‘I didn’t realise that.’ Izzy was immediately concerned. ‘He didn’t say.’
‘No, he wouldn’t. Jake’s a proud man. He’s probably borne the brunt of the villagers’ animosity over the last few years.’ He straightened, becoming brisk in his manner. ‘Anyway, thanks for taking care of Molly and Cameron for me. You, too, Lorna.’ His brief smile encompassed both of them. ‘I’m sorry you’ve been troubled.’
‘They’ve been good as gold,’ Lorna told him. ‘They’re welcome to come and visit any time…preferably with your knowledge, of course.’
He nodded. ‘I’m sure they’ll want to come back fairly soon, but next time I’ll make certain they call you first.’
After that Ross didn’t hang around to make conversation, and Izzy wasn’t sure quite how she felt about that. It wasn’t really surprising that he would leave quickly. After all, she hadn’t been exactly welcoming in her manner. But perhaps he also recognised that she and Lorna had to go off to work.
Anyway, after she had given each of the children a hug, he led them away and settled them in his car. He drove away without looking back.
Izzy was filled with a strange sense of unease once he had gone. She felt somehow let down, with a hollow feeling inside despite the meal, and yet, in truth, how could she have expected anything more? As things stood, she was going against the grain by even associating with him.
If her father discovered that Ross had come visiting, he’d be have been agitated in the extreme, no matter that she was perfectly entitled to run her own life the way she saw fit. That ideology hadn’t stood Alice in any good stead, had it? She had been cut off from her family for several years, and was only back now because she needed specialist care and attention.
It grieved Izzy that her cousin should suffer this way. The Buchanans had a lot to answer for.
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