have to put a few things in a holdall first of all. We’re going to meet up with your Aunt Jess at the hospital. She’s come up especially from the Lake District to stay in Inverness for the next day or two, and she says she’ll take you shopping as soon as you’ve been to see your mother. We can’t have you going around looking like scruffs any longer, can we?’
Cameron shrugged, obviously not much bothered either way, while Molly looked thoughtful. Izzy guessed she was already thinking about what she would like to buy.
‘Would you like a cup of tea or coffee?’ Lorna asked.
Ross shook his head. ‘Thanks, but I have to get a move on. Things are not going quite the way I planned this morning.’ He glanced around the kitchen. ‘You’re having trouble with the central heating, I gather? I’ll make arrangements for someone to come and deal with it.’
‘That would be good,’ Lorna told him. ‘It’s freezing in here in the mornings. And as to taking a tepid shower—I really can’t recommend it.’
‘No, I can imagine.’ He ran his gaze over Izzy, taking in the snug fit of her jeans and the stretch material of her jersey wrap top that clung where it touched.
She had no idea what he was thinking, but Izzy’s glance was frosty. ‘That’s not all that’s wrong,’ she said. ‘There are roof tiles that have been missing since the high winds two or three weeks back…and part of the fence has blown down.’
He frowned. ‘I didn’t notice that when I drove here. Whereabouts?’
‘At the side of the house.’ Izzy’s mouth made a crooked shape. ‘I tried to fix it temporarily, with nails and a few battens, but I doubt it will hold for very long. Carpentry’s not one of my skills, I’m afraid.’
Ross’s gaze was thoughtful. ‘I’m sure you’re a woman of many talents, but obviously you shouldn’t have been put in that situation. I can only say that Jake has had a lot to contend with of late, with various things happening in his family—illness and so on—or he would have seen to it.’
‘I didn’t realise that.’ Izzy was immediately concerned. ‘He didn’t say.’
‘No, he wouldn’t. Jake’s a proud man. He’s probably borne the brunt of the villagers’ animosity over the last few years.’ He straightened, becoming brisk in his manner. ‘Anyway, thanks for taking care of Molly and Cameron for me. You, too, Lorna.’ His brief smile encompassed both of them. ‘I’m sorry you’ve been troubled.’
‘They’ve been good as gold,’ Lorna told him. ‘They’re welcome to come and visit any time…preferably with your knowledge, of course.’
He nodded. ‘I’m sure they’ll want to come back fairly soon, but next time I’ll make certain they call you first.’
After that Ross didn’t hang around to make conversation, and Izzy wasn’t sure quite how she felt about that. It wasn’t really surprising that he would leave quickly. After all, she hadn’t been exactly welcoming in her manner. But perhaps he also recognised that she and Lorna had to go off to work.
Anyway, after she had given each of the children a hug, he led them away and settled them in his car. He drove away without looking back.
Izzy was filled with a strange sense of unease once he had gone. She felt somehow let down, with a hollow feeling inside despite the meal, and yet, in truth, how could she have expected anything more? As things stood, she was going against the grain by even associating with him.
If her father discovered that Ross had come visiting, he’d be have been agitated in the extreme, no matter that she was perfectly entitled to run her own life the way she saw fit. That ideology hadn’t stood Alice in any good stead, had it? She had been cut off from her family for several years, and was only back now because she needed specialist care and attention.
It grieved Izzy that her cousin should suffer this way. The Buchanans had a lot to answer for.
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