Page 104 of Summer Escapes on the Scottish Isle

This was too much: finding out that her dad had a serious, debilitating disease and realising that she wouldn’t go to New York, then now being told that she could go after all, if she wanted, and that the man who could make this happen was in love with her— She felt overwhelmed.

‘I can’t deal with this,’ she said, backing away and shaking her head in disbelief. She turned on her heel, walking fast.

‘Freya! Stop.’

She carried on walking.

He didn’t try to follow. When he called after her, ‘At least think about it,’ she ignored him.

Hurrying home, she didn’t want to think about it, but she thought about it anyway, because Mack was offering Freya her life back. He was giving her a way to escape this island for a second time. And the temptation to take it was so incredibly great.

‘Freya, is that you?’

‘Yes, Dad.’ She hung her coat in the tiny cupboard under the stairs and kicked off her boots.

‘I didn’t expect you back so soon,’ he called. He was in the sitting room, watching TV. ‘Where did you go?’

‘Not far, a walk down by the loch. Tea?’ Hopefully, the time it took to make it would give her a few more minutes to compose herself, because she hadn’t done a very good job of it on the way home.

She squeezed her eyelids shut, a pulse throbbing at her temple. Freya wished Mack hadn’t said anything. But he had and now she couldn’t stop thinking about it, her emotions swinging from hope to despair, from temptation to denial.

What should she do? Whatcouldshe do? What was she brave enough to do?

It’s too late, she told herself. She had already turned down the offer from the Black and White Art Academy. Jocasta Black wouldn’t be amused if she sent another email telling her she’d changed her mind and would like the job after all.

But if Freya explained…?

Her dad appeared in the doorway, making her jump.

‘I thought you were making a cup of tea?’ he said, then he saw her face. ‘Freya? What’s wrong?’

‘Mack is in love with me.’ The words slipped out of her mouth before she could stop them.

‘Is that all? I thought something awful had happened.’

‘You know?’ If Mack had spoken to her dad about this before—

She gasped. Had they cooked it up between them? She wouldn’t put it past her dad to have talked Mack into this hare-brained scheme. No wonder her father had gone quiet lately; he’d been busy hatching this!

‘I guessed,’ Vinnie said. ‘He looks at you the way you look at him.’

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

‘Me and your mother used to look at each other like that. You make a lovely couple.’

Freya slumped into a chair. ‘He’s got this idea.’

She worried at her lip, wondering if it was wise to tell her dad. If he hadn’t been in on it before, he’d be all for it once he knew. She would hardly get an unbiased opinion. But she was so confused, she had to talk it over with someone, and this affected him too…

When she’d finished telling him, she waited for him to list all the reasons why she should agree to Mack’s plan, but he didn’t say a word.

Instead, he filled the kettle and took two mugs off the wooden tree. Today was one of his better days, the tremor in his hand barely noticeable and his gait less of a shuffle.

He waited until they had a cuppa in front of them before he spoke.

‘Love is a funny thing,’ he said. ‘You can’t make it happen, and you can’t make it go away. It’s just there. Sometimes it’s the most beautiful thing in the world and it brings you more joy than you can ever imagine. And sometimes it brings you more pain than one person should ever have to bear.’

His eyes grew damp and Freya knew he was thinking about her mum. She reached across the table and clasped his hand, and he smiled tearily.

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