‘What?’
‘You were calling for him in your sleep, Beatrice. You miss him; you said as much yourself when we were swimming.’
‘I did?’
‘I don’t want to be the second fiddle again, Beatrice. So, I think it’s best if you just enjoy the ceilidh tomorrow and we go our separate ways on Monday.’
‘Atholl!’
‘You have to at least talk to him now you’ve worked through your feelings here, see if you want to patch things up…’ He winced at the words, but let them tail off with a nod. He was resolute, she could tell. She’d heard that tone before, when Rich was set on leaving. She had recovered some of her pride since then; she wasn’t going to beg again.
‘I’ll walk you back to the inn,’ he said, indicating her way back to the path alongside the freshly planted lavender.
At that moment Eugene appeared in a hurry around the side of the cottage.
‘Ah, you’re here! Kitty sent me out to look for you. Your sister’s been on the phone, Angela, is it? I said you’d ring her back… Hello Atholl.’ He stopped to place his hands on his knees and get his breath back. ‘I’ll away back to the inn. You must get a phone installed up here, brother!’
‘You didn’t open your parcel?’ Atholl had turned to Beatrice.
‘My parcel? Oh, the one you gave me. No, it must be in my room. Why?’
‘I got you a new phone so you don’t have to use the one by the bar.’
‘Oh. That was nice of you.’
‘Well, if you pair are done wi’ the scintillating chatter, I’ll be off. Cheerio!’ Gene called out before he paused, suddenly stuck to the spot, his eyes scanning the lavender field. ‘What’s a’ this?’
‘You’d better come inside, Gene.’
Atholl flashed Beatrice a cautious look as he led his incredulous brother away from the field and into the cottage.
Beatrice watched the lights flickering on inside and saw the gleam from the great copper still through the window. The low rumblings of their talk reached her but the words were indistinct.
As she approached the door, straining her ears, drops of rain touched her skin. It was cool, not at all the warm, grass-scented, dusty rain of summer. She shivered and peered inside the cottage.
‘Dinner with Kitty is one thing, and even starting up the evening seafood service is all right now that I’m used to it, butthis, Atholl? This is a step too far for my liking. Meddling with my wife’s land? It was not yours to touch. It was supposed to lie still ’til she came back and…’ His words ended in a gulp when he spotted the still in the corner. ‘Have you built this for Lana? So she can use it on her return? Or have you built it for yourself?’
Beatrice approached the doorway and looked between the two men, panicked and guilty. ‘I’m sorry, Gene, it was my idea. I wanted to help you and Atholl by setting you back on your path to…’
Eugene turned on Beatrice with tears in his eyes but determined to make his point. ‘Sort your own life out before you go sticking yur nose where it’s no’ wanted.’
‘Eugene!’ Atholl’s voice sounded a warning and a plea, but it was no use. He stalked out of the cottage and away back to the inn.
‘That didn’t go as well as I’d hoped.’ Atholl squirmed, rubbing at the ground-in earth on his hands. ‘Wait ’til he hears about the job advert I’ve put in the paper for a cleaner and a sous chef.’
‘I’m sorry Atholl.’
‘No. No more sorries eh, Beatrice? Let’s just get back to the inn.’
Chapter Twenty-Four
Eugene’s Escape
‘So you were out at the But n’ Ben last night?’ Kitty said from the top of the stepladder. She’d been biding her time with small talk as they shared the task of decorating the bar room, but by now she was on tenterhooks.
‘Sorry if I worried you. When I woke up I went to find Atholl.’
‘Gene said as much. You know, Gene’s been pretty quiet since he got back. He left Mrs Mair to do the breakfast service this morning.’
