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“But they struggle, don’t they? With heating bills and access to education and getting off the island.”
“Yeah.” Minty nodded. “But everyone struggles to a certain extent. What they don’t realise is they struggle more now than they did last years, and the year before that, and the year before that. But the changes to taxes and the cost of living have been so gradual, they’ve been barely noticeable, and won’t be until it’s probably too late. We’re the frogs sitting in warm water. We don’t notice the temperature is slowly being turned up until we’re boiling to death.”
I looked away, out of the frosty window then glanced back at her timidly. “Do you trust that Rupert is going to end all of this?”
Minty held my gaze firm. “I’ve never been so sure of anything, Viv. That man has had enough. He could take anything those cretins threw at him but the second they laid a hand on you, that was it. He’s going to destroy it all, mark my words.”
I huffed out a sigh. It was one of relief and impatience. “What about Elspeth?”
She arched a brow. “When she hears the truth about Rupert and Hector, the last thing she’ll feel is a broken heart.”
I knew Minty hadn’t seen the slightly more human side to Elspeth that I had seen. “So, what will she feel?”
“She’s going to hit the roof. It isn’t just Rupert’s entire life that is a sham; everything she’s been raised to believe – that she was always destined for Rupert and was assured a place in the island’s most revered family – is a load of shit.”
Minty blinked as she assessed my reaction. “You know, Rupert wasn’t the only one pursuing someone outside of their fucked-up arrangement.”
I squinted in the icy sunlight. “What do you mean?”
“Elspeth has had a lover since high school. She thinks no one knows about it, and to be fair, she’s kept it very much hidden for the last few years. I guess as soon as it became clear Rupert was going to be choosing a wife, and pushing quite forcefully in her direction, she had to show some willing.”
“But…” I recalled very clearly the hell she’d given me before she ferried me off the island. “I really believed she wanted Rupert. There’s no way I’d have guessed there was anyone else.”
“She probably did want Rupert,” Minty said, prodding her fork into a slight sloggy-looking green bean. “He was the biggest catch on the island, and Elspeth is not, let’s say, without ego. Besides, her parents would have sooner sacrificed her on a cross then let her shack up with lover boy.”
My heart sank for her. “Who is he?”
Minty panned towards me slowly. “You remember Dan? The fisherman I introduced you to at the market, all those many moons ago?”
“Dan McDermot?” I remembered him well. “He was driving the boat that took me home.”
Minty lowered her lashes and stared meaningfully through them. “And who organised that boat, Viv?”
The vision of Rupert standing taut at the side of the port had blinded me to everything else around, but as the haze of my memory cleared, I remembered Dan watching Elspeth walk away after delivering her final ultimatum. I also remembered he didn’t say a word to me the whole journey back to Scotland.
“Elspeth,” I whispered. “Elspeth organised the boat.”
Minty sat back and sucked sauce off her fingers. “There you have it.”
“Elspeth and… Dan?”
Minty raised her brows and nodded.
“But she got me off the island so she could have Rupert to herself. Surely Dan must have known that.”
“Yeah, but like me, he always knew this would be the way. He knew what was at stake, that Elspeth couldn’t deny Rupert and neither could she appear to be non-committal. Her family would have disowned her. Marrying Rupert was written for her; it was her duty. Dan, I’m afraid to say, knew all of this. He had no choice but to stand back and watch.”
“Do you think they’re still together?” I asked, warily.
Minty picked up a prawn glistening with chilli oil and licked her lips. “I honestly don’t know. But they’ve had a thing for forever; it would take something big to separate them now. What I don’t know is whether this marriage with Rupert was big enough.”
I collapsed back against the sofa. “Wow. I would never have guessed.”
Minty quirked a smile. “She’s had plenty of practice in hiding it.”
“She could have taught me a thing or too. Apparently, my acting skills are far less accomplished.”
“You were doing fine until you threw yourself over an electric fence,” she replied.
