Page 59 of Journey to the Scottish Highlands

I waited until Alison manoeuvred her car into a space located in the visitor’s car park. She swiped off her sunglasses and popped them on top of her head. ‘I was very surprised Evan went to Dane’s gig last night.’

I didn’t want to keep talking about Evan. If I didn’t think about him, it would help, wouldn’t it? I would’ve thought the pain I went through with Leon would’ve taught me something, but obviously it hadn’t.

Alison switched off her car engine. ‘To be honest, I was stunned when he told me he was going. He’s never shown much interest in Dane’s band before.’ She lowered her voice a little, even though we were the only ones in the vehicle. ‘That sort of music isn’t usually to Evan’s taste.’

I fetched my bag from the footwell, dumped it on my lap and proceeded to fiddle with the strap. ‘He was chatting to a blonde woman in the pub. Very pretty. Sacha.’

Alison’s expression tightened. ‘Sacha? Are you sure that was her name?’

‘Yes. Why?’

She rested both her ringed hands-on top of the steering wheel. The way the golden May light was slipping down her profile, highlighting the strong sweep of her nose and the pout of her bottom lip, reminded me of Evan. ‘She’s bad news, that one. She’d sell her own grandmother to get a byline.’ Alison adjusted her sunglasses perched on top of her head. ‘And you’re sure that it was her?’

I nodded. ‘He wasn’t with her at the start of the evening, but they left together at the end of the night.’ I contorted my mouth into what I hoped was a casual smile.

Alison looked like someone had stood on her foot. ‘Maybe I should speak to Evan. Ask him about her.’

‘No. Please don’t,’ I blurted. ‘He might work out that it was me who told you.’

Alison gazed ahead through the windscreen at the rise and fall of the high school roof. ‘I don’t want him getting involved with that bloody woman again. She hurt him so much the first time.’

Her words jabbed at me. I kept replaying the image of Sacha pawing at him last night. I wondered what had happened. It must’ve been a messy affair if Evan ended up getting hurt by her. Maybe Sacha was still an itch that Evan wanted to scratch?

The very idea made hurt and resentment well up inside me. Well, I wasn’t prepared to be somebody else’s reserve.

I wanted to push the conversation on further, though. What had Sacha done? What had she done to Evan to make Alison say that? Had she broken things off? Had he ended it and regretted it?

I shook my head. No. I’d be gone soon. Hopefully only another two or three days at the most. It wouldn’t be right to pressure and probe Alison about Evan’s previous relationship, even though a part of me was desperate to.

I shifted my position in the passenger seat. ‘Please, Alison. Don’t say anything to Evan. At least not yet.’

Alison cranked open her driver side door. ‘Ok, Daisy. I promise I won’t mention Sacha to Evan, at least for the time being. But if that woman thinks she can just swan back into his life and hurt him all over again, she’s got another think coming!’

I clambered out of my side of the car and slung on my shoulder bag. We both headed round to the boot, and Alison unlocked it. The material we’d packed in there, glossy, patterned rolls of fabric, was stashed in huge holdalls. There was everything from chintz to paisley and from silk, satin and velvet to cotton.

We retrieved them and set them down by our feet. ‘Can you tell I used to be in the drapery trade?’ She grinned at me.

‘Now you come to mention it.’

Alison locked the boot, and we set off towards the school building. ‘When did you work in drapery?’ I asked her.

‘I had my own little business when Evan and Dane were younger. It was a place in the local high street. It’s now the little tearoom on the corner.’

‘What made you decide to stop, if you don’t mind me asking?’ I squinted in the light.

Alison’s sunglasses bobbed on top of her head as we got closer to the school entrance. ‘People stopped spending as much money on that sort of thing. Then my in-laws passed away, and Bennett found out his parents had left him The Ramblings in their will.’ Alison adjusted the strap of the holdall in her hand. ‘Don’t get me wrong, it’s a beautiful house and I love living there, but it costs so much to maintain it. It swallows up money.’ She sighed. ‘We’ve even had to let our full-time gardener Freddie go recently. He’d been with us for years. Lovely man.’

We slowed as we drew nearer to the entrance of the high school. ‘At least Dane is good with plants. He’s been trying to keep on top of the grounds as much as he can whenever he happens to be here.’

I recalled meeting Dane when I first arrived, clothes dirty and trowel in hand, and assuming he was the gardener.

‘Bennett loves the place and is so sentimental about it. He grew up there, and it’s been such a huge part of his life.’ She frowned. ‘Evan is very fond of The Ramblings as well, whereas Dane doesn’t have the same emotional connection to the place. He just sees it as bricks and mortar. I think it’s because he’s on the road so much with his band.’ Alison stared up at the sky for a moment, appreciating the duck egg blue shade and the waltzing puffs of cloud. ‘Do you know Evan insists on giving us a monthly contribution towards the upkeep of The Ramblings?’

I stared at her, surprised. ‘Does he?’

‘Oh yes. We didn’t want to take it, but Evan got really annoyed. He said it’s part of his childhood, too, and that he would be really offended and hurt if his father and I didn’t let him try to help out.’

My heart shifted. Why did Alison have to tell me that? I was trying to dredge up any reason I could to try and switch off my attraction to him. I hoped I’d got him wrong, and it would turn out he was vacuous and self-centred. Instead, I learned he was giving his parents a monthly amount of money to maintain their stately home.