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“A handful of times. After I left home, it was several years until she made it to Skye. At first, my father wouldn’t allow it. Then by the time she was on her own, she was neck deep in her studies.”
“How often have you been back to the States?”
“Never. I had planned to go home for her college graduation. She begged me not to. She knew Dad and Vanessa would be there, and she didn’t want to risk an embarrassing scene.”
“Surely she knew you wouldn’t ruin her special day.”
“Not me. Vanessa. My stepmother is a drama queen in every sense of the word. It’s best for everybody if I give my ‘parents’ a wide berth.”
“Did your father marry Vanessa to punish you?” I couldn’t imagine such a cold-hearted parent.
“I think she seduced him and not the other way around, although it probably occurred to him that hooking up with my ex would be a way to turn the knife. No, the punishment for my defection was writing me out of his will. As it stands now, Bella will inherit everything. And I’m fine with that.”
“She’ll probably give you your half when the time comes…won’t she?”
“Maybe. I won’t take it. She deserves the money for sticking around and putting up with my father.”
“I don’t even know what to say, Finley. My mom and dad are not exactly shining examples of good parenting, but their style was more benign neglect than outright manipulation. I’m so sorry.”
“It was a long time ago. I’ve moved on.”
That was perhaps the first lie Finley Craig had ever told me. He was still deeply hurt, or else his father wouldn’t have the emotional power to keep Finley away. A man without a country…that’s what Finley was. His self-imposed exile reminded him every day of his youthful mistake.
He was hardly the first man to be fooled by a woman. The experience had been compounded by the fact his father had been complicit in the whole scheme.
We had barely scratched the surface of Finley’s past. There were ten years of Scottish history unaccounted for. Suddenly, I wasn’t interested in a litany of his relationships while he’d been living in Portree.
I was far more curious about what was going to happen when we went back up the hill.
