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‘I’m not entirely sure. I mean . . . I’ve been thinking about coming back for a while now. I didn’t want to tell you until I was sure . . . but I think I’d like to stay here,’ she looked up at Kirsty.
‘In Arran?’ said Kirsty in disbelief. ‘You mean you don’t want to go back to Vancouver?’ She squealed in excitement as she reached to hug her.
‘I love it there but it’s not home,’ she said shyly. ‘And now I’ve been back here and seen you all and what Dad is going through . . . It doesn’t feel like returning to Canada is the right thing to do.’ She clasped her hands together and chewed her bottom lip.
Kirsty felt a flutter of excitement at the thought of having her sister back on a permanent basis. Then she felt cold when she realized that Amy might not feel the same once Kirsty had shared the secret, she had been carrying for so long.
She took a deep breath. ‘Look, Amy, it would be fabulous to have you back here for good. But you need to think this all through very carefully before you make any decisions.’
Amy looked at her in confusion. ‘I thought you’d be pleased that I wanted to stay on.’
‘Of course, I am,’ said Kirsty. ‘But I am just urging you to think it through properly and remember it’s not always like this with the blue skies and sun and the . . .’ She stopped mid-sentence. ‘Is James influencing this decision? I mean how would you feel ifhewasn’ton the scene?’
Amy looked annoyed and Kirsty couldn’t blame her. ‘What’s with all the questions, Kirsty? You should know me well enough to know that I wouldn’t make a rash decision like this based on a bloke. This has been something I’ve been mulling over for a while. That’s why I asked Josh to take over my classes indefinitely, so I wasn’t under any pressure to decide.
‘It’s since being back and seeing how much pressure you’re under with Dad that has made me decide. That and seeing how much I’ve missed out on family stuff over the past few years. Who knows what is around the corner, Kirsty. I don’t want to be away should something happen to Dad. It was hard enough to fly back and try and pick up the pieces after Mum died.’
Kirsty nodded, understanding where her sister was coming from.
But should she tell her now or should she wait until Emma returned from her days away? She suspected she would need to tell Amy sooner rather than later in case it should colour her decision to stay or not. She had a responsibility to be up front and honest with Amy. Finding the right time though when there were so many people around was going to be tricky.
‘Promise me one thing,’ she said, pleadingly.
‘What is that?’ said Amy.
‘Keep this all to yourself for a few more days until you have thought carefully about it. I just want to make sure you’re not being influenced by anyone or anything.’
‘Okay,’ she said warily. ‘Is there something you’re not telling me, Kirsty? You’re acting strangely.’
‘Let’s have a proper chat when all the wedding stuff is out of the way. Just think about what I said. Make sure you are doing this for all the right reasons. I want to make sure you are being true to yourself and that you’re happy. You deserve to be.’ She looped her arm around Amy’s shoulder and pulled her close, hoping that the closeness they had would never change regardless of what happened later.
Chapter Forty-Four
Emma opened her eyes and smiled, then she rolled onto her side and saw Max fast asleep. She traced her finger over the contours of his face, admiring every inch of him. He opened his eyes and grasped her hand, pulling it to his mouth and kissing her fingers one by one.
‘Good morning, my beautiful wife,’ he said with a wolfish grin. ‘What a sight to wake up to.’
‘You’re not too bad yourself,’ she said, ‘considering you hardly slept.’
‘I would have to argue that my time was very well spent, I think.’ His dark eyes danced in amusement.
‘It was,’ she said, moving towards him to kiss him again . . . just as his mobile started to ring. He ignored the buzz to begin with until it started again.
Groaning, he reached for it. ‘I’d better take this,’ he said when he saw the number. ‘Hello. Yes, this is Max.’
Emma rolled over, used to work interruptions like these and not in the least bit bothered by it. She understood completely as she had been rung plenty of times on days off and on holidays too. Standing up, she pulled on her silk dressing gown which Kirsty and Amy had thoughtfully left for her in the room last night along with matching pyjamas. Walking over to the window, she opened the blinds and let the morning sunshine flood the room.
Glancing back, Max had the phone clamped to one ear and his other hand raked through his dark hair, a sign he was stressed. What happened if he was needed back in Aberdeen? Had there been some terrible news that he was going to have to deal with? There was no point in even trying to guess what might be wrong. She gestured that she was going to have a shower, walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.
Standing under the warm water, she thought about the rollercoaster of emotions she had been through in the past few weeks and her worries that she wouldn’t actually have a wedding day. She wished she had confided in Max earlier and told him what she had been going through. She still felt so much relief knowing they were being honest with each other, and he loved her regardless of her fertility status.
Shuddering, she thought of the texts Ruth had been sending her over the past twenty-four hours. There had been some lovely pictures of her and Rex but accompanying them had been an undercurrent ofwoe is mewhich was so Ruth. Rex was feeding all the time, Ruth was shattered and said Emma could have no idea how tired she was as it was something she had never experienced before. Emma had given a wry smile. Ruth wasn’t exactly selling motherhood to her.
As she rinsed the shampoo from her hair, there was a knock at the door. Max stuck his head around the door.
‘Are you okay, love?’ she said, turning off the water.
His face fell and he looked regretful. ‘I don’t know how to tell you this.’
