Although Adira had been pleased to hear from Rory, she’d rather it be Jasper who had sent her a text. Why had her message come back undelivered? Maybe it was the signal? She got the text back up on her phone and tried to send it again. Within a few moments, the same word appeared, ‘undelivered.’ She frowned, not knowing why the message wouldn’t go through, when he had managed to send her one. An unnerving thought began to simmer, making her feel a little queasy. Was he deliberately avoiding her? Had he changed his mind about keeping in touch? Her eyes prickled with tears.
Trying to stay focused, Adira finished her coffee and thought about where to stay next. Tomorrow she would be leaving Dalbeattie. Having enjoyed Drumlanrig Castle so much, she thought of Edinburgh and the impressive castle there. She tried to whip up eagerness for her trip, but a sadness hovered over her. Wanting to hear a friendly voice, she rang her gran.
‘Hello, you,’ Edie answered. ‘How’s it going?’
‘Fine. I’ve left Lancashire and now I’m in Dumfries.’
‘Oh, left Lilacwell then?’ she laughed. It had tickled Edie that her wanderlust granddaughter had stayed so long in the same place.
‘Thinking of going to Edinburgh next.’
‘Lovely, Edinburgh’s a wonderful city,’ enthused Edie wistfully, reminiscing on a visit there from long ago. ‘Your handsome laird might be there, waiting for you,’ she teased.
‘Hmm, maybe,’ Adira replied flatly.
‘Unless he’s in Lilacwell,’ Edie added softly.
Adira stalled. Typical of Gran to be so perceptive. She always was one move ahead.
‘Anyway, I’ll be in touch,’ Adira tried to sound casual. Then asked, ‘Have you looked for those certificates, Gran?’
‘I’ve asked your dad to get the box of papers from the loft. I’ll start searching as soon as he’s done that. Safe trip, Adira.’
‘Bye.’ Adira hung up and stared out of the window, still feeling a bit flat. She decided to ring Cassie and see how she was doing.
‘Hi!’ Cassie sounded pleased to hear from her.
‘Hi, Cass, how’s it going?’
‘Everything ticking along as normal, besides missing you, obvs.’
Adira was touched. ‘The Bath House doing OK?’
‘Yeah, great, getting lots of bookings.’
‘That’s good to hear, your hard work is paying off.’
‘And yours! Where are you at the moment?’
‘Dumfries, heading to Edinburgh tomorrow.’
‘Ah right, I’ll let Fletcher know. I’m sure he’ll be interested.’
Adira’s chin wobbled a little. Then she couldn’t help but ask, ‘How is he?’
‘Oh, he’s fine, missing Jasper though.’Aren’t we all?she thought dully. ‘But apparently he’s handed in his notice and his company were fine about it, so Fletcher was telling me.’
‘Oh, right.’ So Jasper had made contact with Fletcher, but not her. That queasy sensation flared up inside Adira. Suddenly wanting to end the call, she tried to sound as cheery as possible, ‘I’ll let you get back to the madhouse then, speak soon.’
‘Yeah, thanks for ringing, bye.’
Adira took a deep breath. Her mind was spinning with all kinds of scenarios as to why she had only received one short text from Jasper. He’d filled Fletcher in on his resignation, didn’t she deserve to be kept in the loop? Clearly not.
Chapter 34
Fletcher waited patiently in the doctor’s surgery. So far, so good. He’d been given a warm welcome and directed to the comfy chairs in the waiting room, which wasn’t too busy. There would be nothing worse than sitting next to somebody coughing or spluttering all over him, spreading all kinds of unknown germs. So, he opted for the single seat directly under the open window, where no one could get near him. He had a quick look round at the new mum with her baby, the teenage boy and a middle-aged woman. He was definitely the oldest here, which depressed him slightly.
He didn’t have to wait long before he was called to go through to the doctor. To his utter surprise, a young woman was sat behind the desk smiling up at him.
