Anna slept well but she noted how restless she felt as soon as she was dressed. She was not keen on eating breakfast, thinking her stomach was a bit unsettled after the large Italian meal of the previous night.
Alina, however, knew exactly what was troubling her friend and it had nothing to do with wine or food. She insisted that Anna have tea and toast, at least, and as Anna complied, she gently quizzed her about the coming day until her concerns about Lawren’s arrival had come out into the open and Alina could give her opinions.
“It’s natural for you to be a bit worried about how things will go. You hardly know the man and you’ve invited him here to a different country to do a job for you that you are not a hundred percent sure about. You’d be crazy not to be worried, Anna!”
Alina’s comments had the opposite result to the one she had hoped to promote. Anna ignored the negative connotations and jumped to the defense of her, admittedly rash, idea.
“I am not worried, really. It’s just that he has a long journey to get here and I want him to be pleased with the estate house and the work he will do. I have invested time and energy in this project and I am anxious to get it underway.”
Alina sighed. On this topic Anna was hopelessly naïve. She would just have to find out for herself if she had made a huge mistake by trusting this artist fellow. She, of course, would be watching him like a hawk. She decided to make that call to Bev right away and arrange for Bev to inspect the stranger as soon as possible. She would trust Bev’s opinion. She had always had a keen accountant’s eye for an imposter as proved by her solid attachment to Alan, one of the most honest and transparent men that Alina had ever met. Their happiness was Alina’s recommendation for Bev’s good instincts.
As the morning hours passed slowly and Anna had not heard anything from Lawren, she began to be concerned that something had delayed his arrival. There was no internet access in the estate house but Anna called George at his office and asked if he could find out if the Air Transat plane had left on time. George’s new secretary called within the half-hour and assured Anna there was no weather, or other incident, to interrupt the schedule.
“He will be on the train by now,” she decided, and began to count the hours until he could arrive.
Should she serve afternoon tea or make a full meal for later? He would be tired if he was not used to transatlantic crossings with the addition of the three hour train trip.
“Why didn’t I send Grant to pick him up from the airport and drive him here,” she chided herself as impatience began to erode her excitement and resentment crept in.
“Why isn’t he calling?” Wait! Did I give him the phone number here? Did I remember to tell him to drop the zero when he reached Scotland? Oh for heaven’s sake, he’s a grown man! He doesn’t need a mother looking over his shoulder all the time.”
Alina heard this last remark and nodded her head. Yup, Anna was worried all right, no matter what she might say. This confirms my suspicions. She is way too involved with this guy. The sooner this thing, whatever it is, can be nipped in the bud, the better, as far as I am concerned.
By nightfall, Anna was truly upset. She paced up and down in the lounge imagining all kinds of dire scenarios in which Lawren Drake was injured or attacked by hoodlums or thrown in some jail cell for an infringement of laws he had no way of knowing about.
She called Grant and asked him to wait at the train station in Oban and look out for a passenger of Lawren’s description carrying luggage, and drive him to the estate house as soon as possible. If Grant did find such a person, she insisted on being called immediately.
Alina held her tongue and went about preparations for an evening meal with a sly smile on her face that she concealed whenever Anna arrived in the kitchen on her round of pacing through the rooms.
“Might as well light the fires,” Alina suggested. “It gets cooler at night here. The kitchen is warm enough but the lounge could use some extra heat. There’s plenty of hot water if you want a bath to soothe your nerves.”
“My nerves are just fine,” snapped Anna, stomping away to set a flame to the lounge fire in such a manner that she entirely contradicted her words.
Anna was upstairs when the call arrived.
“I’ve found the gentleman, Ms. Mason. Dinna worry yersel’. We’ll be at the door in thirty minutes.”
Grant ended the call before she could ask what sort of condition the traveller was in.
She only just managed to control an urge to run down the gravel path to meet Grant’s car and drag Lawren out by the ear, her frustration had reached a level beyond any reason and she began to suspect how inappropriate that was. She restrained the impulse and stood behind the red door until a polite knock signaled Lawren’s arrival.
“So, here you are at last!” It was impossible to keep all the tension out of her voice and she saw Lawren’s eyebrows shoot up as he registered her mood.
“I’ve been expecting you for hours now. Is everything all right? Why didn’t you call to say you’d be delayed?”
As Alina watched carefully, Lawren took a step back. Clearly he had not been expecting this reaction from Anna before he even had time to put down his bag. He began to apologize, then stopped, as he figured out he had not done anything to justify Anna’s angry tone.
At exactly the same moment as the harsh words left her lips, Anna had realized the mistake she had made. She had spoken to this grown man as if he were one of her primary school students of long ago. She had chastised him inappropriately and also revealed her emotions in a way she had never intended.
She blushed to the roots of her hair and turned away in confusion. What could she say to mend this situation? Had she burned every boat before the poor man had a chance to look around him?
Seeing Anna’s distress, Alina took over the awkward situation and quickly steered Lawren into the kitchen. He glanced over his shoulder towards Anna as the door closed, but Anna had already fled upstairs, too embarrassed to face him.
Early the next morning, after a disturbed night of restless dreams, Anna crept downstairs and found the lounge door open, the bed returned to its daytime disguise as a couch, and no one in the kitchen.
Her first thought was that Lawren had felt so unwelcome after her attack of the previous evening that he had decided to head back to Canada. This was extreme, perhaps, but she could not have blamed him.
Depression filled her. What a waste! What an idiot she was! Now, he would never speak to her again and the painting tribute to her Aunt Helen was not going to happen.
She opened the back door to let Morag outside and looked up at the sky to gauge the weather for the day ahead, when she caught sight of a figure toiling up the lower slope of Helen’s Hill.
Relief flooded her mind, then excitement, as she knew she had a chance to redeem herself.
Lawren had stayed! He meant to survey the area from the high viewpoint. He was still interested in the painting.
It took only a minute for her to don her outdoor gear and take off after him. Although it had been almost a year since she had made the climb, her leg muscles remembered and took the strain. She had grabbed two hiking poles on the way out, and used them to her advantage.
As Lawren slowly scaled the last steep section of the hill, she caught up with him. He turned and his face showed his surprise. Before he could say a word, she launched into a profuse apology that rambled on for two minutes. He said nothing in reply when she finally ground to a halt.
She waited, dreading she had embarrassed herself all over again. Still, nothing was said.
Finally, he spoke. “Anna, I have only just got my breath back after that climb. Please don’t apologize! The fault was mine. Come over here and sit down so I can tell you what happened and after that you can point out the landmarks from this spectacular vantage point. I saw next to nothing of the area last night and that is my fault entirely. Can we start all over again?”
Anna felt as if she was absolved of a terrible crime. Her spirits rose and she smiled widely but did not trust herself to speak.
Lawren took her expression as approval of his request and began to tell her what had happened in Glasgow. During the flight from Toronto it had occurred to him that he would shortly be arriving in the city where Charles Rennie Mackintosh had lived and worked. Years before, when he was a student at the Ontario College of Art, he had been introduced to Mackintosh’s watercolour paintings and decided to do a study of his life and work. It did not take long for him to become fascinated with a Scottish artist, architect and designer who blended multiple aspects of Art Deco and Arts and Crafts in his buildings and furniture designs, in a way that was remarkable in his era.
The original fascination was revitalized when Lawren realized he could soon see one of Mackintosh’s landmark structures, the Glasgow School of Art, constructed on a steep hillside in the centre of the city.
Once the idea took root in his mind, he forgot all else in the urge to see for himself a building he had studied as part of his student portfolio.
“You see, I had not even thought about Charles Rennie Mackintosh in years. I guess I never expected to see any of his works for myself. I couldn’t resist taking this opportunity. I simply forgot the time, Anna. I suppose you could say I was transported in a way.”
“Did you go inside?”
“Absolutely! It was quite open. Students were wandering in and out and I blended in easily. No one stopped me, even when I took photographs with my cell phone. It was as if they were used to perfect strangers admiring their unique place of work. Personally, I can’t imagine how anyone could concentrate in an iconic structure where so much originality and style was incorporated in every stone, and this was one of his first commissions when he was a junior member of a firm of architects! It’s amazing how well preserved it is. Obviously these Scots know good work when they see it.”
Lawren stopped to take breath and Anna saw an enthusiasm and vigour in his manner that she had never seen before. He is a true artist, she told herself. Art really turns him on.
“I haven’t spent much time in Glasgow, myself. It’s something I’ve been meaning to do as my parents were born and brought up in the city.”
“Well, I can recommend it. I picked up a guide book at the airport so I could find my way around and there are many extraordinary buildings within walking distance of the School of Art. They call it The Merchant City. It appears that Glasgow was a rich trading centre and the stone ornamentation on the buildings demonstrated that amply. I was very impressed.”
“Perhaps you can take me on a tour one day?”
“I would like that a lot. I hardly saw a fraction of what is there and the place is full of Mackintosh works to this day.”
Lawren turned to Anna and she was caught in his golden gaze while he asked his question.
“Am I forgiven? The last thing I wanted was to offend you when you have been so generous to invite me here.”
“Forgiven and forgotten!”
“Good! Now I want to concentrate on this magnificent landscape! What a location and what a viewpoint!”
“I am so glad you like it. This has always been one of my favourite spots. It was Helen’s also. It’s only when you get up here that you see that Helen’s Hill, as I call it, is part of a chain of hills leading to the mountain range in the distance and yet we can still see the sea on the west.”
“Does the stream come from the lake here?”
“Yes, they call it a tarn and it’s deeper than it looks. The stream flows down the hill and joins a river in the valley below the farmhouse.”
Conversation ceased while both looked into the distance. Anna hesitated to say more. She had discovered all this for herself and she knew Lawren should also have that privilege. She stayed seated on the rock while he wandered around the flat area looking downward in as many directions as he could.
When he returned, he asked about the cottage he had seen and Anna told him who lived there.
“You’ll meet Bev and Alan tomorrow. We’ve been invited for afternoon tea, if you are not working, of course.”
“I will need to absorb some of the atmosphere of the place first. If you can show me the town or any other parts of the region you think are representative, that would be helpful.”
“I would be glad to do that.”
Better and better she thought. Forgiven, and now tour guide to the area. This day is beginning very well indeed.
Alina had a hearty breakfast waiting and kept the chat lighthearted over the meal. It was clear to see how things were with Lawren and Anna. ‘Smitten’ was the word she used in her head but would never dare to say aloud.
Alina accompanied them into Oban where the artist hoped to track down an easel of some description.
He seemed to have an entire art shop of supplies in his duffle bag but scarcely any clothes. While they waited for Grant to arrive, Lawren unpacked his paints and brushes and unrolled a large canvas. He asked to store these in the larder off the kitchen until he had decided on a place where the light was right for his painting.
“This northern light is incredible!” he proclaimed. “I can see already that it will be a feature of the final work. I can’t wait to get started.”
Alina went off to get food supplies in Oban while Anna and Lawren climbed up to McCaig’s Folly on the hilltop above the town. Lawren was delighted with the anomaly of the structure in this location but it was the view of the sea islands that captured his attention.
“If you like, we can sail to Iona tomorrow morning. I have wanted to go there but never had the opportunity and it’s a place Helen had been. We can order tickets before we go home.”
Lawren nodded. He wanted to hurry down the hill and explore the town, especially the shoreline, so different from Ontario’s Lake Erie or Lake Huron. The smell of the ozone filled his nostrils and signified abundant sea life in the salt waters.
Anna decided to take her companion around the town’s one-way street system as that would require a walk along the sea front. When they reached the town centre, Lawren spotted a hardware store that was crowded with all manner of useful items for home and workshop. The owner, an older man dressed in a leather apron said he thought they had a used easel somewhere in the storage shed at the back.
“It’s no beauty, mind,” he cautioned, “but it’ll serve the purpose, I’m thinking.”
Anna translated this discreetly when she saw Lawren’s puzzled expression.
“We’ll be back after lunch, Mr. McKinley. Thank you for taking the trouble.”
“No trouble, Miss Mason. Glad to help.”
Alina met them at the pier restaurant behind the Columba Hotel for a late lunch. She had left her shopping at Tesco’s to be collected by Grant before he arrived to drive them home.
“This place smells of fresh fish,” declared Lawren as soon as they entered the doors. “And we can eat looking out at the sea. Are these the ships that will take us to Oban tomorrow?”
“That’s right! There is a lot of traffic on that pier opposite. It’s where your train arrived last night.”
“So,” asked Alina, once their plates of huge scallops and fish and chips had been consumed. “What do you think of Oban, so far?”
Lawren leaned back in his chair and looked out at the view as he replied. “I think it’s one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen; small in scale of course, but varied at every turn. It’s a bustling port, a beach resort, a quaint town and the surrounding countryside is spectacular.”
He turned around to look directly at Anna. “I am so grateful to be here. I feel strongly that I will do very good work here. This place is inspirational!”
Anna just beamed. This was exactly what she had hoped for. His first impressions were all positive.
After lunch, a paint-spattered easel had to be disassembled to fit into the back of Grant’s car but Lawren declared it was more than adequate for his purposes. He ran his hands over the A frame shape and stroked the narrow shelf where brushes were meant to repose until needed.
“It has seen years of work, but I feel the painter was a happy person who loved his task.”
This was the first inkling Anna had that Lawren’s psychic skills were still active so far from home. Alina had not noticed the comment as she was talking to Grant about the tickets for the Iona trip.
Anna was glad she had not had to explain. The less said to Alina about Lawren, the better.