A Gift from the Cottage by the Loch: A totally unputdownable and heart-warming Scottish romance (Loch Cameron Book 4) by Kennedy Kerr

Author:Kennedy Kerr [Kerr, Kennedy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 2024-02-28T00:00:00+00:00

TWENTY

‘It’s a typical Isabel Burns situation.’ Sally turned back to the stove and stirred a pot more vigorously than it probably needed. ‘That’s all I’m saying.’

‘Sal. Come on.’ Bess looked up from the counter where she was chopping onions. ‘That’s not fair.’

Bel had gone over to Sally and Bess’s house for dinner. She had just told them that she wouldn’t be able to pay them back as quickly as she had initially imagined, and knew her sister would be angry about it, because that was how Sally operated. She had always been a kind of protective tiger mom sister to Bel, and though Bel appreciated it, there were times like these when she resented being treated like an errant teenager.

‘It is fair, thank you.’ Sally frowned at her wife. ‘I know you love Bel, but you weren’t there when we were younger. You don’t know.’

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ Bel stood with her arms crossed over her chest in Sally’s new kitchen, feeling vulnerable. She hated it when Sally was cross with her. ‘It’s hardly my fault if Andy can’t remortgage the house.’

‘You know what I mean.’ Sally stood with her back to Bel, hands gripping the edge of the stovetop. ‘You and Dad were always like this. There would be a plan, and then the plan fell through because you were both away with the fairies. Impractical. Then I’d have to sort it out.’

‘I don’t think you can blame me on this occasion. Don’t bring Dad into it, either.’ Bel had a twinge of grief like she always did when she thought of him.

‘I can say what I like about Dad. More than you can,’ Sally snapped.

Bel recoiled.

‘Sally!’ Bess interjected, her eyes wide. ‘That’s too far, and you know it.’

‘Is it? He wasn’t her biological father. I’m just saying what’s true.’

‘Wow. I can’t believe you brought that up.’ Bel felt Sally’s words as if they were a slap in the face.

After their dad had died, Bel and Sally had found out that he wasn’t Bel’s biological father. He’d never said anything, and it was only when Sally had gone through some papers in a box under his bed that they’d found the letters from her real father – a previous boyfriend of their mother’s. It seemed that, while their mother was married to their dad, and after she’d had Sally, she had got back in touch with her ex and had an affair.

The letters were brief, but Bel’s biological father had apparently wanted to have contact with her. Repeatedly, he’d said: She is my blood. I want to see her. There were no letters in the box from Bel and Sally’s parents to see their replies, but when Bel had looked at the dates on the letters from her biological father, they’d become less frequent as time had passed. He had given up on her, it seemed.

And Bel had never wanted anyone but her dad: the one that had cleaned her up when she skinned her knee, who told her stories, who baked cakes with her and told her funny stories and, still, appeared in her dreams.

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