Chapters (43)
- Pronunciation
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-one
- Twenty-two
- Twenty-three
- Twenty-four
- Twenty-five
- Twenty-six
- Twenty-seven
- Twenty-eight
- Twenty-nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-one
- Thirty-two
- Thirty-three
- Thirty-four
- Thirty-five
- Thirty-six
- Thirty-seven
- Thirty-eight
- Thirty-nine
- Forty
- Acknowledgments
“Stop it!” Donna was screaming. “Stop it, both of you!”
But Donald kept his eyes fixed on Fin. “I found the ferry tickets in her room. The first sailing tomorrow for Ullapool. I knew they’d try and get away tonight.”
“Donald, they’re both adults. It’s their baby. They can go where they like.”
“I might have known you would take their side.”
“I’m not taking anyone’s side. You’re the one who’s driving them away. Refusing to let Fionnlagh come to the house to see his own daughter. You’d think we were still living in the Middle Ages!”
“He has no means of supporting them. He’s still at school for God’s sake!”
“Well, he’s not going to make much of himself by dropping out and running away, is he? And that’s what you’re forcing him to do. Both of them.”
Donald spat his contempt at the night. “This is a waste of time.” He turned again to try and take the carrycot from the car. Fin grabbed his arm, and in that moment Donald swung around, his fist flying through the light to catch Fin a glancing blow on the cheek. The force of it knocked Fin off balance and he went sprawling backwards on the tarmac.
For several long moments, the scene was frozen, as if someone had flicked a switch and put the movie on pause. None of them could quite believe what Donald had just done. The wind howled its disapproval all around them. Then Fin struggled back to his feet and wiped a smear of blood from his lip. He glared at the minister. “For Christ’s sake, man,” he said. “Come to your senses.” His voice was almost lost in the roar of the night.
Donald stood rubbing his knuckles, staring back at Fin, his eyes filled with disbelief, guilt, anger. As if it were somehow Fin’s fault that Donald had struck him. “Why the hell would you care anyway?”
Fin shut his eyes and shook his head. “Because Fionnlagh’s my son.”
Twenty-two
Twenty-two
Catriona Murray’s concern turned to confusion when she opened the door of the manse and found her husband and Fin Macleod standing on the top step like two drowned rats, bloodied and bruised. It wasn’t who she had been expecting.
“Where’s Donna and the baby?”
“Nice to see you, too, Catriona,” Fin said.
Donald said, “They’re at Marsaili’s.”
Catriona’s dark eyes darted from one to the other. “What’s to stop them heading for Stornoway first thing and catching the ferry?”
Fin said, “They won’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“Because they’re afraid of what me and Donald might do to one another. Any chance we could come in out of the rain?”