Page 7 of Sanctuary at MacLeod's Cove
‘You can have both,’ Kate said. ‘Here, with me. You’ll see.’
‘I can’t impose?—’
‘Darling, it’s not an imposition,’ Kate interrupted. ‘Please don’t ever say that. I want you here. You and Liam. I want to make sure you’re all right again. I want you to heal.’
Jen tried to swallow the lump in her throat, but it remained stubbornly lodged — a wedge that blocked the well of grief she didn’t dare reveal.
‘I moved out years ago,’ said Lucy. ‘It’s only Mum here now, and she really wants you to stay.’
‘Of course I want to stay,’ Jen said. ‘Why don’t we take it day by day and see how it goes?’
Kate reached for the whisky bottle. ‘If that’ll make you agree, then so be it. Perhaps I will have that drink after all.’
Lucy poured Kate a small glass, and Kate raised it. ‘A toast. To Jenny and Liam — welcome home.’
The three of them clinked glasses.
‘To the MacLeod family,’ said Jen. Warmth spread through her body, which wasn’t only to do with the whisky. ‘Always there when you need them.’
‘And when you don’t,’ Lucy added with a grin.
Kate tapped Lucy playfully on the hand. ‘You lot always need me.’
‘Definitely,’ said Jen. ‘It’s just sometimes we forget.’
Kate’s smile fell. ‘I don’t want you ever to forget again.’
‘I won’t. Besides, it would be impossible to forget family here at MacLeod’s Cottage, with our history all around… and our future,’ she added. ‘And no one can take that from us,’ Jen said with a grin.
The atmosphere changed in a heartbeat. Both women looked away, and neither met her gaze nor each other’s.
‘What?’ Jen asked, looking from one to the other. ‘What did I say?’
‘Nothing,’ said Kate quickly, placing her glass on the table and folding her arms.
‘You both reacted to something I said. What was it?’
Lucy sighed and put down her drink. ‘You’re going to have to tell her sometime, Mum.’
‘Tell me what?’ Jen asked.
Kate waved her hand towards Lucy. ‘Oh, you tell her.’
Lucy looked uncharacteristically grave. ‘It’s about the house. The cottage. It seems... it doesn’t belong to us. Or rather, it doesn’t belong to Mum.’
Jen’s mouth fell open, and her heart sank. All her life, MacLeod’s Cottage had been the fulcrum upon which their family life had balanced. With that taken away, what would they have left?
‘I’m afraid Lucy’s right,’ said Kate, rising to wash their glasses. ‘While our family’s past might be ingrained in these walls, our future won’t be.’
‘You’ve got to be kidding me!’
‘No kidding involved,’ Kate said, filling the sink with hot water.
Jen turned to Lucy. ‘But I don’t understand. The cottage has been in our family for generations. Nana Hope was born here. Wasn’t she, Mum?’
Kate withdrew her hands from the soapy water and gripped the edge of the sink briefly before grabbing a towel. She turned around. ‘Not born. My grandmother brought her here when she was around five years old. But apparently, we were all living here on borrowed time. It was never ours.’
‘But...’
