Rhona Boyle stood
at the gate looking up at the extremely old building that had been in her
family for over two centuries and felt a lump form in her throat. The last time
she stood at this gate and walked down that little path, she was heading to the
big city and to a new life, but now? As she lifted the latch and let the gate
swing open, her heart felt heavy and she let the sadness she was keeping inside
of her all through the long journey home out into the open. No tears, she would
not cry as she walked up the path with concrete feet, dragging one in front of
the other with difficulty. She would not shed a tear; she would enter that
building with her head held high, with dignity and with dry eyes!
It was a
difficult few minutes up to the car park as she spotted the familiar,
comforting figure standing in the huge doorway. The soothing and deep voice
called softly to her "Hullo ma darlin', welcome hame!" and the tears
broke through her barrier of strength as she dropped her bags and fell into her
father's giant arms.
"Daddy!"
she cried as he squeezed her tenderly. He was a powerful man of sixty two, his
balding head once sported a shock of carrot red hair but his hair and his beard
were greyer these days than they used to be. Although he wasn't particularly
tall, Hamish Boyle was a big man, powerful, he could lift one end of a tractor
with ease and he was once the caber tossing champion of the county. He could
easily crush his daughter but there was a softer side to him as well, and this
side was threatening to come out as he held her protectively. His only
daughter! Returning home to the bosom of her family, twenty eight years of age
and feeling as if her life was over. Hamish knew it had only just begun, but
convincing Rhona of that at this moment in her life was going to be impossible!
"Come inside
hen, yer mammy's dyin' tae see ye!" Hamish put a protective arm around her
and guided her into the foyer.
It had been at
least a year since she last stepped foot in her family's hotel. A huge mansion,
typically Scottish in every way, that housed the Laird and his wife over two
hundred years ago and was handed down the generations until Rhona's grandfather
converted it into a tourist spot and hotel in the 1960's. His father before him
had conducted tours around the big house where the Boyle family had lived all
this time. The house was so big that when Rhona was little and she would play
hide and seek with her older brother Lachlan, it took her hours to find him!
His hiding places were always so hard to locate. The lobby was unchanged, the
same brick walls with coats of arms and crests hanging on them, tapestries and
portraits of past Lairds. As she breathed in that familiar smell of old
building and fresh baking, she heard her mother's excited squeals as she came
breezing out from the reception desk.
"Ohhhhhh!!!"
Annie Boyle exclaimed, arms outstretched and running towards her. "Rhona
ma darlin'!!!" As she threw her arms around her daughter she squealed even
more in her ear. Letting go of her and holding her at arm’s length she frowned
and shook her head. "Yer awfy thin!" she sighed, looking her up and
down.
"No mum I'm
really not!" Rhona replied impatiently as another familiar voice called to
her.
"Ho
shorty!!!" the masculine voice boomed around the very large foyer. Her big
brother came towards her much like her mother did with his arms wide open for a
massive hug!
"Hi-ya
Lachie!" she giggled and fell into his embrace.
"Couldnae
keep away eh?" he chuckled and squeezed her tightly, almost choking her. "Av
a mind tae go up there and gi em a piece a ma mind, and ma fist!" Lachie
growled and rubbed her back affectionately.
"And what
would that achieve?" Rhona mumbled into his huge chest, Lachie was just as
big as his father but he was tall with it too. His messy brown hair fell into
his eyes as he let his sister breathe and swept it away with a huge paw.
After settling
into her old room, which remained unchanged since she left for the bright
lights of Glasgow, Rhona headed down to catch up with her family and the staff
she hadn't seen for a long time. Mary and Agnes, the cook and her assistant,
were exactly the same as when she left too. Still griping at one another but
with love and affection. They were sisters, cousins of Rhona's father, but they
could not look any more different! Mary was the older sister with greying short
hair and an old fashioned sense of everything around her. Agnes on the other
hand was red haired like her cousin and always made an effort with her
appearance, her long hair was tied up in the kitchen but when she finished work
she let it hang down around her shoulders and it made her brown eyes sparkle.
Mary had never been married and had worked at the hotel since she was sixteen;
she was now in her late sixties and showed no sign of slowing down or retiring.
Her cooking was famous all over the county and the hotel was busy at meal times
with locals alone never mind guests staying there. Agnes was widowed, her
husband passed away many years ago, he was only thirty two. Kenny Douglas was a
farmer; much like the Boyles his family had run their farm for generations. He
died during the storm of 1977 while trying to move a fallen tree from the main
road with his tractor. Another tree collapsed on top of him and he was killed
instantly. He and Agnes were expecting Fergus at the time, he was born two
months after his father died and when he was old enough, he took over the
running of the farm. Fergus now had a wife and two sons of his own while Agnes
moved in to the hotel with her sister fifteen years ago and never left.
As Rhona entered
the giant kitchen and smiled, Agnes gasped and clapped her hands. "Wee
Rhona!" she declared to her sister who was bending over into the oven.
"Whit?"
Mary muttered as she brought out a delicious smelling steak pie.
"Wee Rhona's
here Mary!"
"Awww, wee
Rhona???" It was comical, Mary was deaf in one ear and Agnes had a very
whispery voice. As Rhona embraced them both and said hello, Mary began hacking
away at the steak pie. "Yer havin' a piece a this, yer rake thin
hen!" Rhona rolled her eyes; everyone was saying that these days!
"No Auntie
Mary I'm fine!" she tried to laugh but the comments about her weight were
beginning to worry her. Was she really that thin? Agnes seemed to know what she
was thinking and said with a sympathetic voice,
"Aye, yer a
wee bitty too thin darlin'! But dinnae mind that, Auntie Mary will soon huv ye
back tae yer wee curvy self!"
"Aye a will
that!" Mary piped up as she slapped a great big piece of pie onto a plate
and began muttering to herself, "Just a hawndfa a tatties and some neeps
tae colour the plate..."
"Auntie
Mary..." Rhona began, but realised that for the first time since she left
Glasgow, she actually was very hungry! As she wolfed down the amazing food and
listened to all the stories her Aunts had to tell her, she realised that the
past year and a half had been a waste of time! Why had she ever left? And why
did she think that coming back was such a huge disaster?
Next stop for
Rhona was the laundry room. Terry, Hannah and Elspeth were there getting the
sheets and towels ready for the morning. "Rhona?" Elspeth was pleased
to see her old friend and greeted her with a hug much like everyone else had
since she arrived. Terry blushed and gave her a brief cuddle before returning
to his work, he had always liked Rhona and when she left he was heartbroken.
"How are you
holding up?" Hannah cocked her head to the side and looked at her
sympathetically.
"I'm fine
Hannah, truly I am!"
"That's
good, he's an arse and you're too good for him!" Hannah always spoke her
mind, it got her into heaps of trouble but sometimes it was needed.
"Well it's
great to see you guys again!" Rhona smiled genuinely, "I've had a
long journey and I really need to try and sleep so..."
"Well don't
be a stranger!" Elspeth punched her lightly on the arm.
"No, I
won't! Dad says I can have my old job back in the bar and lounge so I'll be
around!"
As Rhona finally
arrived back into her old room, she looked around at the old posters and the
cuddly toys sitting on the ottoman at her window that looked out to the Loch.
She'd missed Loch Tavish, she couldn't swim but her brother and his friends
would often jump off the jetty and play there as she watched from the shore.
Growing up in the village of Tavish Brig, Rhona always felt like an outsider,
she never felt like she fitted in. Living in the big hotel was fun when she was
a child, but as she grew older and her parents found odd jobs for her to do,
she grew bored of the place. Looking out the window onto the Loch, she couldn't
imagine ever being bored of the quiet, tranquil place that she called home. As
she got into her pyjamas and climbed into her old bed, smelling the freshly
laundered sheets that her mother had no doubt cleaned in anticipation of her daughter's
arrival, she thought about Jamie. The reason she was back here in the first
place! It hurt to think of him, how little she meant to him, as the hot tears
ran down her cheeks and onto the pillow behind her, soaking her hair and
dampening her ears, she decided not to think about him anymore! Drifting off to
sleep she thought about the gorgeous Gerard Way staring down at her from one of
her posters on the wall, and she was suddenly transported into a My Chemical
Romance concert in another world altogether!
Lachie Boyle was
manning the reception desk the next morning when a young man entered the hotel
foyer. He had long brown, shaggy hair, he wore sunglasses and had one suitcase
with him, His ripped jeans and loud shirt made Lachie dislike him straight
away, that and he was very good looking. When he spotted the desk he gave
Lachie a relieved smile and approached him, dropping his case on the floor he
leaned on the desk and nodded, "Hey!" he greeted him as Lachie curled
up his lip.
"Can a help
ye?" he replied as the young man chuckled.
"Yes, yes do
you have any rooms left?" he was American, Lachie groaned, tourist!
Hideous shirt and grungy jeans, rock star hair, goofy grin...the worst kind!
"Aye we dae
that!" the young man gave him a confused look.
"I'm sorry,
was that a yes?" Lachie let out a huge sigh and attempted to tone down his
broad Scots dialect.
"Yes it
wiz!"
"Oh
good!" the man smiled again, "So can I have a room please?"
"Aye, how
long fur?" the young man began to think.
"Um...I
dunno to be honest with you!" he shook his head, "Can we say, a week
for now? And then I'll see!"
"See
whit?"
"A week,
yeah, for now. If that's okay?" Lachie frowned and began tapping at the
keyboard.
"Right,
name?"
"Oz
Truman!"
"Okay, fill
in this form wie yer address and payment details and a'll get ye a room."
Lachie looked the young man up and down, Oz? What sort of name was that?
Typical American with a stupid name! He'd be keeping an eye on this one; he had
a funny feeling about him!
To Be Continued...
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