Page 17 of A Fresh Start on Crumcarey
‘You’re taking the bed,’ he said firmly. ‘Either that, or you can walk home!’
He hadn’t meant the last bit of course, and the storm seemed to be in on the joke as it chose that moment to grab hold of the front door and give it a good rattle.
‘The bed sounds perfect!’ said Maggie quickly, letting out an easy laugh.
Less than twenty minutes later, they both carried heaped bowls of slightly sloppy stir fry and rice over to the kitchen table. Maggie let out a sigh of relief as she finally sat down.
‘Cheers!’ she said, raising a forkful of food in his direction instead of her glass. ‘Thanks for coming to my rescue.’
‘Cheers!’ said Luke, mirroring her and then stuffing the forkful into his face before he could say anything cheesy and spoil the moment.
CHAPTER 9
MAGGIE
The meal was unexpectedly delicious, especially considering she’d rather winged the sauce. It was a bit like a cross between stir-fry and soup… but the rice did a lovely job of soaking up all the juice. In fact, Maggie might even go so far as to say that she was enjoying it more than her much-anticipated curry… though she had a feeling that might have more to do with the sparkling company than anything else.
So far, their conversation had flowed easily – which was a bit of a wonder, considering she’d only met the man that morning. Whenever the topic strayed a bit close to something that made her fidget, Luke promptly headed it off in another direction without so much as a pause.
It didn’t take long before Maggie felt completely relaxed… a miracle considering she’d appeared on his doorstep looking like a drowned rat less than an hour ago.
‘So… what brought you to the island?’ said Maggie, mopping up the last of her sauce with a crust of bread. ‘Were you brought up here?’
Luke shook his head, sitting back in his chair and shooting a mournful glance at his empty bowl. ‘No, I wasn’t born here,but I do feel a bit like an honorary member of the community. I love Crumcarey… always have. It feels like coming home. The beginning of the summer was my favourite time of year when I was a kid. I’d travel up to stay with Uncle Harris… and I never wanted to go back down south at the end of the holidays.’
‘I can imagine,’ said Maggie with a smile. ‘This place must be magical when you’re little.’
‘Lots of freedom,’ said Luke with a nod. ‘Everyone looks out for the bairns up here.’
‘I like that,’ said Maggie. ‘And as an adult…?’
‘I still love visiting Uncle Harris,’ he laughed. ‘Sometimes for longer, sometimes for shorter. I crewed the ferry one summer when I was in my twenties. Another year, I worked with Mr McCluskey on his fishing boat.’
‘Anna’s dad?’ said Maggie. ‘Who lives with Ray?’
‘That’s the one,’ said Luke. ‘You know… his boat was called Maggie too!’
Maggie grinned. She wasn’t sure what to say to that. ‘So, is this a longer visit or one of the shorter ones?’
‘Not sure yet,’ said Luke with an easy smile. ‘My uncle’s not getting any younger though, and I want to spend some time with him before I head off. I’m not sure what I’ll do when the winter sets in… but I guess I’ll figure that out when it gets here!’
Maggie nodded, doing her best to ignore the tiny squirm of discomfort at the idea of her new friend leaving the island so soon. How ridiculous could she get? After all… she’d only met him that morning!
Doing her best to shrug off the strange, mournful feeling, Maggie sat back in her chair and let out a sigh. The room was warm and cosy, and even though the rain was still beating on the roof and windows, the wind had eased off a tiny bit. She was full and snuggly, and her tiredness felt like it was draped around her shoulders like a blanket.
‘Your turn,’ said Luke. ‘What brought you to Crumcarey?’
‘You mean why am I living at the edge of the world in little more than a chicken shed?’ she said with a yawn.
‘You said it, not me!’ he chuckled.
Maybe it was the warmth or the wine or the fact that she didn’t really know Luke… but there didn’t seem any point innottelling him the truth. She’d not really told anyone the full story before - mainly because she hadn’t wanted to be judged by the locals. Stupid, really, considering they probably knew all the sordid details anyway. Nothing much escaped the Crumcarey gossip mill.
Maggie sighed again. She’d been silent for long enough. It was time to get it off her chest… she just hoped she could do it without sounding too bitter and twisted about the whole thing. After all, it wasn’t Russell’s fault. Not entirely, anyway!
‘Well… we bought the cottage without viewing it first,’ she said. It was hard to know where to start, but that was probably the most obvious place. Plus, it was the detail she was most worried about being judged for.
‘Wow – that was brave!’ said Luke, raising an eyebrow.
