‘Yes, but darling, do you really want to stay here in the middle of nowhere?’
Izzy thought for a moment, looking at the distant skyline of snow-covered hills watching a bird of prey crest the horizon, the sun sparkling on the snow crystals. ‘I don’t think I could leave now. I love it here. I feel like I’ve found my place. I love having a kitchen full of people. With Jim, Jeanette and Duncan, it’s like a whole new family. I’ve found what I want to do.’ She’d found a purpose and liked looking after people.
They walked on, both lost in thought. The world was quiet, the sounds deadened by the layer of snow around them.Yes,thought Izzy. She could stay here. This was what she wanted to do. She’d enjoyed her trip to Edinburgh when she’d gone with Ross but this was home in a way that nowhere else had ever been.
‘Look! It’s Alicia. Yoohoo! Alicia!’ Then her mother added, ‘And Ross.’
Izzy shot her mother a reproachful glare. Xanthe held up her hands. ‘I didn’t. This is just a coincidence.’ Then, with an impish grin, she said, ‘Maybe it’s meant to be.’
‘And maybe it isn’t,’ growled Izzy.
Xanthe floundered through the snow towards Alicia and Ross. ‘Isn’t this wonderful?’ She and Alicia greeted each other as if they hadn’t seen each other in days rather than a mere half an hour.
‘It’s glorious,’ said Alicia. ‘I’m thinking about expanding my idea for a new collection. I could call it the Kinlochleven Castle Winter Collection.’ Izzy followed her mother, feeling her spirits drop as she pasted a resigned smile on to her face.
‘Hello,’ she said to Ross when she caught up with him and his mother. Alicia and Xanthe had already abandoned them, talking like a pair of parakeets, squawking and shrieking about the light, the colours and how inspiring it all was. Ross stood facing her.
‘Sorry,’ said Izzy. ‘I don’t think this was planned.’
‘No matter,’ he said. ‘How are you?’
‘I’m fine,’ said Izzy in a pert voice. Did he think she was heartbroken or something? Arrogant git. ‘You?’
‘Good. Lovely day.’
‘It is.’
Ahead of them they could hear the two women’s animated chatter bouncing from the still water of the loch.
‘I’ve never known my mother take to someone quite like she has to Xanthe.’
‘Same. Xanthe has lots of friends but no one she’s close to. She really likes your mum.’
‘They are exhausting though.’
‘They are but they’re not doing anyone any harm.’
He shrugged.
They fell into step beside each other in awkward silence.
‘How’s the book coming along?’
‘The first draft is finished.’
‘So will you be leaving after Christmas?’
Ross dug his hands into his pockets and carried on walking for several steps. ‘I’d like us to be friends but I’ll understand if you’d rather I left.’
Izzy swallowed. Did she want him to stay? Part of her did and another part of her wasn’t sure that she could bear it.
‘I need to think about it,’ she finally admitted.
‘I’ve made a mess of things. I’m sorry.’
She shrugged. It was as much her fault as his. She’d fallen into the same old pattern of falling for someone and mistaking how they felt about her because she couldn’t believe they didn’t feel the same way.
‘Let’s chalk it up to experience,’ she said without bitterness. ‘It was a fling.’
