Harkett's Haven Read Online Free PDF Page B

before that?’
    ‘America... then Sweden.’
    ‘Super cool!’ Esme chipped in, ‘Where in America?’
    ‘The east coast, Connecticut.’
    Rachel felt uneasy speaking about her life before she came here. She knew the man she had left and the lengths he would go to find her. She knew that the less she told anyone here, the less chance, remote as it was, that Tom would find her.
    ‘Why did you come here ?,’ Esme’s question was filled with amazement that she could have left ‘super-cool’ America.
    ‘I had a chance to do a great job and...well....I’m from Scotland and I wanted to come back here.’
    ‘It always rains and it’s quiet and ...and’
    ‘Yeah, I guess there are some drawbacks.’ She laughed. ‘So where did you live before you came to Ariskaig?’
    Eric answer ed quickly, ‘We used to live in London.’
    ‘We came here after Mum di ed. Dad was a surgeon.’
    Eric shifted uncomfort ably in his seat. Rachel changed the subject quickly and started to point out various things of interest along the coast and for the next few minutes they travelled making easy conversation.
    They had reached Larig and Rachel could see her house silhouetted on the skyline. Large drops of rain had started to fall on the windscreen as the dark clouds caught up with and spilled over them.
    ‘It seems like I’ve been gone for ages.’ Rachel pointed to her house for Eric. ‘That’s home. ....there.’
    They travelled the short distance from one end of the bay to the other in silence , the intermittent patter of raindrops becoming a steady thrum.
    The cottage was a small, whitewashed, traditional crofter’s cottage, a world away from the large, luxury modern home that Eric and Esme lived in. It had just two rooms; an open plan kitchen and living room which took up the whole of the ground floor. The bedroom was in the loft, reached by a short ladder staircase. It was modest and cosy and the views of the sea and the beach rivalled that of Eric’s house. It was a place of retreat for Rachel. Somewhere she had found some peace and been able to heal emotionally.
    The car climbed the e wclimbedgentle gradient to get to the cottage and Eric pulled the car up the short gravelled road as close to the stout wooden door of the cottage as he could.
    ‘Well, thanks for the lift.’ Rachel felt awkward. She didn’t particularly want to ask them in to her house, to invade her private space but when she turned to say goodbye she saw Esme’s expectant face. She didn’t have the heart to walk out the car without offering to ask them both in.
    ‘Would you like to pop in for a quick cup of....?’
    ‘Yes please!’ Esme had answered before she had finished her question.
    ‘What can I say....?’ Eric shrugged and smiled, ‘I’d love a drink.’
    They ran from the car, the rain drenched them on the few steps it took them to reach the front door, the wind throwing everything it could at them. Rachel fished her spare key from under a plant pot at the door and let them in. After losing her bag on the beach, she was glad she had kept her spare key hidden at the cottage door for times like this. In a place as remote as Ariskaig, leaving a spare key somewhere around the home was simply practical.
    She crossed the room to the stove in the fireplace and lit a match, watching the dry kindling catch with a pleasing whoosh. She moved round the room, switching on the light on the bookcase and the floor light, the reading lamp and the kitchen under lighters.
    Esme and Eric stood by the door watching her.
    ‘Sorry ..sorry. Please come in and make yourself comfortable although I’d advise keeping your coats on ‘til the stove gets going. Doesn’t take long for the place to warm up.’ She smiled apologetically.
    ‘I love your house Rachel.’ Esme was the first to break the silence.
    ‘ Thanks Esme. I love it too.’ Rachel smiled at her.
    The walls of the cottage were at least two feet thick , the interior whitewashed, like the outside.