Page 47 of Wishing Under a Starlit Skye
Caitlin gave an incredulous laugh as anger began to bubble in the pit of her stomach. How selfish could one person be? ‘You can’t be surprised. I mean… it might have been better if you’d talked to me about this when we were alone, and then we could have discussed things rationally. Making such a huge announcement on Cora’s birthday seems incredibly unfair. This day should be about her.’ She sighed deeply.
He fiddled with his napkin. ‘It is about her. And all of us. I wanted it to be extra-special and I knew she’d be happy. Shame I can’t say the same about you.’
Caitlin fell silent for a moment, trying to figure out what to say to lighten the mood, but no appropriate words would come. ‘Is your mind completely made up about leaving Skye? Or is this something you’re in the process of considering?’
‘I’ve already accepted,’ Lyle replied in a monotone voice. ‘We – Cora and I that is – move in a month.’ He lifted his gaze and gripped her hand again. ‘You could follow on at a later date, say the month after? That gives you a little more time to sort things out, put the bakery on the market and—’
That thought horrified her. ‘Lyle, I… I don’t want to sell my bakery. I’ve built that business up from virtually nothing.’
He waved a dismissive hand. ‘Well, rent it out long term and then, when you’ve changed your mind, sell it at that point.’ He shrugged as if it was the most obvious and simple decision. ‘I want this for us, so much, Caitlin. I want you.’
‘But Lyle, we haven’t even…’ She checked to make sure the girls were out of earshot. ‘We haven’t even slept together, and you’re talking about us relocating to a whole other continent and living as a family? There are steps a relationship usually goes through, but I think we’ve skipped a few, don’t you? You must see how crazy that is, surely?’
‘The sleeping together part is easily remedied.’ He gave a sort of lascivious grin, but when she didn’t agree, he pulled his lips between his teeth and fell silent for a few moments. ‘I’m never impulsive, Caity. I’ve spent my life doing whatever Fenella wanted. Taking no risks. Living a staid life. Eating what she wanted, living where she wanted. But this time, I want to be daring. I want excitement and I have that with you. You and I feel right together. You know we do. The girls are already like sisters, it would be such an easy transition.’
She scoffed. ‘For whom? Certainly not for me. And not for Grace. Skye is all she has ever known. Her life is here.’
He huffed. ‘Yeah, well maybe it’s time to broaden her horizons. You can’t keep her a prisoner on this island for her whole life, you know.’
‘How dare you? I don’t treat my daughter like a prisoner.’ The anger that had begun to bubble now rose to a simmer. Her heart continued to hammer at her ribcage and her stomach roiled. How was this all happening?
Lyle sighed and stood to pace the room. ‘That’s not what I meant, and you know it. I just… I want this for all of us.’ His gaze was pleading once again. ‘I want us to be a family. We’re pretty much one already. It’s just a matter of relocating us.’
‘Lyle, we’ve been dating for a matter of weeks. I can’t move thousands of miles away and take Grace out of school on a whim. And there’s Cleo to think of, too, I’d need to look into all of that.’ In truth, however, she knew there would be nolooking intoanything. The fact remained that she didn’t want to go and neither did Grace.
Lyle gave an evidently exasperated sigh. ‘Cleo is a dog, for goodness’ sake. We can get a new one over in Canada.’
Caitlin gasped, once again aghast at his attitude and his intimation that Cleo wasn’t an important member of their family. ‘I don’t want another dog. We have Cleo and she’s an integral part of our family, mine and Grace’s. And what if we go through all of this and things don’t work out? What then?’
Lyle stopped pacing and glared at her. ‘Oh, it’s great to see you thinking so positively about our future.’
Caitlin stood, too, knowing full well her face was no doubt beetroot-red. ‘Lyle we may not even have a future. It’s too early to tell. I can’t rush into decisions this big so soon. I’m really sorry.’
Lyle clenched his jaw. ‘I’m offering you a new beginning, Caitlin. A wonderful new life in a new country with new experiences.’
New, new, new. What’s wrong with old?thought Caitlin. ‘But that’s just it, Lyle, I don’t want a new beginning. Not such a drastic one, and not like this. And I don’t want a new life either. I happen to like the one I have very much. I don’t need to go on an adventure and move to Canada. I love Skye, I love Glentorrin. And what’s more, I love Grace. I’m sorry, but she comes first, and I could see it in her eyes that she doesn’t want to move to Canada. This just isn’t right for us, I’m sorry.’
He rubbed his hands over his face. ‘How can you say that? How do you know it’s not right? You saw Cora’s reaction, she’s over the moon.’ He pointed in the direction the girls had gone.
‘For now, she is. But what about when she realises that she’ll be thousands of miles away from her mum?’
‘She’ll get over it. And Fen can come and visit if she wants to. I’ve no problem with that.’ He shrugged.
Caitlin couldn’t believe how matter-of-fact he was being. ‘Has Fenella even agreed to this?’
He folded his arms defensively across his chest. ‘Actually, yes. She’s all for it. I wouldn’t be doing it otherwise, would I?’
Caitlin couldn’t conceive of a mother agreeing for her child to be taken partway across the world and being – all for it. It just seemed wrong. It was wrong! ‘Oh… well it’s something I personally couldn’t do. And I’m not prepared to take Grace away from everything she knows. Again, Lyle, I’m sorry, truly I am.’
He clenched his jaw and rubbed at his brow. ‘Is this about Archie?’
She sighed and peered up at the ceiling. ‘Oh, for goodness’ sake. We’re onto this now, are we?’
‘Well, can you blame me? He’s every-bloody-where we go. He clearly fancies you. He’s obviously waiting around for you and me to not work out so he can swoop in.’
‘Lyle, get your head out of the clouds! This is about me and my daughter, and only me and my daughter.’
‘And your stupid dog,’ he mumbled.
