Her Mother's Lies by Lisa Timoney

Author:Lisa Timoney [Timoney, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2022-11-07T17:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Four

Bonnie

Twenty-Six Years Ago

Final exams were over, and the relief was dizzying. Bonnie and Cahil sneaked away from the student union bar where all of their friends were celebrating, giggling like naughty children as they wandered along Scott Street, looking for a quiet pub where they could be alone on their last night together in Glasgow.

‘Run me through what you’re going to say to your dad again,’ she said, as they found a discreet spot in the corner of the old man’s pub where they knew none of their art school friends would think to look for them.

‘I’ll tell my father that I’ve met the bonniest of all the bonnie lasses in Scotland, and I’m willing to leave the sun, sand, and sea, and all the beautiful five-star hotels he wants me to build, to stay in the cold, wet, grey land of Scotland!’

Bonnie punched his arm. ‘Don’t say it like that.’ She took a slug from her pint and was suddenly painfully aware of the smoke-yellowed walls and stained carpet. ‘God, you’re on for a first in architecture. If you stay in Turkey, you’ll be designing stunning hotels, won’t you? How can you bear to give up swimming pools and classy bars for the blackened stone and dingy pubs around here?’

‘I don’t look at the stone.’ He leaned forwards and took her chin in his huge hand, pressing his lips on hers. ‘You are all the sunshine I need.’

She laughed. ‘You are pure cheese. If I drew a caricature of a smarmy Mediterranean man, you’d be it.’

Cahil sat back. ‘That’s charming. I say you are my sunshine; you say I am a cartoon!’

‘Seriously, though.’ Doubt was creeping along her spine. How could this beautiful, clever, funny man be willing to give up the life he was destined to lead, just for her? ‘What if you go back and realise all this isn’t enough?’ She gestured around the grimy room again and grimaced.

‘It’s not this I’m coming back for. It’s you.’

Her voice wobbled. ‘And what if I’m not enough?’

‘Ah, then I’ll go back to Ankara and marry someone my mother chooses.’ He tweaked her nose and laughed. ‘I’ve changed since I’ve been in Scotland, bonnie lass. I arrived a meek and dutiful Muslim boy, but you and your wicked friends have corrupted me.’ He swigged his beer.

‘That’s a big, fat lie!’ She hoped he was joking. ‘You were drunk the first night I met you.’

‘I admit that bit of corruption was not your fault, although I had only drunk one pint.’

‘It only takes one pint to get you drunk.’

‘True.’ He took another slug. ‘This is my third. I’ll be under the table soon.’ He winked. ‘And you did corrupt me in another way, you wicked temptress.’

As he ran his hand up her thigh, she remembered their first night together at the start of their second year, when she led him to her attic bedroom and undressed him. His body shook as he kissed her, and they lay down and made fumbling love as the moon shone through the skylight, illuminating his tanned skin.

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