Page 58 of Sanctuary at MacLeod's Cove
‘It’s years since I’ve been through here,’ Jen said. ‘Wasn’t it owned by your father then?’
‘Yeah. Not that he was interested. After he left Mum, he moved to Australia and, to my knowledge, has never returned. He was more than happy to sell it to me.’
‘I’m curious,’ she said, ‘why here, when you could buy anywhere?’
He didn’t answer immediately and then shot her the kind of look that reached deep inside her. ‘Because I wanted to build in a place where I felt happy and whole. A place full of good memories. I couldn’t imagine building a home anywhere else.’
Jen wondered if some of those memories were of her. But she didn’t ask. She didn’t know what she’d do with the answer.
The thick band of trees suddenly parted to reveal the sea and Kapiti Island beyond. He parked, switched off the ignition and looked out at the view through the windscreen. ‘I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be.’
‘I’m not surprised,’ she said, leaning forward to have a good look around. ‘It’s an amazing spot to have a house.’
‘Come on, I’ll show you around the estate,’ he said with a grin.
She laughed. ‘Shouldn’t take long!’
She jumped out of the car and followed him over to the front of the section.
‘Hey, you can see the chimneys of our house over the dunes.’
‘And you can see the rest of it from the beach. And all of MacLeod’s Cove.’
‘You don’t want to be closer to the village?’
‘It’s there if I need it, but it’s nice to have some space, too. I’m not so keen on people knowing my every move.’
She nodded, clamping her hair against her head as the wind picked up. ‘Yeah, I can understand that. In London, no one knew me and no one cared.’ She looked at him. ‘It’s weird coming back here where the opposite is true.’
‘No one cared?’ he asked.
She grimaced. She’d walked right into that one. But she couldn’t avoid giving an answer, and Sam deserved the truth.
‘Alistair only cared that we did what he wanted us to do.’
Sam’s face tightened, and he looked out to sea.
Maybe too much truth, thought Jen, turning her back to the waves.
’So,’ she said with false brightness, ‘there’s your caravan, and some pillars, but where’s your house?’
‘In my head,’ he said, walking over to it. ‘I moved the caravan on six months ago, began work on the foundations and then,’ he scratched his head, ‘kind of stalled.’
‘Why?’
‘Well, there’s a lot of work.’
‘You’re not intending to do it all yourself, are you?’
‘Yep.’
‘Why?’
‘Because…’ He gave a deep sigh and looked at Jen. ‘Because… a lot of reasons. But one big one.’ He shrugged but didn’t continue. Jen didn’t need to guess what it was he couldn’t say. Lucy had told her.
‘Your sister, Laura?’
He nodded. ‘Yep, Laura. Her death coincided with my divorce coming through, with Sarah doing whatever she could to stop me seeing Ailsa, and me getting sick of business meeting after business meeting.’ He swallowed. ’The last words Laura said to me were to ask me what I was running from.’ He scoffed. ‘Can you imagine that, Jen? My little sister is dying of breast cancer, and she’s not thinking of herself but of me.’
