Burns
Farm - Scotland
Coral folded her new nightdress carefully and placed it
in the open suitcase on top of the neat row of sandals and shoes. Next
she placed her underwear,
several skirts, trousers and lastly her sketchpad, pencils and pastels.
Alaster wandered into the room. He gazed at the packed suitcase with an
amused
expression and shook his head. ‘I thought you were going for ten days.
Not ten years,’ he teased.
‘I want to look nice,’ said Coral.
‘You always do.’ He came over to the dresser and wrapped his arms
around her waist and kissed the back of her neck.
‘Mother,’ called Fiona from downstairs. ‘Have you seen my green
top?’
‘How are we going to cope while you’re gone?’ murmured Alaster.
Coral twisted around in his arms. ‘You’ll be fine. Now,’ she
said, pulling away, ‘I need to finish.’
‘Mum…’ said their daughter, hurrying upstairs and poking her
head around the door. ‘My green top, have you seen it?’
‘It’s in the dryer.’
‘Thank you.’ She disappeared.
‘See,’ said Coral. ‘It’s as easy as that.’
‘Are you sure its just women you’re meeting up with?’
Coral laughed softly. ‘They’re my two oldest friends. I’ve
told you.’
‘And I can’t come.’
‘No, you can’t.’
Her husband made a disgruntled sound and then followed Fiona down the stairs. ‘Wait
until it’s my turn,’ he called back. ‘Then we’ll see
how easy you let me go.’
She knew she was lucky. Knew that Alaster adored her. She smiled and went over
to the dresser and pulled open the top drawer. And for the next few minutes she
sat choosing earrings, bracelets and other adornments for the trip. However,
before including the last piece, a necklace, in a soft padded pouch, she held
it up against her bare neck, gazed at it in the mirror. The green stones glinted.
Ah, Ramon. Magnificent.
Then folding her hand around it, she placed it carefully with the rest of the
jewellery.
Reproduced with permission from Penguin. |