The Rock had been opened up; from the jetty there was a great red carpet leading up the steps, where braziers were lit to show the way to the old wooden front door. Toasts had been made and plans had been drawn up for when the venue would be open – all very speculative, it seemed.
Flora had finished work and gone back to the farmhouse to find it empty; no one had thought to tell her where they all were. Eventually she’d figured it out and gone stomping down to the jetty, where Bertie Cooper, who helped Colton with transportation, beamed happily to see her (he’d always had a soft spot for her). He took her round the headland to save her walking the length of the Endless. It was a chilly night and Flora dug her hands into the sleeves of her jumper. She’d heard nothing about the lightning visit. But maybe, she thought, just maybe, Joel had come as a surprise …
Colton was sitting holding court in the warm corner of the bar, next to the crackling fire, Fintan on his lap. Lots of people from the village had spied the lights on and ‘popped by’ to see what was occurring; there was laughter and merriment and young Iona was singing in a corner, hardly pausing when she saw Flora except to wave cheerfully.
Flora scanned the room slowly. No sign of Joel.
‘Hi, Colton,’ she said, going over and kissing him, and he hugged her back.
‘You didn’t bring your lawyer with you?’ she said, trying to sound playful and failing mightily.
‘He’s too busy,’ said Colton, ‘doing good things for me.’ He saw Flora’s face. ‘Aw, hey, listen. He just wants to get everything done. Sorry. I gave him a lot to do. I decided at the last minute, okay? I haven’t even seen him.’ At least he had the grace to look ashamed of himself. He ruffled Fintan’s hair. ‘Sorry, Flora. I’ve had a lot on my mind.’ He kissed Fintan lightly. ‘I just … I just had to get home, even for one night. I dropped everything.’
Flora nodded. ‘Sure,’ she said.
She wandered back to town. It looked like being a jolly rowdy night, but she had to be up at the crack of dawn. And somehow, she just wasn’t in the mood. She picked up the phone to call Joel, then put it back down again. There was no point in starting a fight, even if he picked up at all.
The next time Joel was home they’d talk. They had to talk. She’d said this the last four times he’d come home, then he’d walked through the door and pulled off all her clothes and somehow the moment had gone. She sighed and pulled out her notebook to see if there was anything she didn’t have organised for the wedding of the …
Speak of the devil, for Charlie himself was walking up the high street pursued, as usual, by a long line of mites – wan, thin children from deprived areas of the big cities of the mainland. Flora waved to him. ‘Well met, Teàrlach,’ she hailed him cheerily. ‘I haven’t seen you since I heard the good news. This is great!’
Charlie didn’t say that he had been deliberately avoiding her. He had had a very soft spot for Flora the previous summer, and had hoped that they might be able to start something. But as soon as he’d set eyes on the handsome, square-jawed lawyer up from London, he’d realised he didn’t have a chance.
And he had known Jan for a long time. They worked together. She had a good heart. They were a good match. All would be fine. It was only for a millisecond, watching Flora’s pale hair flutter in the breeze, that he felt a tiny twinge for what might have been. And what was even more difficult, if he was honest with himself, was the sense that she genuinely was very happy for him and Jan – that she was not thinking about what might have been at all.
‘Thank you,’ he said, going up to her and accepting her kiss on each cheek, although they got it slightly wrong and Flora remembered about halfway through it was only people from London who did this and it might look a bit weird. It was too late to extricate herself even though both of them separately wished that actually people still just shook hands.
‘And where are you all from then?’ she said, deflecting attention onto the boys.
‘Govan!’ said one, and the rest all cheered.
‘And how are you liking it here?’
They shrugged. ‘There’s nae PlayStation,’ said one and they all nodded.
‘And nae Irn-Bru.’
Flora looked at Charlie mock-crossly. ‘I can’t believe you’re depriving them so badly!’
‘Och no, it’s all right, it’s good, it’s all right,’ said one of the boys, a tiny mite dwarfed in the orange waterproofs they wore in the hills. He looked terrified, as if Flora had the power to send him home.
‘Yeah, it’s fine,’ chorused the others rapidly.
Flora smiled. ‘Well, you can stay then.’
She glanced at Charlie. ‘We have some leftover raisin scones tonight – Isla was on Snapchat and let them burn a little bit. We can’t sell them, but if you’d like them, they won’t kill you.’
Charlie smiled gratefully as the boys jumped up and down in delight. ‘Thank you,’ he said, and she darted in to get the bag.
He turned to go with the boys. ‘I am really pleased for you, you know,’ Flora said as he walked away. He glanced back. His blond hair glistened in the evening sun, and his kind face looked a little conflicted.
‘I know you are,’ he said. ‘I know.’
But Flora was already looking back down at her phone. Maybe she should call him after all.
Lorna passed by five minutes later, seeing Flora still trying desperately to get a signal. ‘Are you not coming up to the Rock?’ she said. ‘There’s a hoolie on.’
‘I know,’ said Flora crossly.
‘Well, why don’t you just go there?’ Lorna was saying. ‘For the weekend. Can’t Colton take you back?’
Flora blinked. ‘But there’s so much on …’
‘There’s always a lot on,’ said Lorna.
‘Fly to New York for the weekend?’ said Flora. ‘Don’t be mad. I might as well fly to the moon. Plus, I’d still have to get a flight home. Anyway, Colton wouldn’t take me in case I distract Joel.’
‘Come on,’ said Lorna. ‘Just buy yourself a ticket then. Joel is absolutely minted.’
‘Well, that’s got nothing to do with me,’ said Flora stiffly. She didn’t like discussing Joel’s money; it felt grubby, like it got in the way. She didn’t even know how much he made. ‘And I’ve got a wedding to organise.’
‘Don’t be daft. Four vol-au-vents per head and a few sausage rolls and they’ll be delighted. You could do it standing on your head. Haven’t you got that farm money?’
Flora looked uncomfortable. Last year the farm had been sold to Colton, who was using it entirely to supply his own enterprises. Her share, obviously, hadn’t been as big as her father’s or her brothers’, who’d worked on it and run it. But she had got a share nonetheless.
‘I was saving it,’ she said. ‘This place … it doesn’t give me a pension or anything, and I didn’t save a penny from London, even though I had a big salary.’
Lorna found this astonishing. ‘Why not?’
‘Because rent is insane and travel is insane and lunch and going out and …’
‘Could you not have gone out less?’
‘No,’ explained Flora patiently. ‘Because all your money goes on renting a horrible place, so you want to be out as much as possible.’
Lorna nodded like this made sense.
‘Anyway. I should probably keep it. For a rainy day. I don’t think the Kitchen is going to make me rich.’
‘But if you’re as worried as you say …’ Lorna let the sentence tail off. ‘I mean, are you in a relationship or not?’
‘Possibly not if I turn up by surprise.’
‘Well, tell him you’re coming.’
Flora looked up, and Lorna was amazed suddenly by how unhappy her friend looked. ‘What if he says no?’ she said simply.
‘Is it really that bad?’
‘I don’t know,’ admitted Flora. ‘I don’t know if he’s playing at being here, or what. He emailed me yesterday to say he’s going to be away another full month. I mean, for God’s sake …’
‘Well then. I don’t think you have any choice. Come back to the Rock with me.’
‘No,’ said Flora. ‘But I will think about it.’
Chapter Eleven