me once she got back to London. I won’t make a mistake like that again.’
‘Yes, but I don’t think your father will feel I’m the least bit suitable. The keeper’s daughter? For the son of the laird? We’re from two different worlds, you and me.’
He shook his head, his dark eyes alight suddenly, with the strength of his feelings. ‘This war has changed everything. There is only one world now, a world united in this fight. Don’t you see, Flora – the barriers have come down? And it’s made me realise what I really want in life.’ He hesitated, then reached for her hand, his fingers meshing with hers. ‘Who I really want. It’s you, Flora. It has only ever really been you.’
He gathered her close and she pressed her hands against his chest, feeling the warmth of his skin and the beat of his heart through the rough wool of his jersey. And then she raised her lips to his and sealed their promise of a future together with a kiss.
After lunch, they climbed back into the boat and Alec steered a course that hugged the western side of the loch, below the white cottages at Cove where the road became a rough track. They waved to Mrs Kennedy who was pegging her washing on the line in front of her croft house, white sheets billowing like sails in the stiff breeze, and then Alec brought the boat in close to the rock arch so that they could get a look at the nesting gulls whose calls filled the air and whose droppings whitewashed the dark craggy rocks in streaks and splashes.
Finally, as the sun slipped behind the hills of Gairloch and the waters of Loch Ewe began to darken, they turned the boat homewards.
The jetty was deserted as they offloaded their belongings. Alec made the boat fast and then they made their way back to his car. As he stowed everything in the boot, Flora glanced upwards, her attention captured by the sound of tapping from a dormer window on the top floor of the Carmichaels’ house. Following her gaze, Alex grinned and waved at the sight of Stuart and Davy, who had their noses pressed against the glass. With a struggle, Stuart managed to free the catch on the window and push it open.
‘Be careful,’ Flora called. ‘Don’t lean out like that; you might fall.’
‘What are you two rascals up to?’ Alec asked.
‘Nothing much,’ answered Stuart with a shrug. ‘We forgot the time when we were fishing and we didn’t get the digging done, so Mrs C has locked us in our room with no tea. We’re starving, ’cause we didn’t get much lunch neither. Mr C and her are away out now, for a meeting at the kirk. Davy’s been crying,’ he added.
‘You’d be greetin’, too, if your belly was hurting something cruel like mine is,’ his brother retorted. Then he leaned on the windowsill again, craning his neck to get a clearer view of the couple. ‘That ginger beer was awfy good,’ he said wistfully. ‘Is there any left?’
‘Sorry, no. I’m afraid we drank the other bottle. Tell you what, though . . .’ Alec rummaged in the hamper. ‘There’s a corned beef sandwich here, and a hard-boiled egg. We just need to find a way to get them up to you.’
‘Wait a sec,’ shouted Stuart, excited now. ‘I’ve got my fishing line here.’
A minute later, the line descended and Alec was able to catch the end without snagging himself on it. He wound the line around the neck of a paper bag containing the remnants of their picnic and secured it with the hook. ‘Easy does it! Wind it in slowly, that’s it.’
Triumphantly, the boys hauled in their catch with a cheer.
‘Don’t you go telling on us now,’ laughed Alec. ‘I wouldn’t want to have Mrs Carmichael after me.’
‘And just you remember to make sure you do as she says next time, boys,’ Flora warned.
‘We will, I promise. And we’ll not say a word. Thanks, Miss Flora, and Miss Flora’s sweetheart. You’ve saved us from proper starvation,’ Stuart called back.
‘His name’s Alec,’ she told him, smiling.
As they pulled away, Alec remarked, ‘So I’m officially Miss Flora’s sweetheart now, am I? Well, this certainly has been a red-letter day, despite the best efforts of Signalman Gordon.’
By way of a reply, she rested her head on his shoulder and he drove her back to Keeper’s Cottage in contented silence.
Lexie, 1978
Daisy enjoys herself thoroughly at Elspeth’s when