She said, ‘He recognised me. We met years ago when I was on holiday in Venice.’
Before she could say anything further, Jinny cried, ‘Ooh!A holiday fling! I don’t blame you, he’s scrummy.’
Avril, bless her, had kept Giselle’s promise, despite her job being on the line as much as anyone’s.
‘Don’t get your knickers in a twist. It wasn’t like that.’ The word ‘fling’ grated a little. It had been far more romantic than a fling. Or so it had seemed at the time. ‘Fling’ just sounded sordid, but she supposed that was precisely what it had been, especially now, with what she knew of the man. Not that she knew a lot, but it was more than she’d known back then.
Jinny continued, ‘You missed a trick there. If I wasn’t happily married…’ She heaved an overly dramatic sigh, then collected herself. ‘You still haven’t said why he wanted to talk to you in private.’
‘Bloody hell. You’re like a dog with a bone,’ Giselle grumbled.
‘Seriously, is everything OK?’
‘Not really. He happened to let slip that he’s planning on selling Coorie Castle.’ Giselle didn’t want Rocco’s plans to come as a surprise to the others, and she doubted whether he’d have the courtesy to tell them himself. He was probably regretting tellingher, because until he actually sold the place, he would no doubt want it to carry on bringing money in. A nice little earner, as Izzy had put it.
Jinny whistled through her teeth. ‘More change, then. Let’s hope someone nice buys it, although there’ll never be another Mhairi.’
‘He mentioned selling it to someone who’d want it as a private home.’
‘They’ll need to have deep pockets,’ Jinny said. ‘Mhairi found that out, which was why she turned the outbuildings into a craft centre and began hosting crafting breaks.’
‘He mentioned an American with Scottish heritage.’
‘He mentioned quite a bit, did your Rocco.’
‘He’s not my Rocco.’
‘Do you think he’s already got a buyer in mind?’ Jinny sounded worried now.
‘I don’t know.’
‘Can you find out?’
‘I doubt it.’
‘Try?Please?Cal is being close lipped, probably because he’s been ordered to be, but the new boss seems to talk to you.’
Giselle stared at her hiking boots and pulled a face. Was there any point in finding out? It wasn’t as though they could do anything about it even if theydidknow. But she owed it to Jinny and the others, so she swapped the boots for ballet flats and declared herself ready for a fish supper with a man she still fancied but wasn’t sure she particularly liked.
Rocco’s car might have been a rental (he’d flown to Inverness, she’dbeen informed, and had driven to Skye from there) but it was atop-of-the-range rental. Not that Giselle knew much about cars, as shesimply wasn’t interested. She’d passed her driving test at eighteen, butshe didn’t own a car (she couldn’t afford to keep it on the road, letalone buy it) and used public transport if she couldn’t walk to whereshe wanted to go.
Rocco arrived on time, bumping the silver saloon over the potholes in the dirt track leading to the bothy. When the vehicle was close enough for her to see his face, she smiled to herself as he winced each time a tyre sank into one of the mini mine shafts.
‘You could have warned me I’d need a tractor,’ he grumbled as she got in.
‘You didn’t give me a chance. Anyway, it’s not that bad.’
His brows rose in disbelief. ‘My spine will never be the same again. How do you stand it? Or do you actually have a tractor?’
‘I walk.’
‘Pardon?’
‘You know, using your legs and putting one foot in front of the other until you arrive at where you want to be.’
‘Is that sarcasm?’
Her smile was forced. ‘I’m never sarcastic,’ she replied sarcastically.
