Pollyanna started speaking, and the rest of us hushed.
“Dixie took me under her wing, well, before she took three clients off me. That was the last time I saw her. I’m not mad about it.”
Cassie asked the questions. Presumably a familiar face. “Did she ever mention anything about her background?”
“I was chatting about visiting my dad, he lives in Uig, and she said that’s where she got the ferry to see her ma. Small world, isn’t it?”
Uig was a port in the northwest corner of the Isle of Skye. Gateway to the Outer Hebrides.
“Did she tell you which island?”
Pollyanna shook her head. “No, but she said she went on Sundays because it was the only day the ferry ran. In the off season, there’s only one or two islands that applies to.”
Already, I was searching on my phone, checking on the ferry routes. Tomorrow was Sunday, and though I no longer cared about finding Dixie for the vote, I wanted her safe.
Lovelyn connected her gaze to mine, I gave a small nod. We had a clue. The only step was to take it.
Chapter 47
Lovelyn
With swiftly packed bags, Kane and I drove north. Though Deadwater bordered Scotland, Uig was far away on the west coast, and half a day’s drive away, so we took the decision to start the journey now and stay overnight.
It was only when we rolled into another castle hotel that I sensed his theme. Apparently Kane Ryan now did grand gestures. I was not emotionally prepared.
He caught me staring. “Thought you’d like it.”
“You’re a secret romantic, I swear.”
A smile tugged at his lips. “Tell anyone and I’ll deny it, baby.”
Inside, he checked us in as Mr and Mrs Ryan again, and this time, in a room decked out in tartan and with a huge, canopy bed, he didn’t hide his words in lines on my skin. He said them out loud, often.
If the walls had ears, they now had a full education.
After dinner, served in our room, he rested back on the bed with a hand behind his head. “In the morning, before we go to the port, I want to go to Ma’s care home. It’s an hour out of our way, so means leaving earlier if we’re to have time.”
The boat didn’t leave until late morning. But it wasn’t that which had my heart hammering. He was rewriting all ourdamaged parts. The hotel where he couldn’t say he loved me. The care home where he broke us apart because of the damage done to him.
I took his free hand and twined my fingers through his. “Whatever you need me to do, I’ll do it. I’ll stay quiet or speak up. Just say.”
“It’s mine to handle. I can’t promise miracles, but I have a piece to say.”
At dawn, we drove out.
This time, Kane was quiet but not silent. He reassured me from time to time of his feelings. Stressed. Hurt. Needing my hand in his. But he didn’t shut me out.
We entered the bright reception to the ready smiles of a nurse.
“Kane! So lovely to have ye back. Bethan will be over the moon.”
She led us down to his mother’s room and let us inside. Kane gripped my hand like his life depended on it, leading the way to the bedside.
In her usual chair, Blair sat taller, eyes wide in outrage. “Why are y?—”
“Pipe down. I’ll talk to ye in a minute,” Kane said, but his focus didn’t leave his mum. He smiled for her, then released me to take careful hold of her hand.
My heart warmed. He’d wanted to do this before, but his aunt had stopped him. I raised my gaze to Blair, showing her with a look that she needed to stay quiet.
