Page 76 of Surprises on the Scottish Isle

‘I can explain.’

‘I don’t want to hear it. I’m over you, Cal. You can’t hurt me any more.’

‘I never meant to hurt you at all.’

‘But you did anyway.’ Her eyes flashed fury. ‘Go away, Cal. I’ll let you know if Bonnie changes her mind, but don’t hold your breath. She follows me – I don’t forgive people who break their promises either. You promised to love, honour and cherishme. Remember?’

Cal didn’t have the words. What Yvaine said was true. He had made those promises on their wedding day.

And when she slammed the door in his face, he realised there was only one way to win Yvaine over. He had to sacrifice his own happiness for his daughter’s.

When Tara returned to the boathouse and saw Cal’s car parked outsidehis cottage, her heart fluttered uneasily. She’d been on edge all day,hoping he would be able to make up with Bonnie, and she’d been temptedto ring him once or twice, but she hadn’t. He wouldn’t have had anythingto report until he’d spoken to his daughter anyway, and this morningshe’d sensed he needed a bit of time to get his head around Yvaine andBonnie catching them together.

Thankfully, Bonnie didn’t have a key to Cal’s house, otherwise Tara dreaded to think what might have happened.

She was about to head over to his place when she spied him on the jetty. He was sitting on the end of it, his feet dangling over the edge. His shoulders were hunched, and Tara felt another twinge of unease. Clearly things hadn’t gone well with Bonnie.

Her heart went out to him. Cal could probably do with some TLC this evening –ifhe didn’t prefer to be left alone.

Tara was prepared for either eventuality.

She consoled herself with the thought that Bonnie would unlikely sulk for long. The child would soon get used to the idea of having Tara in her life, and they could start to build a family unit of the three of them, albeit a part-time one. She would continue to be circumspect regarding any outward displays of affection towards Cal when Bonnie was around though, because she was conscious that Bonnie might feel a little possessive and not want to share her father.

Tara walked down the beach and stepped onto the jetty.

Cal appeared to be lost in thought, and it wasn’t until she put a hand on his shoulder did he realise she was there.

Sitting next to him, she said, ‘I take it Bonnie still isn’t speaking to you?’

‘No. Tara, I, um…’ He trailed off as his voice caught, and Tara’s unease turned to dread.

Something was very, very wrong.

‘What is it?’ she asked in a strangled voice, terrified what his answer might be but even more scared not to hear it.

He cleared his throat. She had an awful feeling he was close to tears, and her own eyes prickled in sympathy.

‘We can’t go on seeing each other,’ he said in a rush. ‘I’m sorry, but—’

‘Wait!What did you say?’

‘It’s over. Me and you, we can’t go on.’

‘I don’t understand. You’redumpingme?’

‘Not dumping as such, but we can’t be together any more.’

Tara barked out an incredulous laugh. ‘Isn’t that what dumping means?’

‘It’s not like that, Tara.’

‘What is it like?’

‘I’m trying to explain.’ His eyes were damp, but not as wet as hers.

Tears brimmed and spilt over to trickle down her cheeks.

He stared into the distance, refusing to meet her eyes. ‘I have to do this. God knows it’s the last thing I want, but Bonnie is my daughter and Yvaine is refusing to let me see her. She’s using the fact that I broke my promise to Bonnie as the reason, and that Bonnie doesn’t want anything to do with me. The only way I can think of to put this right is for us to split up. If I can convince Bonnie that I’m truly sorry…’ His voice thickened and he swallowed hard.

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