Page 113 of The Cottage in the Highlands

He scanned us all. “That was when I realised how much I wanted to be with Lily. Even more than before.” Flynn senior’s attention drifted to Carl. “I had my son to think of too.”

Carl swallowed.

“What I didn’t know was that Lily waited for me, which I didn’t deserve.”

Lily clutched and squeezed at his hand again. “That was my decision to make Flynn, not yours.”

Flynn senior carried on talking. “When we arrived back in Scotland, I went straight to see Lily, but her husband told me she wanted nothing more to do with me. He knew how we felt about one another.”

“And Merry Wood?” asked Carl, the shock still shining out of his face.

Flynn senior’s eyes were bursting with the memories of it all. “Lily and I had spent so many happy times wandering around in the garden there. I had even painted her a few times. We always fantasised about the three of us living happily ever after there. You, Lily, and me.”

Carl snapped his head to look at Diana beside him. She gave him a soft smile.

“And that was why you couldn’t bring yourself to sell it?” surmised Diana, her voice hushed.

“I know it all sounds crazy now, but we were so in love,” interrupted Lily. “I lived with my late husband, Bernard, in the cottage opposite Merry Wood and when I thought Flynn had decided not to come back and to try to make his marriage work instead… Well, even though the memories of him hurt so much, it was almost a comfort to still have the house to look at every day.”

She let out a dry laugh as we all hung on to every word she was saying. “I had no idea what was happening with Merry Wood but a tiny part of me, even years later, hoped I might see Flynn again and that he would come back.”

From around the dining table there hung a heavy, emotional silence.

“Flynn gave me a spare a key that first Christmas, and we would slip out to meet one another.” Her eyes clouded over with the memories. “He painted me in his studio a couple of times. He thought that if I had a key, then it would be easier for us to arrange our meetings, if we both had access to the house when Astrid and Bernard weren’t around.”

I recalled Lily propelling herself out of the back door when Harley and I entered the rear gardens of Merry Wood. “And that’s why you could still gain access to the house.”

Lily reddened and nodded.

Carl toyed with the cut-crystal wine glass in front of him, not looking at his father. He gathered himself. “Why didn’t you go to the police about Mum at the time?”

“Like I said before, I know I should have, but my bloody stupid male pride wouldn’t allow it.” Flynn senior turned to me. “Back then, I had a fear of what people might think and it was such different times.”

“And the fact that Grandma was the doyenne of the fashion and charity circuit?” asked Flynn from beside me.

Flynn senior nodded. “I wondered if anyone would believe me. What? Astrid Talbot? The Scottish Twiggy? Who was raising huge amounts of money for the hungry, needy, and underprivileged? Physically abusing her husband?”

Diana took a gulp of her white wine. “So, what are you going to do now, Flynn? About Astrid, I mean?” She turned to Carl. “I know she’s your mother, but she shouldn’t be allowed to get away with it.”

“I agree,” murmured Flynn to his mother.

“I’ve decided to go public,” stated Flynn senior, emboldened. “I’m going to go to the press and reveal what she did to me for years.” Now it was his turn to gulp a mouthful of wine. “Something good might come of it. Hopefully any other men or women who are suffering or who have suffered in the past like me, will then feel they can speak out too.”

“That’s very brave.” I smiled up the dining table at him. “And I think it will be the worst thing that could happen to her. I’ve only met your ex-wife once, but I get the impression her reputation matters a great deal to her and once her charities find out about what she was doing, I’m sure it will only be a matter of time before they disassociate themselves.”

There were general murmurs of agreement from around the table.

“No more secrets,” exclaimed Flynn senior. “There have been too many for too long and they stop right now.”

Carl shuffled in his seat. “Look Dad, I hate to ask but what are you going to do about Merry Wood, now that it still belongs to the family?”

I could see Flynn beside me, rolling his eyes. “Look Carl, I think there will be plenty time for Grandfather to decide what he wants to do, once the air has cleared a bit.”

“Oh, no need to procrastinate. I’ve done enough of that.”

We all studied Flynn senior.

“I’ve made a decision,” he said, settling back in his chair and cupping Lily’s hand in his. “I’m sick of sneaking around, all secret squirrel. I’m getting too old for all of that nonsense.”