Evin blocked her path. ‘Please, Jules! Could you just come back another day? I’ll tell him you stopped by, Ipromise.’
She sighed deeply and reached out to touch his arm. ‘Evin, you’re really worrying me now. Is he okay? I mean,reallyokay? Can I do anything? Doyouneed any help with anything?’
Tears welled in the boy’s eyes and his lower lip trembled. ‘I’m looking after him, I really am. I’m doing really well. I’ve cooked his dinner and everything. And I’m making my own food, too. And I hoovered and tidied up all the rubbish from the living room.’ His eyes widened. ‘Not that there was loads of rubbish or anything. He’s really tidy, you know, when he’s not all snotty.’
His emotional reaction and the way he protested wasn’t lost on her and she knew something was seriously amiss. She decided to go and speak to Morag. Surely, she’d know what to do.
She softened her voice and smiled kindly. ‘Okay. I believe that you’re looking after him, Evin. You’re a good son. But please,pleasecall me at the museum or the house, or…’ She scrabbled around in her bag for a scrap of paper and a pen and quickly scrawled down her mobile number. She thrust the paper at him. ‘You can get me on my mobile if you needanything. Anything at all. Okay?’
His smile widened and he swiped at his eyes. ‘Ugh, hay fever. But at least it’s not the flu like Dad. I’m fine, honest. Dad will be fine too.Honest. But I need to practise my tricks with Chewie now.’
Juliette took all the ‘honests’ with a pinch of salt and the not-so-subtle hint that he was done talking. She resisted the urge to hug the boy. ‘Right, well, I’ll see you soon, okay?’
He nodded vigorously, but, as she walked away, she knew she couldn’t leave things alone.
She arrived at Morag’s and knocked at the door.
Kenneth opened it. ‘Oh, hi, hen. If you’re after my better half, you’ll find her in the shop. I’m going to join her in a few minutes as there’s been a huge delivery ready for Saturday.’
‘Okay, thanks, Kenneth. I’ll pop there now.’
* * *
Morag frowned and shook her head. ‘Oh dear. I think you did the right thing walking away, hen. But you’re also right that something must have happened. I know Evin’s just come home from his mother’s and things can be quite tough when he’s been there, so I wonder what’s been said. That poor boy’s caught in the middle. Reid cannae be coping. I think I need to contact his brother.’ She rubbed her chin and chewed on her lip as worry creased her brow. ‘I get the feeling Reid needs help. I just can’t see him accepting it from the likes of you and me. So, I think his brother is the only one who’s likely to get through to him at this point.’
Juliette’s stomach knotted and she paced the canned goods aisle as Morag paused from stacking the shelves. Along with the knot in her stomach came a feeling of nausea. She twisted her hands in front of her body. ‘Oh god, Morag, I feel like I’ve opened Pandora’s box. I’m so worried now. I don’t want to be the reason authorities intervene or anything like that. I’d never forgive myself.’ She could hear the strain of panic in her own voice.
Morag turned and fixed her with a determined, yet kind gaze. ‘Look, love, you’re concerned, as am I. And, believe me, it won’t come to that. There’s no need for the authorities to get involved. Evin isn’t neglected, that much is obvious. But he is stuck between a rock and a hard place. And I think maybe Reid’s trying to deal with everything by himself. Whether that’s pride, fear, or denial, I don’t know, but he can’t carry on. He needs his family.’
Morag went off to make the phone call to Kendric and in a bid to keep herself occupied, Juliette took up the old-fashioned pricing gun and carried on where her friend had left off.
19
After phone calls to check in with her parents, Millie and Dexter, on the day of the Highland games, Juliette made her way across to help with the set-up. The sun was already scorching when she carried the last of the trays to the table in the marquee, as Caitlin popped up some pretty little lace cake covers to keep the wasps at bay. Strangely, and unlike previous years, so she’d been told, Leanna had set her stall up at the opposite end of the marquee. Juliette wondered if this was her way of making one of her badly thought out points but decided she was being utterly paranoid and put the thought out of her mind.
A pretty red-haired girl arrived holding Cleo on a lead, and Caitlin hugged her. ‘Jules, this is the love of my life, Grace. Gracie, this is my new friend, Jules.’
‘Are you the lady who saved Evin’s dog?’ the little girl asked, shyly, her head tilted inquisitively.
‘That’s me. It’s lovely to meet you, at last.’
The girl’s eyes widened, and she gave a broad smile. ‘It’s nice to meet you too. Anyone who loves dogs as much as I do is fine with me,’ Grace said with a wide smile.
Juliette inwardly cringed, knowing full well that she hadn’t reallyloveddogs before her encounter with Chewie. But she had to admit that after getting to know the huge slobbery canine, and after meeting Cleo, she was definitely feeling happier around them.
The atmosphere, like the weather, was heating up and there was a merry buzz about the place. The games arena had been pegged out with a ‘no-go’ zone to keep people, and windows, safe. Juliette had watched one of the men tossing a caber as a dry run and was surprised at how far it had travelled. It was clear why the cordon was needed.
The Toilichte Hens had arrived early and were making themselves useful wherever they could. It was so lovely how everyone was getting stuck in, and there was a real sense of community to the place. It warmed her heart to see the smiles on each and every face as nothing seemed too much trouble. It was a little like Christmas, only in the summer. All tiffs put aside for the interests of the greater good.
Morag had been in touch earlier to say that Kendric wasn’t in when she had called again. There had been three attempts to contact him since Juliette went round after seeing Evin and his mobile was going straight to voicemail. She figured he must be away for work. Or, and more hopefully, he was already on his way to Glentorrin. Juliette couldn’t help but wonder where, and how, Reid was. Evin hadn’t arrived yet and, thanks to her feeling of responsibility, she was having to fight her conscience on the matter of heading up there once more to check on him. Morag had been and taken some food, but she’d had to leave it at the door with the boy, who’d once again been reluctant to allow entrance to his home. But, at least, she knew he was going to eat something wholesome, instead of whatever poor Evin had been able to provide.
‘Penny for ’em?’ Caitlin asked.
Juliette smiled and shook her head. ‘Oh, nothing. Just in my own little world today.’
‘Check… one… two… one… two… check,’ said a voice over the PA system.
‘Give us a wee song, Archie!’ Caitlin hollered across the marquee.
