Page 34 of A Secret Scottish Escape

The early evening sky was weaving twists of cloud outside my kitchen window and the hillside was melting into smudges of amber and peach.

I took another big gulp of wine. “I felt let down,” I confided. “Standing there, over his grave. I felt betrayed and hurt.”

“That’s understandable. Anyone would.”

“But am I as big a fraud as he was, Faith?”

My best friend’s well-plucked eyebrows knitted together. “What do you mean by that?”

I sloshed the wine around in my glass as I spoke. “By accepting that money he left me. I said I wouldn’t take it and then I did.”

Faith moved closer to me, her expression brimming with reassurance. “You listen to me. What Mac did was dreadful. You were engaged and you thought you had a future together here.”

She removed the wine glass from my hand and set it back down on the kitchen top with a decisive clink.

“Maybe it is guilt money, but so sodding what!” She cupped my hands in hers. “A lot of people would have run away from here and gone to lick their wounds and wallow in self-pity.”

Faith squeezed my fingers encouragingly. “But you didn’t do that. You’ve decided not only to stay, but to do something that’s right out of your comfort zone.”

I tipped my head to one side. “I thought this was supposed to be a pep talk.”

“It is. I’m just getting started.”

“Oh. OK.”

Faith rolled her eyes skywards. “You’re not splashing all that money on yourself. You’re doing something with it to help others.”

“Well, that’s the plan,” I added ruefully. Time would tell if I could achieve it.

Faith looked reminiscent. “I’ll never forget how you rushed to my aid when I was the new girl in the class and you rescued my pink fluffy pencil case from Rachel Howson and Cara Wallace.”

“Oh, I had to help the incomer, didn’t I? You couldn’t help it, being a townie.”

It was ironic that Faith’s family had moved to Loch Harris from the west coast when she was eleven and she had ended up working for our tourist information office.

Faith’s long-time fascination with the area meant that her local knowledge was impressive.

Her grin was emphatic. “You’ll make a success of this, I know you will. I take it all the paperwork and financial stuff for buying the boathouse is going OK?”

“David Murray is a star,” I sighed at her. “He’s charging me so-called mate’s rates because of Mac and it has taken so much of the pressure off.”

“There you are then,” said Faith, flashing her bright smile. “Things are going well for you – and about time!”

“I’m a bit concerned about my dad, though.”

I indicated for us to flop together on the sofa. Once we’d arranged ourselves with the cushions and topped up our wine, I told Faith about my dad’s snappy reaction to my suggestion that his old band have a reunion.

Faith flapped a hand. “Oh, it’s probably nothing.”

“But you know my dad. He’s so laid back about life, he’s almost horizontal.” I narrowed my eyes. “He bit my head off. It really wasn’t like him at all.”

Faith swung her wine glass in mid-air. “Harry will have been overtired. Or maybe Tina was on his case about something.”

The mention of my mother’s name made my back stiffen. “If she had been, he would have said.”

“I think you’re attaching too much importance to it.”

I watched Faith savour another mouthful of white wine.