Page 13 of The Scottish Island Wedding

Heather stared at her phone screen in disbelief. In her other hand she held a glass of champagne. She was surrounded by members of her and Matty’s families, all of whom had gathered at the castle to wish her and Matty well, ahead of the wedding.

I’ll be back soon.

SOON?

What did ‘soon’ mean?

Heather looked at the message, feeling again like she’d suddenly jumped unwittingly onto a rollercoaster and been strapped in against her will. Her stomach lurched as she read the text. What was she going to say to everyone? How was she going to explain that Matty wasn’t coming, and that she didn’t know what he was doing or where he’d gone?

‘Heather? Are you okay?’ Primrose asked her, quietly, but Heather shook her head. Tears had sprung to her eyes. ‘Heather? What’s wrong?’

‘I can’t… I can’t be here…’ Heather whispered, and, placing her champagne glass in her sister’s hands, she bolted for the door.

SEVEN

MONDAY 13 DECEMBER

‘So… You think you’re marrying my son.’ Elizabeth Campbell, standing at the head of the dining table, leaned forward and placed both hands on its polished cherry wood surface, arms straight, as if she was briefing the Pentagon in a particularly tense DEFCON 3 situation.

Elizabeth’s two daughters-in-law were seated at her left and right. Heather wondered whether they accompanied Elizabeth everywhere, and whether they’d also been summoned to the dining room that morning by a black-suited member of Elizabeth’s security retinue.

That was what had happened to Heather. She’d spent the previous night, after the Campbells had arrived, back at the Balhennie Inn, and had been startled by a hammering on the door when she’d been having her breakfast – kippers and half a bagel with smashed avocado – in the kitchen. Luckily, she’d got dressed before she came down for breakfast and wasn’t wearing her beloved old fleece dressing gown and brushed cotton pyjamas, but had put on a cashmere cardigan the colour of heather over a plain white tee and jeans.

On opening the door, Heather had been handed a monogrammed card by one of the Campbells’ security team – the card was a thick cream card stock, with a maroon border, the colour of blood – that said, Lady Elizabeth Campbell expects the pleasure of your company at Balhennie Castle this morning, by 10 a.m.

It seemed that Matty’s mother didn’t believe in mobile phones.

Dutifully, Heather had hurriedly got changed and accompanied the man in the black suit in his SUV to the castle. She didn’t appreciate being summoned like this, especially being summoned to her own uncle’s castle. The cheek of it, she muttered to herself, as she climbed into the back of the palatial car. Part of her was surprised not to see a soft-focus framed photo of Elizabeth Campbell riding triumphantly on the back of a horse when she got in. I think that’s what dictators go for these days.

But Heather kept her thoughts to herself. She wanted to keep the peace. She wanted to build a relationship with her new mother-in-law. If Elizabeth Campbell wanted to send her personal security person to come and collect Heather to take her to the castle that she’d grown up playing in, that was up to her.

Heather still had no idea what Elizabeth had been up to the day before, ducking out of the drawing room and arguing with some strange man in his car. Perhaps that was normal for her; perhaps her life was one long series of secret assignations and throwing envelopes at people.

However, Heather was barely holding it together. That morning, she’d woken up to a text from Matty that had made her heart sink into her stomach.

I’m going to be away for a few days. Something came up at work that I have to deal with. I’ll see you soon, baby. Xxx

Heather had stared at the text all the way to Balhennie Castle. Last night, Angus and Catriona had made their excuses after an hour or so and brought Heather back to the Inn with them. Everyone had made polite conversation, but nobody could ignore the huge elephant in the room: Matty wasn’t there. It was the first time that Heather and Matty’s families had met each other. And he was absent.

‘Er. Yes.’ Heather did her best to return Elizabeth’s gimlet stare, but she had to look away, uncomfortably.

‘She is marrying Matty,’ Sorrel interrupted. Heather had felt as though she needed some moral support, so she’d asked her oldest sister to come to the meeting to be with her. Sorrel had recently come back to Skye after being away for ten years; she’d left under a cloud, but she was rebuilding her relationship with her family now, and had got back together with her lost love, Tam Blackwood. Things seemed to be going very well between them. Plus, Heather thought that she was a good choice to provide moral support: having ten years of experience as a property developer, Sorrel was more than able to hold her own in stressful situations. ‘There’s no mystery about that.’

‘I’m delighted to hear it, given that my son is nowhere to be found,’ Elizabeth said tartly. ‘Will he be back soon, Heather? It is customary for a young man to actually attend his wedding, I believe.’

‘Of course he will!’ Sorrel interjected. ‘He’s been called away to work, hasn’t he, Heather?’

‘Yes. That’s right,’ Heather agreed, grateful for her sister, but the anxiety of Matty’s absence was killing her. ‘There was something urgent. He’ll be back soon. It’s still a couple of weeks until the wedding.’

‘Twelve days. And, I hope so.’ Elizabeth raised her eyebrows. ‘Clara, can you turn that godforsaken music off, please?’ She gestured vaguely at the ceiling. ‘I can’t think with that din going on.’

‘It’s Debussy, but sure,’ Sorrel muttered. Some of the rooms in the castle had surround sound, and Evelinda liked to put on relaxed classical music in the background.

Clara jumped up and chased around the room, looking for a control panel. Sighing, Sorrel got up and helped her. The music was turned off.

‘Better. And now, if we could only get rid of this ghastly room fragrance. It gives me hives.’ Elizabeth shuddered. At the same moment, Claire entered the room carrying a pot of coffee. Heather looked up at just the right moment to see her rolling her eyes.

In fact, Heather liked the fact that the castle always smelled nice. The dining room was currently scented with pine and eucalyptus.