‘Hang on, not so fast!’ Avril protested. ‘I’m wearing heels.’
Giselle showed no mercy, only letting go of her when they were safely through the studio door. She locked it behind them and wished there was a blind or something she could draw.
However, without the lights on, it wasn’t easy to see inside, and the window display provided a decent barrier to curious eyes. Giselle didn’t think Rocco would come looking for her, but one never knew. After all, he’d wanted to speak to her alone, and she wasn’t entirely sure why.
‘What happened?’ Avril asked, dropping onto a low stool and easing off a shoe. She massaged her toes with a wince.
‘He’s selling Coorie Castle,’ Giselle blurted.
‘Hetoldyou that?’
She nodded. ‘He said, and I quote, “I have no use for a castle in the backend of nowhere”, or something along those lines.’
She was still in shock and wished she hadn’t taken the glass of whatever it was away from Avril. They could have shared it; she could do with a drink right now. Whisky would be good. Several glasses should do the trick. And it wasn’t just the shock of the castle potentially being sold. The shock of seeing Rocco, and the intense physical reaction she’d felt, had knocked her for six. Every part of her thrummed with remembered desire, and she was thoroughly ashamed for feeling that way on the day of Mhairi’s funeral.
Avril slipped her shoe back on. ‘We kind of expected something like that, though, didn’t we? That whoever inherited the castle might want to sell it. It’s not a total surprise that he does.’
‘It’swhohe’s thinking of selling it to which worries me,’ Giselle said, her gaze flicking to the window and the castle beyond. Still no sign of him. Maybe he’d fallen off the jetty and drowned. It was a nice thought, but they wouldn’t be that lucky.
‘Who?’ Avril demanded.
‘An American.’
‘Which one? There are a good few million of them.’
‘Very funny – not. One with loads of money. One who wants to pretend he’s a “Scottish laird”.’ She mimicked Rocco’s posh English accent. ‘One who wouldn’t want tourists traipsing all over his property. He said that the craft centre will probably close.’
‘What?!’
‘Exactly.’ Giselle slumped into the plastic chair she sat in when she did her paperwork. It was hard and uncomfortable, which might be why she disliked VAT and tax returns so much.
Avril’s mouth was open in shock. Closing it, she said disbelievingly, ‘He isn’t going to sell it as a going concern?’
‘Apparently not.’
‘But the business is doing OK, I think. I mean, Mhairi seemed happy. Not that she ever discussed finances with me, but I never got the impression there was any reason to worry.’
‘The first couple of years were a bit dodgy,’ Giselle reminded her.
‘But that was before the craft centre was properly established,’ Avril replied. ‘It’s a real draw for tourists now.’
‘Yeah, that’s what Rocco doesn’t seem to like.’
‘How well did you know him? Where did you meet? Why haven’t you told me any of this?’ The last bit came out as a wail of indignation.
‘Not well at all. Remember me telling you that I went on holiday to Milan with Izzy and some of her friends when we were nineteen? While they were doing the rounds of the fashion houses, I took the train to Venice. I met Rocco there and we explored the city together.’
And they’d also explored each other. That night was seared into her brain.Well, it would be, wouldn’t it, she thought. A girl does tend to remember her first time, especially when her virginity is taken by an incredibly handsome man in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Nothing since had compared to that experience, which was probably why she was still single. None of the dates she’d been on had been half as romantic as that. Nor the men half as… Charismatic? Sexy? Handsome? It had been a fairy-tale encounter with a gorgeous stranger, full of magic, mystery and lust. For a first sexual experience, a woman couldn’t wish for anything better – unless you added love into the mix. Then it would have been perfect. But it had come pretty close, even without the emotional connection.
Afterwards, Giselle had worried she’d been too hasty, too easy, which was why she hadn’t confided in Izzy. She felt guilty for not telling her sister, but they’d never been joined-at-the-hip twins, and besides, she’d had a kind of feeling that talking about it would diminish it somehow. Then there was the sea glass heart…
‘There’s something you’re not telling me.’ Avril squinted at her accusingly.
Giselle sighed. ‘I slept with him.’
‘Och, I don’t blame you! He’s hot. Unless he wasn’t hot back then, but was weedy and spotty, with a basin haircut and jam-jar glasses.’
Another sigh. ‘He was gorgeous.’ It was her own fault she compared every man who’d ever asked her out to him since, and had found them wanting.I mean, she thought,who could compete with Rocco and the red sea glass heart he gave me?Inadvertently, he and the heart had been the beginning of the start of her adult life. When she’d returned to East Kilbride, she’d had renewed purpose, renewed faith in herself and the determination to follow her dreams.
