Page 73 of Chasing a Highland Dream

Isla sighed. ‘Aye, but it won’t be the same, will it? It won’t be as easy. She won’t be just up the road any more.’

‘Try not to think about it until you’re better, eh?’ Bella replied with a squeeze to her arm.

‘It’s a shame, really. Before my fall, I was beginning to think it might be a good idea for me to move into Sunnyside and it helped Maeve was there already.’

Bella gasped. ‘You’re not serious, are you?’

‘Aye, hen. I’m no’ getting any younger and my house has the stairs. What if I’d fallen there when you weren’t home?’ She shivered. ‘Your mum and dad have no room for me, and their house has stairs too. And we cannae live at the castle forever. And let’s be honest, hen, one day you’re going to want to move in with a man and get married. And if I’m still here, you’ll no’ want me around then.’

Bella’s eyes welled with tears at the thought. ‘Granny, that’s not going to happen any time soon, so please don’t worry. I’m not leaving you.’

Isla took her hand. ‘Arabella Douglas, I’m an eighty-five-year-old woman. I’m not going to be around forever but I’m not going to have you putting your life on hold in the meantime. Do you hear me?’

That dreaded lump of emotion threatened to close up her throat again. ‘Seriously, Granny, stop talking like that. I’m not putting anything on hold. There’s no one waiting in the wings for me so I’m all yours,’ she lied and caught Olivia looking at her with a crumpled, sad expression.

‘Aye, well, I’m beginning to think about my future, and my options.’

‘But you’ve always been so determined to stay independent, Granny.’

‘Aye, hen, but I wasn’t being realistic.’ Her expression showed defeat and Bella’s stomach knotted with sadness. ‘I’m a stubborn old boot. I’m where you get it from.’ She laughed.

‘But you love your house. All your memories are there. How could you bear to leave it?’

‘No, hen. All my memories are in here.’ She pointed to her head. ‘And if that fails me at some point, they’re in here.’ She pointed to her heart.

The drive home from the hospital was taken mostly in silence until Olivia spoke. ‘She does have a point about her house, honey. And be honest, if you and Harris get serious, you’ll want to be with him, and he’ll be on Skye.’

‘I’m not leaving Inverness, Liv.’

A parcel sat on her doorstep when Bella returned to the apartment; it had the insignia of the online college on the front, so she guessed it was her course materials. She picked it up and unlocked the door.

She was still reeling from Isla’s admission, and everything was beginning to weigh heavily on her mind. She clicked the kettle on, figuring she was British, and things could always seem better with a cup of tea. Well, surely they couldn’t seem worse?

Bella sat and cried into her mug of tea at the kitchen table. She had lied to her granny by omission about Harris, when she knew Isla would have been so happy for her. The trouble was it would have fuelled her reasons for talking about old people’s homes and the end of her life, which were things Bella wasn’t prepared to hear.

She picked up her phone to check for messages from Harris but there were none.

Beau was still up in the castle with Brodie and Olivia’s dogs, so she decided to open the course materials and have a look over them to keep her occupied. Eventually she fell asleep on the sofa with books about interior design strewn all over her and the floor.

Bella awoke to a scuffling sound and someone shouting. She was a little disorientated until she realised she was on the sofa where she had fallen asleep. She glanced at her watch to find it was 8 a.m. and was relieved she had slept; there was no doubt she needed it, but Harris hadn’t turned up, which compounded her worry he had believed Aiden’s cruel words. And now she was listening to something that sounded like a fight going on right outside her apartment. Her heart began to pound as she listened, frozen to the spot, wondering if she should call the police.

‘Candace!’ came a screeching male voice. ‘Candace, you’re being ridiculous! I told you it’s a writing retreat!’

‘Shit, that’s Aiden,’ Bella said to the empty room as she felt the colour rapidly drain from her face. Had his crazy ex found him and turned up?

‘You’re a liar, Aiden O’Dowd!’ came another voice, this time female. ‘You always lie and I’ve had enough!’ This time, the woman was sobbing.

Bella held her breath in order to hear. She stared out of the peep hole on the front door, but her view was limited. She saw the back of a blonde woman, her arms waving aggressively when she shouted, ‘I swore I wouldn’t put up with it again. I had to come and see for myself and here you are with her! That’s it! You’re not welcome at home any more.’

‘But this isn’t what it looks like, Candace!’ Aiden shouted and the woman stormed out of the foyer.

‘You say that every time!’

As Aiden followed the woman, Ailsa from the gift shop exited his apartment, a bundle of clothes in one arm, her hair messy and pulling her shirt on with the other hand. What the hell?

Bella’s phone pinged and she looked at the screen, doing her best to hold it steady.

Bella! The police are here! Are you okay?