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‘I know, I know. You are right. There never will be a right time. I need to bite the bullet and be honest. Otherwise, there’s no point in having a wedding, is there? I don’t want to start out our married lives by lying to him. That’s not fair.’
‘Yes, I agree,’ said Kirsty, relaxing her shoulders slightly. ‘I will be thinking of you, Emma.’ At least Emma sounded a bit more confident about her intentions to tell him, though Kirsty didn’t envy her one bit.
‘Any advice?’ asked Emma anxiously.
The kitchen window was open and the scent of lavender wafted in. Kirsty took a deep breath. ‘All I can say is be yourself and be honest and . . . remember it’s Max. He loves you and he’ll be so sad that you’ve been carrying this burden alone for so long.’
Emma gave her a small smile. ‘Thanks, Kirsty. I’ll do my best. See you later.’
Kirsty waited until she heard the back door close, then glanced out the window. She watched Emma’s forlorn figure walk down the driveway. Sighing, she continued to unload the dishwasher, jumping when Steve put his hand on her shoulder.
‘Oops, sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,’ he said with a cautious smile.
‘I was miles away, again,’ said Kirsty. ‘Just thinking about Emma.’ Kirsty had filled Steve in on the basics and sworn him to secrecy. ‘She’s off to see Max now and tell him . . . I just wish I could wave my magic wand for her and sort it all out.’
‘I know, love, but you need to leave them to figure it out.’
‘You’re right.’ She smiled at her husband, who looked earnestly back at her. Would he think less of her for withholding a huge secret too? Though she couldn’t imagine ever keeping anything from him. ‘Hopefully he will understand why she hasn’t told him.’
He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. ‘She has her reasons for keeping it to herself and that is understandable.’ He paused. ‘I hope you know you can always tell me anything, love?’
‘Of course,’ she said lightly. ‘Now come on, let’s just check we’ve done all the things on the spreadsheet.’ She kissed him gently on the lips again and then backed away.
He groaned. ‘Okay, but how about a walk first? If everyone is busy doing things and we are all organized for tomorrow, we could do the coastal path over to Lamlash. It’s ages since we did that, and I would quite like some time with you; tomorrow will be manic and I can’t remember the last time we had some quality time together.’
Kirsty had to admit that the thought was appealing. She smiled at him, quickly glanced at the spreadsheet, then looked out the window. Although it was a bit cloudy, she could see patches of blue in the sky, a sign that it would soon be fine, especially as the weather outlook was sunshine for the next seven days. The thought of fresh air and time chatting with Steve outside was really welcome.
‘That sounds like a great idea,’ she said softly. ‘It looks like we’re up to speed with everything for today, anyway.’ She looked up at him. ‘I love you, Steve.’
‘Hey, are you okay?’ he asked, looking at her closely.
‘I’m fine. Honestly. It’s just all been crazy around here since Emma and Amy came back and you’re so patient with us all. I probably don’t tell you how much I appreciate you, but I really do.’
Steve chuckled. ‘There certainly is never a dull moment with those two around. Now come on, let’s go while we can and while the coast is clear. I’ll go and grab my shoes.’
The kids were working and, as far as she knew, Amy was still in bed asleep. She had heard her come in late last night and was keen to find out how her date had gone with James. But there would be plenty of time to hear about that later.
Life seemed very exciting all of a sudden, in a change from her usual mundane day-to-day life of laundry and breakfasts. She couldn’t quite believe both sisters were home — and facing potential romantic challenges. She had better make the most of it because she knew this time would go in a flash and then everyone would be away back to their lives and the twins would leave to start the next chapter of theirs. Then it would just be her and Steve and, of course, Dad.
Her phone pinged with an incoming message. Picking it up she read the message out.
‘Kirsty, the mystery inspectors have just left me. Just thought I should give you a heads up. I inadvertently saw some paperwork they had left lying out in their room. They are heading to Arran today and will be there for the next few days. Good luck! Angela x’
Kirsty’s heart sank. She was grateful for Angela’s tip off, but it wasn’t the news she had hoped for. Angela ran an Airbnb in Troon, and they had kept in touch after meeting at a tourism conference held a few years ago in a top Ayrshire hotel. They’d both felt a bit out of their depth with their smaller establishments and so had immediately hit it off.
Kirsty could have screamed in the here and now though. The inspectors were on their way to the island — just when they were closed due to the wedding party. They couldn’t even take part! Bang went the chance of winning any of the cash prizes on offer that would have gone towards the upgrade and renovation of Meadowbank. But what could they do? There was no point in crying about it, she told herself sternly. Emma’s wedding came first, and the renovations would just have to wait.
‘It’s not the end of the world, love,’ said Steve, reading the text too. ‘Look on the bright side. At least we don’t need to spend the next couple of months worrying that an inspector is going to pitch up.’
Kirsty shrugged and rolled her eyes. ‘I know, you’re right. It’s just annoying.’
‘Come on,’ said Steve. ‘Let’s get out and enjoy the sunshine while we can.’
Kirsty filled a couple of water bottles, quickly buttered some rolls and filled them with cheese salad then popped them in a small rucksack along with some suntan lotion and a hat.
She knew a walk would be a welcome distraction and take her away from the swarm of buzzing thoughts going round and round in her head.
Chapter Thirty-Five
