Page 22 of Sanctuary at MacLeod's Cove
‘Since it was the opposite of what I had before.’
‘Sam?’
Jen nodded. ‘I thought he didn’t love me enough, because he wanted me to be free. He used to tell me I should go where I wanted, do what I wanted and that we’d make it work somehow. I thought that showed he didn’t care.’
‘Oh,’ said Lucy, suddenly at a loss for words, looking along the shore, away from the cluster of lights that marked the village, towards where the houses stopped and the park started.
‘So I ended the relationship and left anyway.’ She followed Lucy’s gaze. Her eyes narrowed. ‘I don’t remember a house on the point out there.’
‘There’s not. Not yet anyway. But there will be. It’s Sam’s.’
‘Sam’s?’
‘Yes, it’s where Sam’s going to build.’ Lucy pointed to the light. ‘That’s the lantern hanging on his caravan where he keeps his stuff. He must still be there.’
So much for keeping her distance from him. The man she’d rejected so many years ago, and who’d refused to even talk to her afterwards, was going to live in sight of her family home. How could life have thrown her another curveball when she was still dealing with the last one?
She spun away and stepped up to the house ahead of Lucy. They were different people now, she said to herself firmly. She’d be able to talk rationally to him, and hopefully he would do the same. Two grown ups. How hard could it be?
‘Give Mum a kiss goodnight,’ said Lucy, grabbing her bag from the back of a chair. ‘I’ll go around the side.’ She shook a wet leg. ‘Mum won’t want me trailing through the house like this.’
‘Will do. I’ll strip here.’
Lucy tossed her a wrap from the back of the chair. ‘There you go. Wouldn’t want you scaring the neighbours!’ She shot a quick, mischievous look up the coast to Sam’s caravan.
Jen threw a cushion at her.
Lucy laughed. ‘Glad you’ve come home, sis.’
Jen grinned. ‘Me too.’
‘And I meant that about coming around for a drink. We’ve got a lifetime to catch up on.’
Jen stepped out of her jeans, wrapped the shawl around her waist and looked up at the attic window where the nightlight glimmered. She sent a silent prayer of thanks into the night before stepping inside to the warmth of the kitchen.
Kate looked at her over her reading glasses. ‘Nice walk?’
‘Beautiful.’ She held up her wet jeans. ‘Lucy and I went into the sea. She went straight to the car. Reckoned you wouldn’t appreciate her trailing through the house.’
Kate shook her head and smiled. ‘You two! Like a couple of kids.’
‘I guess we’re filling in the gaps in our relationship.’
Kate rose and took the wet jeans from her. ‘I’ll leave these in the laundry, and we can deal with them tomorrow.’
‘Thanks, Mum. It’s so good to be back. You know, I feel Liam and I are safe for the first time in forever.’
Kate hesitated, jeans in hand, in the doorway. ‘I hope you are.’
Jen frowned. ‘We have to be.’
‘You have to be prepared, that’s what you have to be,’ said Kate. ‘Because Alistair will come, won’t he? He might have your money, he might have everything else he wants, but he no longer has control. And that’s what you said he values most.’
Kate didn’t wait for a reply, but stepped into the laundry, leaving Jen alone with her mother’s warning ringing in her ears.
Chapter Seven
The next morning, Kate called a family meeting as soon as they’d finished breakfast. Liam’s mouth formed a concerned ‘o’. Jen smiled, trying to encourage the worried look off his face, as she took the breakfast dishes to the sink.
