And then he was gone, leaving her watching the big white door shut behind him.
That evening, Ezz left her car behind and set off on foot for Thistledome, Thea’s cottage, toiling up the steep lanes to the top of the village. An overcast night meant no stars to twinkle down, and apart from exchanging greetings with a couple of the Regular Drinkers near the pub, she saw no more evidence of Rothach residents than lights at cottage windows.
Fraser’s dog Scotty barked as she puffed past his gate in Balgown, the roses in his garden bare but for their thorns. When she finally made Loch View, she paused to look over the cottage roofs marching down to the beach between trees that grew in the direction the wind blew. A sense of peace descended. If it meant that she and Thea could stay in this beautiful spot she’d done the right thing confiding the truth about the accident in Mats Larsson.
Then she rapped the bee-shaped door-knocker ofThistledome. Daisy barked indignantly. Since Dev had moved in, Ezz no longer felt free to knock and enter. Delighted though she was that her little sis had found her soulmate, she had no wish to stumble into the sizzling sex life Thea was so smug about.
The door opened to reveal Dev and Thea grinning, and Daisy exhibiting the springs in her paws. ‘Hiya,’ sang Thea.
‘Arf, arf!’ shouted Daisy.
‘Thought you’d never come. I’m hungry,’ said Dev.
Ezz stepped into their welcome. ‘Hiya. So am I. Shush, Daisy.’ Everybody talked across one another as Ezz hung up her coat then turned and caught Thea stealing a quick kiss from Dev. ‘You two are sickening,’ Ezz mock-grumbled.
‘We know.’ Thea laughed and swished her ponytail as Dev smiled at her, his heart in his eyes. Ezz smothered a pang of envy. It wasn’t as if she’d planned to be single after coming to Skye. It was just that small rural communities had no nightclubs or anonymous bars for casual meetings – which was where the dating apps had come in. She’d chosen to date mainly off-island to avoid running into erstwhile casual dates, but the flipside was a thirty-to-forty-minute journey from home, even before Henry the auctioneer and Major Magic had unnerved her.
‘We have stew and herby dumplings.’ Thea steered Ezz down the hall towards the kitchen table, which was laid for three. ‘Dev, can you carry the dish to the table? I’ll strain the green beans.’
Ezz watched the easy way they moved around each other while Dev used a towel to lift the dish out of a multi-cooker, and Thea lifted a pan from the hob. Finally, theywere ladling stew onto plates, Daisy flopping into her dog bed with a sigh. Thistledome was strict in its no-dogs-fed-at-the-table policy.
‘Mm. This is gorgeous.’ Ezz cut into a dumpling with the side of her fork. ‘I wonder whether Valentina’s builder’s begun work. When I’m at the hall during daylight hours, it’s hard to spot what’s going on in the village.’
‘I saw his pick-up a couple of times.’ Dev lifted his cutlery. ‘But Valentina and Gary have to approve his plans before he can order materials. She’s only owned the cottage about three weeks. If she has to gain permission to change the windows, she might not achieve her goal of being here this summer.’
‘She will,’ Ezz and Thea chorused. Ezz added, ‘Big sis will organise the builder.’
‘She’ll find a way to get him to prioritise her job,’ Thea added with a wicked grin. ‘I’ll bet when we speak to her tonight, she’s made progress.’
It was only an hour later that they gathered around Dev’s laptop; Ezz squashing in with Thea and Dev on the sofa in Rothach, whilst Valentina sat in her elegant primrose-yellow dining room in Rosemarkie, Barnaby at her elbow. It was unusual for Dev to join one of these FaceTime chats, but Ezz thought maybe he wanted to hear who’d been right about Valentina’s builder.
Barnaby greeted them first, ready for bed in his pyjamas. ‘Yo,’ he said, standing beside Valentina’s chair.
Ezz burst out laughing, while Valentina’s jaw dropped. ‘Where on earth did you get “yo” from, Barnaby?’
‘Balbir at school.’ Barnaby’s brown hair fell in his eyes, and he flicked it out again with a cherubic smile. ‘Hello, Auntie Ezzie; hello, Auntie Thea and Uncle Dev. Dev, have you been watching footie?’ His eyes shone, havingrecently developed a love of football that his mum and aunts didn’t share. ‘Me and Dad watched Hibernian play Dundee. We support Hibs. It was two-two until Hibs scored in extra time.’
Valentina broke in. ‘Tell Auntie Ezzie and Auntie Thea what you’re looking forward to.’
Barnaby frowned. ‘Livingston being at home to Dundee?’
Valentina rolled her eyes. ‘Not football. We’re looking forward to visiting Rothach to see our new cottage, aren’t we?’
‘Yes!’ Barnaby’s eyes lit up. ‘We’re coming to stay, Auntie Ezzie.’
Valentina laughed. ‘It’s: Auntie Ezzie,may westay with you?’
‘Oh, yeah.’ Jiggling impatiently, Barnaby repeated the question in its polite form.
‘Of course,’ Ezzie agreed, before the little boy had finished. ‘Separate to your Christmas visit, do you mean? When?’
Valentina answered for him. ‘Separate, please – the weekend after next. I know you might be working, Ezz, but the builder wants to talk to me. He’s getting the partition wall up, and he’s ordered the new windows, but he needs to get the drains inspected and first we need to finalise options for the new bathroom.’
‘Is Gary coming?’ Ezz turned to smirk at Dev, because she and Thea had been correct about Valentina having the builder working already, but Thea and Dev were whispering together. Dev murmured something about waiting but Thea made outraged eyes and hissed, ‘No, now.’ Ezz turned back to the screen.
‘I think Gary will come,’ Valentina answered. ‘Thanks, Ezz. I hope it’s not too much trouble.’
‘Never. I haven’t got round to changing the bed you slept in a week ago,’ Ezz said with cheerful pragmatism. ‘Barnaby can have the camp bed as usual.’
