Page 12 of The Scottish Island Wedding

Please, come back, she willed Matty. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything, she thought, even though she’d done nothing wrong.

The door remained closed.

‘And where do you ski?’ Matty’s brother Gerald had asked the skiing question to Heather’s sister Primrose, who had just arrived and was talking to Estella and her husband. Heather walked up to the group to observe Primrose looking at him blankly.

‘Primmy. I missed you!’ Heather had already hugged her sister fiercely when she’d first walked in: Primrose was the kind of reassuring presence that she needed right now: solid, dependable, strong and kind. However, she felt the need to hug her again.

Heather felt grateful to have her there as well as Sorrel and Bluebell, two of her other sisters. Sorrel had just moved into a lovely cottage about half an hour away with her boyfriend Tam. The other two Balhennie sisters, Violet and Blossom, would be arriving soon.

‘Ski? Oh, no. I’ve never skied.’ Primrose shook her head, turning back to Estella and Gerald. ‘None of us have, I don’t think. Oh, maybe Violet – she’s our other sister. She’s a beauty journalist. I think maybe Bluebell might have gone to a dry ski slope in the Pentlands one time. Blue’s the youngest. Otherwise, no.’

I wish Violet was here, Heather thought. She’d always been close with her twin, even though they seemed so different. Violet was fierce, logical and businesslike, careful who she let into her heart. She was as practical as Heather was romantic and dreamy. Yet, she was also very protective of her twin.

Heather knew that actually she and Violet shared many similar characteristics. They were both Cancerians, the astrological sign of the crab. Though Heather was predominantly sweet, caring and soft-hearted, sentimental and romantic, she also had a will of steel when challenged. She could shoot a rifle, was a keen archer, and if someone wronged her family, they had better sleep with one eye open.

Violet, though she seemed to have a hard shell, and could be tough and crabby, was a teddy bear when you got underneath all of the snark and sarcasm. If you didn’t know her, you just had to have patience.

Violet would have made mincemeat of the Campbells and their elitist conversations. She also would have known from the first second that she saw Heather’s face that something was wrong, and taken her aside.

‘A… dry ski slope?’ Estella asked a little weakly, as if the thought pained her beyond belief. ‘Oh… no, we meant… France, Italy, Austria…?’

‘We go to Courchevel,’ Gerald added. ‘Though Mama feels it’s lost some of its exclusivity over the years.’

‘Oh. Is that in France?’ Heather asked, politely joining the conversation.

‘Um. Yes.’ Estella looked down her nose at Heather. ‘Do you ski, Heather?’

‘No. But I’d like to learn. And I love cheesecake and fondue, so…’ Heather was trying to be upbeat, but her laugh died under Estella’s horrified glare.

‘Estella hasn’t eaten cheese for the last ten years,’ Gerald said, seriously. ‘She’s allergic to dairy. She eats a macrobiotic diet.’

As Heather was trying to think of something to say about macrobiotic food – she had little to no idea what it was – Elizabeth Campbell came into the drawing room. She was in Heather’s line of sight, and their eyes met briefly. There was nothing in Elizabeth’s stare but a general iciness; Heather wondered what on earth had just happened with the man outside.

‘Oh, what a shame!’ Primrose interjected. ‘I don’t think I could live without a bit of blue cheese and a glass of red wine of an evening. Especially after work.’

‘Oh. Me too,’ Heather said, consciously drawing her attention back to the conversation.

‘And what is it that you do?’ Estella asked, politely, looking Primrose up and down in her sweatshirt, jeans and work boots. Heather guessed that Primrose and Estella were not too far off the same age, but Primrose was at least twice the size of the diminutive Estella, who was as tiny as a bird.

‘I teach drama at a secondary school near Edinburgh. Some tough kids, but I love it.’ Primrose tucked a bit of her long fringe behind her ear; her head was otherwise shaved, and she had multiple piercings up both ears, and a ring in her nose. ‘What about you guys? When you’re not skiing, that is.’ Primrose smiled beatifically at the couple, but Heather knew she was having a little private joke to herself at their expense.

‘I do some charitable work for Elizabeth’s foundation,’ Estella said, primly. ‘Gerald is on the board of a few different hedge funds, that kind of thing.’

‘And what’s Elizabeth’s foundation?’ Primrose asked. ‘I don’t think Heather has mentioned it before.’

‘Oh. I’d assumed Matty would have told you. It…’ Gerald said, with a frown.

Please say it helps orphans. Or supports victims of domestic abuse. Or lobbies for better ecological and animal protections, Heather thought.

‘The Glenorchy Foundation supports technological innovation and research,’ Gerald finished.

Oh.

‘What kind of technological innovation?’ Primrose asked, but Heather didn’t hear the reply. Her phone had pinged and she looked down at it.

I’m so sorry about our argument earlier, baby. I want to prove to you how much you mean to me – I really do. However, I’ve just found out that I have some urgent work to do. I’m going to be gone for a little while. While I’m gone, I hope you’ll get to know my mother. She’s tough, but so are you. I’ll be back soon. M xxxx

What?