Secrets at the Loch (Loch Lannick #5) - Hannah Ellis Page 0,8
“Go on then.”
“I need to do some shopping,” he said when he caught her up. “But the kitchen is in such a state, I’m sure it’s a health hazard. The thought of having food in it isn’t appealing.”
“Have you ordered new stuff?”
“Yeah. The kitchen units should arrive in a couple of weeks.”
“Let’s hope you don’t starve between now and then,” she said as they walked around to the front of the bunkhouse.
“I think I’ll survive. Elspeth’s pretty good at feeding me at the cafe. And if I time my visits right, Christine invites me for dinner.”
“Elspeth and her mum always do like to feed people,” she said, opening the door. Nick followed her into the kitchen and Lexie made a beeline for the fridge. “Hope you like cheese,” she said, staring at the almost-empty shelves.
He took a seat at the table. “I like anything.”
After making plain old cheese sandwiches, she sat opposite him to eat. Both of them wolfed them down in a matter of minutes.
“Do you want another?” she asked as he picked a crumb from the plate and popped it in his mouth.
He smiled and held out his plate. “Yes, please.”
When they’d used up all the cheese and staved off hunger, they walked down to Nick’s house and loaded cleaning supplies into the car.
“Are you sure you don’t mind helping?” Nick asked as they pulled their seatbelts on in unison.
“No, I don’t mind,” she said firmly.
“I feel a bit bad when you get the afternoon off and then––“
“Nick! I said I’ll help. Can you please stop being so annoying? Just drive!”
He stifled a laugh. “Are you going to be this bossy all afternoon?”
“Only if I need to be,” she said, beaming.
Lexie scanned the small living room of the flat before going into the kitchen. The place was small and it didn’t seem to be in too much of a state. She didn’t think it would take too long. Maybe a couple of hours.
“I’ll do the kitchen,” she told Nick. “You get on with the bathroom and bedroom.”
“Okay.”
She noticed his smirk. “I’m not being bossy. I’m just making a plan so we’re efficient. Were you planning on cleaning the windows too?”
He glanced at the kitchen window uncertainly. “Yeah. I think so.”
“You probably should,” she remarked. “Let’s get on and hopefully it won’t take too long.”
After an hour of scrubbing the kitchen, Lexie needed a break and went out to get them coffees. They sat side by side on the floor in the living room to drink them, next to the window with their backs against the wall.
“It’s quite a cute little flat,” she said, taking the lid off the coffee mug to cool the steaming liquid.
“I liked living here,” Nick said, his gaze soft as he looked around the empty room.
“What made you buy the house in Lannick?”
He bent his legs, resting his arms on his knees. “I liked living in Lannick when I stayed with the Mackenzies. There’s a nice feel to the place. Living in Portree is convenient for work, but it also gets a bit annoying living so close. I can’t nip to the shop without bumping into one of my students. It’s nice to feel like my work and homelife are completely separate.”
“I wouldn’t know,” Lexie said.
He gave her a sidelong glance. “True. You must feel as though you never get away from it.”
“Yeah. But I also have the feeling I’m at home even when I’m at work.”
“Even at the activity centre?”
“That feels a bit more like work, but I enjoy it. It’s not like working in an office or something.”
Nick nodded and sipped at his coffee.
“How did you end up teaching?” Lexie asked.
“By accident really.” He pursed his lips, looking thoughtful. “It’s quite a boring story.”
“Well, the choice seems to be your boring story or getting back to cleaning. I’ll take your boring story and put off cleaning for a little while longer.”
He smiled lightly then launched into telling her about studying IT at university, then the jobs he’d had after that. The conversation meandered as Lexie peppered him with questions, which led to random anecdotes about Nick’s life. Finally, the conversation came full circle and he told her about how he’d seen the teaching job advertised at Portree College.
“I didn’t think I stood a chance of getting it. I had no experience of teaching. But they were keen for me to interview anyway. And they offered me the job on the spot.”
“You must have impressed them,” she said with a teasing grin. They’d