.
“Thank you,” she said as they walked outside together. She loaded the vacuum cleaner and her bucket of cleaning supplies onto the wooden trolley and set off with Nick to the main building. “Would you mind not telling anyone you helped?” she asked sheepishly. “I was late to work and then I was really slow.”
“My lips are sealed.” He smiled. “No offence, but you really don’t look well.”
“I feel terrible.” All she wanted to do was sleep. The kayaking would be a nightmare. “Thanks again,” she said as they reached the activity centre. Lexie left Nick and headed around the back of the building to put the cleaning supplies away. When she went into the foyer, several people were standing around, waiting for the kayaking session. She wandered over to Damian, the instructor, who stood with a clipboard in his hand.
“We’re just waiting on a few more,” he told her in his friendly New Zealand lilt. “There’s a family with a couple of teenagers.” He nodded in their direction. “Maybe you could stay close to them.”
“Sure.” She hoped they weren’t too incompetent or rowdy. Damian was a certified instructor, so he ran the session. Lexie’s job was to support him and help keep an eye on the group, giving extra tips and guidance to anyone who needed it. The group was reasonably small – just eight signed up – so hopefully she could float around the edge of them without having to do much. In a few hours she’d be curled up in bed.
“Here,” Nick said, when Damian went to chat to the family waiting for the kayaking session. He held out a packet of crisps.
She flashed him a grateful smile. “I don’t think I can eat.”
“The salt will help,” he said, thrusting the packet at her. “Just eat a few.”
She opened it and realised she was ravenous as soon as she put one in her mouth.
“Sugar will do you good too,” Nick said, handing her a bottle of Coke when she screwed up the empty crisp packet.
She’d taken a few gulps when Damian called out to her and tipped his head to beckon her over.
“Thanks!” she said to Nick, handing the bottle back with a satisfied sigh.
Damian beamed as she approached. “This is Jessica and Ryan,” he said, indicating the teenagers waiting eagerly to get on the water. “Can you kit them out with wetsuits and floatation vests, then we’ll make a start.”
Lexie introduced herself to the family, then asked them to follow her to the changing area. She found wetsuits for them all and told them to give her a shout if they needed help getting into them.
Moving on autopilot, she got changed too. Out on the water, they spent some time going over basic skills before venturing further around the loch. It turned out everyone was at least an intermediate level. The younger members were as competent as anyone else in the group. It made Lexie’s job easy, as did the fact that everyone was polite and followed Damian’s instructions.
“You’re looking a bit perkier,” Nick said, paddling over to her when they paused to look at a couple of seals lying on the rocks.