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Chapter Nineteen
Having a solid plan helped lighten Bella’s mood. If the worst happened and Ian had to “let her down gently” as they said in the Cosmo advice columns, she was a big girl. She could handle it.
But life threw her a curve she hadn’t expected. When she got back to Finley’s house, Ian was gone.
“What do you mean, he’s gone?” she demanded, trying not to lose it completely.
The expression in her brother’s eyes was a mixture of sympathy and frustration. “I’m saying he packed up his things after breakfast, gave me some dumb-ass excuse about being needed back at work, and lit out of here like he stepped on a rocket.”
“Did you point out it might be polite of him to linger and tell me good-bye himself?”
“Of course I did,” Finley shouted. “The man cleaned out his room and drove away. I don’t know what else to tell you.”
Bella burst into tears, big ugly sobs that burned her chest and left her embarrassed and miserable.
McKenzie glared at her new husband. “Go build a motorcycle or something. This is a problem for women to deal with. You’re making things worse.”
Finley didn’t need a second invitation. He disappeared faster than snow in the desert.
“I’m sorry,” Bella blubbered, wiping her face with both hands. “You’re on your honeymoon. I’m ruining everything.”
McKenzie took her hand and led her to the loveseat. “Don’t be so dramatic,” she said calmly. “Nothing is ruined, and to be honest, I think you should be excited that Ian left so abruptly.”
Bella gaped. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that your big, macho scientist heard you talk about going home and he freaked out.”
“I don’t think that’s what happened.”
“I was there. I saw his face. Do you have another explanation?”
“He’s not really hiding out from the press anymore. I think he tolerates it now. The award ceremony with the queen is over. He probably really did need to get back to work.”
“Without saying good-bye to you?”
“He wasn’t sure how long I would be gone today.”
“Fine.” McKenzie sighed. “I’ll tell you, though, the man is not indifferent to you.”
Bella would have laughed if she hadn’t been so distraught. The distance between not indifferent and love was as wide as the ocean that would soon separate her from Ian. “I don’t know what to do,” she whispered, her throat raw from crying.
McKenzie wrapped both arms around Bella and held on tight. “You said you have ten days before you need to go back to the real world. Use that time to step out in faith and decide what it is you really want.”
* * *
Ian shouldn’t have been driving. Though he was stone cold sober, his much-touted brain was useless. Bella was leaving him. The gaping hole in his chest made it hard to breathe. He’d never been an impulsive man. His method of attack when it came to problems was to lay out the parameters, study the variables, and predict various outcomes based on the data in hand.
The scientific method was a joke when it came to understanding women.
When he set out from Portree, he’d intended to drive straight through to London. Instead, he found himself taking the turnoff toward Glasgow. Four hours later, he pulled into a carpark alongside a beige, institutional building. The grounds were nicely tended, but nothing could disguise the sadness inside those walls. He gipped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white.
What was the point of stopping by? She wouldn’t know who he was. She hadn’t recognized him for a long time. Still, he made the trip on her birthday and at Christmas. Today was neither.
His father, God love his crotchety, closed-off self, dutifully came twice a month. To this day, Ian didn’t really understand why. This woman had betrayed her wedding vows, abandoned her husband and young son, and ruined the reputation of a man to whom she had pledged her eternal devotion.
Even more inexplicable than Ian’s father’s regular visits was the fact that the senior Mr. Larrimore had married his wife a second time when she became ill and needed health insurance. Ian had never understood and likely never would.
The urge to flee was strong, but now that he had driven this far, it seemed crazy to walk away. Instead, he got out of the car, trudged up the shallow front steps, waited to be buzzed in by security, and signed the visitor register in the lobby.
