Some Like It Kilted by Allie MacKay

Author:Allie MacKay [MacKay, Allie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fantasy, Romance
ISBN: 9780451228932
Publisher: Signet
Published: 2009-12-22T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

The mist was swirling thicker than ever when Mindy finally drove off the CalMac ferry at Barra’s Castlebay pier. In fact, the mist—no, sea haar—was so impenetrable that she hadn’t even been able to catch a glimpse of Bran’s stony islet as the ferry passed the castle site on its way to the dock. Lights did flicker dimly along the town’s waterfront, but whether the yellow-glowing pinpricks belonged to cottages, shops, or even a fleet of fishing boats was something she just couldn’t tell at this point.

She did know that everyone leaving the ferry seemed to be going to the same place.

And when she considered how small Barra was, and the very explicit directions she’d received, it appeared as if that place was her destination.

The Hebridean House Hotel.

A family-run, four-star country-house hotel only a few minutes above the main village of Castlebay. According to Mindy’s source—a Scotland-loving airline friend who, unlike Margo, had actually been to Scotland and even made frequent return visits—Hebridean House was the best place to stay on Barra.

The rooms were spacious and comfortable, fireplaces were kept lit, the food was excellent, and the views divine, or so Mindy’s ex-colleague enthused. There was also a pub with great real ale where locals often held impromptu music sessions.

Best of all, the bathrooms were modern and, Mindy had been assured, she wouldn’t have to worry about learning how to operate fiddly showers that were next to impossible to get just the right temperature.

She’d fall in love with Hebridean House.

But now, as she inched her way through the cold, wet night, following a long string of red taillights through the tiny seaside village and up the hill to the large and rambling hotel, she had serious doubts.

With the exception of ghosts, Mindy had expected Barra to be a wild and empty place. The kind of grandiose nowhere that looks haunting in oil paintings, but where, in real life, she’d find nothing stirring but the ripple of wind on the sea, and, maybe, the occasional bark of a dog.

Far from it, the isle struck her as the Grand Central Station of the Hebrides.

Barra hopped with activity.

And she hadn’t been mistaken. Everyone was headed to her hotel.

Mindy shuddered and gripped the steering wheel tighter. At least she doubted Silvanus, Roderick, Geordie, and the others would abandon their galley to waylay her in the lobby of an overcrowded Victorian-era country-house hotel. She hadn’t seen them since the ferry had slowed its engines and made for the Castlebay pier.

Bran was a huge question mark.

She couldn’t be sure, but she might have caught glimpses of a huge, shaggy dog loping alongside the road next to her slow-moving rental car.

If so, the dog could be Gibbie.

She narrowed her eyes and tried to peer deeper into the rolling mist. She’d almost swear that when the fog thinned a bit in places, she’d spotted the large, burly figure of a man walking swiftly a few yards behind the dog. Even more telling, she’d also seen at least

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.