‘How’s the camping going? I’m just with Rosie, relaxing in the cottage. In fact, I’ll just put you on speakerphone so you can say hello to her.’
There was a pause before Bella spoke. ‘Hi, Rosie, . . .’
‘Hi, Bella, so what is life in a tent like?’
‘Um, so I didn’t end up going camping,’ said Bella.
‘Oh. How come? Though we were just saying camping is our idea of hell. I don’t blame you for—’
Bella cut her off. ‘Um, Mum, I’m actually here. I’m on Arran.’
Rosie watched as Isobel suddenly sat bolt upright. ‘What do you mean, you’re here on Arran? Did you change the camping location?’
‘No,’ said Bella.
‘Is everything okay?’
Coisty jumped up to attention and barked.
‘Kind of. But I need to talk to you. Now. Can I come round?’
Isobel looked at Rosie who nodded.
‘Of course. Come now.’ Isobel gave Bella directions. ‘I’ll see you soon.’
‘Okay thanks, Mum,’ said Bella in a wobbly voice.
Isobel ended the call and looked at Rosie in shock. ‘I’ve no idea what’s going on, but it must be serious if she’s here on the island.’
Rosie nodded in concern watching her friend and knowing her mind would be racing wildly.
Isobel’s hand flew to her mouth. ‘What if she’s pregnant?’ She grimaced. ‘Surely not? She doesn’t even have a boyfriend. Not since that fella she was seeing that she met in Corfu. But that fizzled out. Mind you, who am I to talk. I didn’t have a boyfriend and look what happened to me.’
Rosie tried to stay calm. But she knew how level-headed Bella was and she wouldn’t normally just get the ferry over to Arran on a whim. Bella’s sensible approach to things was a quality she must have inherited from her father as Isobel tended to dodrama. She had a sense that whatever it was that Bella needed to talk to her mum about was going to be serious.Huge.And Rosie had a feeling that their summer plans were about to change. A lot.
Chapter Fourteen
A few moments after they had driven off the ferry, Bella had pulled into the car park and taken a big breath explaining that she was going to give her mum a heads-up rather than just arriving unexpectedly. Luke watched Bella as she anxiously paced up and down on the pavement next to the car, telling her mum that she was on the island and hadnews.
He was in no rush to go anywhere else right now. It was strange, but from the moment Bella drove onto the ferry, a sense of calm and peace descended over him. It was as though his life had actually slowed down. Just like that. He had followed Bella onto the deck outside, pulled on his beanie hat and been completely transfixed as he had watched the sea. Maybe it was the fresh, salty air and the trails of frothy waves the ferry left behind as it ploughed through the water. But Luke was incredibly excited about this journey. Most of all he was excited that he was going off grid. He felt as though he had come home. Which was strange as he had never set foot on this island before.
A few moments later Bella stopped pacing, ended the call and looked over at him. He gave her a questioning look and a thumbs up and then down. If truth be told, he had grown very fond of her in the past few hours that they had spent together. She was a lovely young woman and her mother had done a great job of raising her, especially as she had done it solo. Although he and Cindy, his ex-wife, were now apart he was grateful they had been together long enough to raise the kids. Though he did have to acknowledge that she had been left holding the babies plenty of times when he was touring with the band or away with work. But he had always been faithful to her and couldn’t wait to return home to his family after being away on the road.
He could only imagine how Bella must have felt all these years not even knowing who her father was. He could onlytrust that her mother had her very good reasons for not telling Bella. And he had to ask himself that if he had known about her when she was a baby would things have been different? Or if he had known her mother was pregnant at the time it could have changed the course of his life completely. Maybe he would never have met Cindy and married her. But then that would have meant that his sons wouldn’t exist. He realised that his whole life might have been completely different. He momentarily wondered how his sons would react if they learned they had an older sister. Then, realising that he was getting way ahead of things, he gave himself a shake. There was no guarantee or proof that he was indeed Bella’s dad. Only her mother could shed light on that fact. And then they would have to do a paternity test. He watched as Bella slipped her phone into her pocket. It looked like they would soon find out.
‘Okay,’ said Bella, getting back into the driver’s seat and puffing. ‘She knows I’m here and that I need to talk to her. And I know she will now be flipping her lid and be worrying that I’m pregnant or have killed someone.’ She was talking very quickly and he knew she was worried. His son, Scottie, was exactly the same when he had something on his mind.
‘Extreme, huh?’ said Luke.
‘You don’t know my mother . . .’
He only had to look at the expression on her face to tell she was very nervous about this. ‘Where is she staying?’
‘It’s in Kildonan, about half an hour away. Mum is here with her best friend. She lives here permanently.’
Luke tried to give her a reassuring smile even though he now felt very skittish. ‘Come on then,’ he said, ‘let’s go and get this over with.’
She gave an excitable laugh. ‘Yes, I suppose so. We will soon find out the truth and whether or not you are my dad.’ She glanced over at the departing ferry which was returning toArdrossan and then clasped her hand over her mouth. ‘That’s the last ferry for the night. You do realise that you’re stuck here regardless of what mum says?’
