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Chapter 23
Rhona
Rhona dabbed at her tears. Crying at a wedding was perfectly acceptable. The newly-weds wrestled their way into the tractor causing enough of a distraction for Rhona to disappear into her own thoughts. She half laughed in spite of herself as Murray held Beth’s posy and she settled into the driver’s seat.
‘She always was a firecracker,’ Arran said.
‘Yeah,’ Rhona agreed. Some people were brave. Brave enough to have a crazy wedding where they left in a tractor. Brave enough to follow their hearts.And then there are people like me.People who let the world pass them by, avoiding confrontation. She’d scanned the crowd constantly and not seen sight or sound of Calum. Will and Morven were standing nearby, beaming and waving as the tractor rumbled down the path to the gate. Nope, Calum definitely wasn’t here. But his message would never leave.
The truth hurt and Rhona couldn’t bear to read it a second time.Maybe he was right. She didn’t want to be with someone violent but it all felt wrong.
Arran had swaggered off and was talking to a group of women. Rhona frowned. The way his chest was thrown out and his lips curled into a smug grin made him look like the lad about town. He’d had an on-off relationship with a woman for several years. Presumably it was in an off phase. Rhona didn’t ask too many questions but something about his bluster gave her a discontented prickle. This was the arrogant side to Arran she tried to ignore but sometimes it was hard. Her sisters had it too. Maybe even her mum. A selfishness she ignored because they were her family.
She caught Will’s eye and he smiled before his gaze travelled over Arran. Was it her imagination or did he look nervous? Why? Weren’t they old school friends? Or had Will picked the Matheson camp?
‘Back in a minute,’ Arran said to the women in a carrying voice. His eyes narrowed at Will who turned away and put his arm around Morven.
‘I forgot about Silly Willy,’ he said. ‘Thank Christ his bum chum didn’t come along too.’
Rhona didn’t reply. What was the point? She daren’t let on that Calum had been here.
‘I still can’t believe you took on a job for him,’ Arran muttered.
‘Well, there’s not a lot of work here.’ The words pierced her chest. She’d held back applying for anything while she was working for Calum but now that work was finished and their future was ropey, she had to start searching again.
‘Then get the fuck back to Europe,’ Arran said. ‘Don’t hang around here. I can see Calum coming up with lots more “work” for you, then paying you shit or discrediting you.’
Rhona clamped her lips shut, biting down the things she’d love to say if she dared.
‘Now, listen. Where are your friends?’
‘Kirsten’s with the bridal party.’
‘You stick with her for a bit. I’m going to chat with these ladies again and I’m not sure I need you hanging around, little sis. Kinda cramps my style.’
‘How will you get there if I don’t drive you?’
‘I’ll cadge a lift with these ladies.’
‘Ok. Fine. I’ll see you later.’
‘Thanks.’ He cuffed her upper arm.
Best excuse ever. She jumped into the car and drove towards Tobermory. No one would miss her for a bit. The evening party didn’t officially start for a few hours yet and she had to find Calum. She wasn’t risking another message, this had to happen face to face.
But he wasn’t at home or in his office. Or he wasn’t answering if he was.
No luck. She returned to the wedding party. And what for? To hang about drinking soda water all evening so she could be Arran’s taxi? She whiled away the hours inside the barn, watching the dancing unfold under the fairy lights, sharing a few laughs with random people and snatching the odd chat with Kirsten.
‘Hey.’ A woman with a blonde tousled bob sat beside her. ‘How are you?’
It took her a few seconds to scramble her mind together and remember who the woman was. ‘Hi, Georgia.’ She was a friend of Kirsten’s Rhona had met on a visit a couple of years before. ‘I’m ok. You?’
‘All good,’ she said. ‘This is so cute, isn’t it? Beth’s the biggest closet romantic on the island.’
‘I thought that was you,’ Rhona said.
‘I’m not in the closet about it.’ She grinned and took a sip from a tall glass.
