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“No.” Callum strode towards the doorway, making her follow him. “Show me the house. There is nothing else. There can’t be.”
For a second, he thought she might argue. Instead, she nodded and followed him into the kitchen. Callum felt strangely bereft. He knew there was no future for them. Their brief past had been a huge mistake. And yet…and yet her soft scent had him mesmerised, and the memory of her body pressed to his, had him in agony. He suspected that Isobel Sinclair had managed something that morning that no other person had ever managed with Callum. She’d managed to get inside of him. And he was very much afraid she could never be removed.
CHAPTER 10
CALLUM WAS GONE BY THE time Isobel got up the following morning. The bedding sat on the couch where she’d put it, untouched. There was a tersely-written note on top of it.
Investigating.
It was followed by his cell number. He didn’t say whether she could call him, he’d just given her the number. Isobel wasn’t sure what to make of that, but she tucked the number into the front pocket of her jeans.
“He’s done a runner already, then,” Jack said as he came into the room.
The look of pure disgust on his face made Isobel ache for him. All of the male figures in his life so far had been unreliable. Of course he’d assume Callum was the same. And Isobel didn’t know Callum well enough to reassure Jack that he was different.
“I told you he wasn’t staying. He only spent the night because I was worried about sleeping with a body in the garage.”
She shivered, then pushed the thought into the back of her mind, locking it behind the door labelled denial in big red letters. Her denial closet was beginning to bulge, and Isobel knew there was a limit to how much more of her life she could pretend didn’t exist.
“We don’t need him. If you’re worried, you can rely on me. You should have told me. I would have watched over you and Soph last night.”
Isobel looked at her son with a mixture of pride and sadness. “I know you would have. But you shouldn’t have to. I don’t want you to grow up too fast.” Like she’d had to.
“Mum, I hate to break it to you, but I’m already there. In a few months I can leave school, get a job, drive, get married if I want to. You need to let me help. I can’t stand around and do nothing. This is my family too. You. Sophie. You’re it.”
He was so earnest, so sure of his own abilities, and he wasn’t even fully gro
wn yet. Memories of caring for him as a baby, when she was the same age as he was now, came flooding back. She’d been so young. So desperate. So hopeful. She remembered the long hours trying to work part time and take care of him. She remembered her mum helping out as much as she could, behind her dad’s back. It still smarted. Over sixteen years and her dad had yet to say one word to her. She’d shamed him coming home pregnant at fifteen and he’d never forgiven her.
“I’ll make more effort to include you, okay?” It was the best she could do. “Now hurry up and get ready or you’ll miss the school bus.” And she didn’t have the petrol money to get him into Campbeltown if he did.
“I’m ready.” He picked up his bag. “Be careful with this Callum guy. We don’t know him, Mum, and the rumours around school are heavy. I’m not sure he’s someone you can trust.”
“I know.”
Although she wasn’t sure there was anyone she could trust. She was just as leery as her son when it came to bringing a man into her life. It was best for all of them if she kept Callum at a distance.
With a wave, Jack headed for the door, stopping briefly to say goodbye to Sophie, who was watching the Wiggles in the living room and dancing along.
Isobel was washing up the breakfast dishes when Mairi let herself in the back door. As usual, she was texting.
“Hey you,” Mairi said. “Did you manage to keep your knickers on last night?”
Isobel threw a wet cloth at Mairi and it smacked her on the forehead.
“That was uncalled for,” Mairi said. She stopped looking at her phone long enough to notice Sophie wasn’t in the room. “Where’s the monster? I thought we’d hang out at my place while you’re at work. Agnes has gone to Glasgow for her exam, which means Sophie and I can make a mess without disturbing grumpy bum. Plus, I get the heebie-jeebies thinking about the guy in the freezer so I don’t want to spend the day here.”
“She’s watching TV.” Isobel dried her hands. “I’m hoping Callum will have a plan for moving the body later today. I’d feel a whole lot better knowing it wasn’t here.”
She had visions of her sisters and her out in the dead of night, digging a hole for the guy.
“We need new shovels,” Mairi said, proving yet again that the Sinclair women were on the same wavelength.
“I’ll see if they have any at the shop.” Isobel picked up her keys and phone from the table and popped them in her second-hand hobo bag.
There had been four messages from the loan shark waiting for her when she woke. She’d ignored them all, but she knew from experience that it was only a matter of time before he came around in person. And she was sick at the thought. There was no money for the next payment and no prospects of getting any. She couldn’t even think about what he would want in exchange for letting the payment slip by.
“You okay?” Mairi’s attention was away from her phone for once, but she was frowning at Isobel. “You’re pressing your hand to your stomach. You aren’t suffering from morning sickness already, are you? Is that even possible?”
