Page 9 of The Scottish Island Wedding

‘What do you want to know?’ Matty said, out of the side of his mouth.

‘Um. Isn’t it obvious?’ Heather hissed, and indicated Matty’s mother with a nod of her head.

‘They’re my family, Heather,’ Matty muttered. ‘What do you want me to do about it?’

Am I being completely unreasonable? Heather allowed herself the thought for a moment. Is it me? Would anyone else be totally okay with all of this?

No. It’s not me. This is, by anyone’s standards, at the very least a surprise, and at the most, dishonest.

‘Matty. Come on. I’ve known you for a year, and you never thought to tell me that your family are THE Campbells? The Campbells that have their own reality TV show? Your sisters-in-law are constantly in the papers.’

‘That’s why I didn’t tell you!’ Matty pulled Heather into a broom cupboard off the hallway that led from the castle entrance to the Great Hall, and to the four large main downstairs rooms that were sometimes open to the public: the large drawing room, the library, the lounge and the formal dining room. They were all headed to the large drawing room for drinks, where Heather’s great-aunts, Joan and Chrissie, had been installed in easy chairs.

The aunts had been living at Balhennie Castle for a while now; they were Catriona’s aunts, and had had to give up their flat in Portree, the main centre of Skye, when they’d started to get a little too infirm to live there any more. They’d moved in at the Inn for a while, but when the Inn had had to close because of flooding and major subsidence issues, the aunts had gone to live at the castle.

The Inn was open again now, but the aunts had got comfortable at the castle, and no one seemed inclined to make them leave.

‘Matty… there’s a broom handle in my face.’ Heather wriggled in the tight space. ‘It’s dark in here. Can we just go back into the hall?’

‘No. They’ll hear, and I don’t want them to,’ Heather’s fiancé muttered.

‘That’s ridiculous. How is hiding in a cupboard going to fix this?’ Heather whispered. ‘Though, is this how you operate in life, and I’m just now learning it about you? That as soon as your family arrive, you act like a child?’

‘I am not acting like a child. I just want to explain.’

‘Fine. Explain. But do it fast, because, I’m not sure if you noticed, everyone’s here because of us. We’re not supposed to have secrets. And yet you’ve kept this absolute whopper of a secret from me, Matty. So, it makes me wonder what else you’re hiding.’ She took a breath. ‘I want you to know that it hurts me to say this. But I have to be honest and say what I think.’

‘I’m not hiding anything else.’ He frowned.

‘So, just the small fact that your family are internationally famous.’

‘Yes. You don’t have to say it like that.’ He hung his head; Heather, always kind-hearted, thought that he looked like a dog that was being punished. But she wouldn’t be swayed, even though she loved him, even though everything in her wanted to comfort him.

‘How would you prefer that I say it?’ she hissed.

‘Look. I never asked for any of that. Yes, we’re wealthy. Yes, they are… who they are. But I’ve made a big effort not to be involved in… all of that. I haven’t even seen them in person for eight months.’

‘Matty, I’m still waiting for a good reason why you didn’t tell me,’ Heather reminded him, patiently. The broom cupboard smelled of furniture polish.

‘I… I wanted you to get to know me, not my family. I know what people think about them,’ he said, haltingly. ‘I see what they say in the press. About Mother. About my brothers and their wives. That they’re friends with some of the most powerful people in the world, and some of those people are… not the nicest people.’

‘I have got to know you. I’m marrying you, for goodness’ sake,’ Heather replied, exasperated. ‘But you got to know my family. I was so happy to welcome you in. I just thought you weren’t as close to your parents. I didn’t push you on it. I should have insisted, I guess. I shouldn’t have been so naïve. But I hardly thought that this was why I was being kept away. Are you ashamed of me?’

Elizabeth’s derisory glances at Heather just before had been very hurtful. Heather had no idea if she could live a life being looked at like that by her mother-in-law. And maybe, eventually, Matty would start to think she was – what? Dowdy, frumpy, too plump? – too. He’d come to his senses and find some stick-thin socialite and marry her instead.

‘No!’ Matty looked appalled. ‘I love you, Heather. I adore you.’

Matty gathered Heather to him and looked deep into her eyes. ‘Please. I know I should have told you. I was planning to. But it all got a bit beyond me, with the wedding planning, and it all happening so fast. And I was so nervous about you finding out about them. That you’d think I was a fraud. And I’m not. I’m really not.’

‘Wait a minute.’ Heather pressed a finger into Matty’s sternum, making him flinch. ‘What d’you mean, a fraud? You do work at the charity, don’t you?’ She was suddenly realising that Matty was very wealthy and probably didn’t have to work at all. One of the things they’d first bonded over had been that they both worked in similar fields.

‘I co-founded the charity,’ Matty said, carefully. ‘It’s immensely important to me.’

‘Do you actually work there?’ Heather narrowed her eyes. ‘Because you seem to work from home a lot, now that I come to think about it. You’ve been very flexible about being on Skye with me, considering that your flat is quite far away.’

‘I’m the funder for the charity. I set it up with my old friend Olivia, and she runs it. I pay everyone’s salaries. I’m on the board. I help make decisions and oversee the legal stuff. But no. It’s not a daily job for me. So, yes. I can be around. I love being around you and your family. They’re so warm and loving! Believe me.’ He paused for a moment. ‘I always wanted a normal family, Heather. You don’t know what it was like, growing up with… all that. I love my parents, but I know they’re difficult. That’s why Annie lives on the canal boat. She doesn’t have anything to do with their lifestyle. I… I guess I’ve never been quite as brave as her.’

‘Well… I’m sure that your family are… charming… once you get to know them,’ Heather said, charitably. ‘But I absolutely cannot believe that you would lie to me about all of this! Your family, and now, the charity!’ Heather raised her voice. ‘I knew there was something off! I knew it! But I ignored my instincts. That’s the last time I’m doing that!’ Matty shushed her, but she’d had enough. ‘Don’t you dare shush me!’