tasted a coffee like Bruno makes – they’re gorgeous.’
Kate was dying to hear more about the famous Roderick, her new employer. It was a relief when Susan picked up the thread of her story, having paused to arrange baby Mhairi under her jumper for a
feed.
‘Right.’ She took a slurp of coffee. ‘Roderick. Well, I’ve known him since we moved to the island when I was five. His parents used to bring him up here to the estate
every summer. But he didn’t go to school here until his mum died, when he was about fifteen.’
She paused to help Jamie poke a straw into his carton of apple juice.
‘When she died at their house in England – Oxfordshire somewhere – his dad couldn’t face living there, so they came up here.’
‘Was she ill?’
‘No, she fell down the stairs. I don’t know what happened exactly. Sounded horrible, like something out of a fairy tale.’
Remembering the sudden emptiness that had fallen upon their family home, Kate felt a sudden pang of sympathy for her mysterious new boss. When her dad died, it was as if someone had put out a
light. Nothing changed, and yet everything was different. She would get up for school, do her homework, have her friends round to play music and sleep over. It didn’t occur to her for a long
time that her mother’s keenness to have Kate’s friends round was out of over-protectiveness, and a desire to know where she was at all times.
Living in a small town, it was hard to break out of her mother’s smothering embrace, but escaping to Edinburgh University had seemed the perfect opportunity. Her mum hadn’t seen it
as an escape, because Kate had been with Emma, her childhood best friend, the whole time.
In fact, Kate realized with a jolt, she’d headed up there and straight back home under her mother’s watchful eye. This was the first time she’d flown solo, and while it was
pretty terrifying being thrown in at the deep end of island life, she felt a sudden sense of pride. She was doing this without moral support, and there was nobody to hold her hand.
‘So Roderick came up here and got a fair bit of stick, as you can imagine, having been the posh public-school boy up till then.’ Susan absent-mindedly swirled her wooden stirrer
through the coffee froth. ‘But we were friends, and a wee bit more than that for a while, and eventually people just got used to him being around.’
‘So where is his dad now?’
‘He died of cancer a few years ago; it was very sudden. Only took a matter of weeks.’
‘And now Roderick’s in charge of the estate?’
‘He is, and it’s not in a good state, despite his best efforts. His father’s heart was never in it, after his wife died, and Roderick has spent the last couple of years trying
to get it back under control. There’s a fishery and a wood-yard, and they’re the main employers on the island. Without them, there are no jobs, and everyone will leave the island and
the place will end up empty.’
‘Oh,’ Kate’s face fell. ‘So I’ve taken a job away from someone on the island?’
‘Not at all. There’s not many people would want to live in your cottage,’ Susan said, raising her eyebrows. ‘It’s a bit – well, rustic. Most of the younger
folk prefer to be here in the town, and not five miles away on a road with a bus that only comes past once a week.’
‘Oh!’ Kate put her hand over her mouth.
‘What’s the matter? Is it Jamie?’ Susan spun round in her chair, expecting to see her toddler creating some kind of mess.
So much for going it alone. She hadn’t thought this through at all. ‘I don’t have a car. There are no buses. And I’m living in the middle of nowhere!’
‘Have you not got a car?’ Susan asked.
‘Nope. I left it with Ian.’ Kate remembered her battered old Vauxhall. ‘I told him he was welcome to it, because it kept breaking down at traffic lights.’
‘Ah. Right.’ Susan returned the sleeping baby to the pushchair, and wrapped Jamie up in
Kate was dying to hear more about the famous Roderick, her new employer. It was a relief when Susan picked up the thread of her story, having paused to arrange baby Mhairi under her jumper for a
feed.
‘Right.’ She took a slurp of coffee. ‘Roderick. Well, I’ve known him since we moved to the island when I was five. His parents used to bring him up here to the estate
every summer. But he didn’t go to school here until his mum died, when he was about fifteen.’
She paused to help Jamie poke a straw into his carton of apple juice.
‘When she died at their house in England – Oxfordshire somewhere – his dad couldn’t face living there, so they came up here.’
‘Was she ill?’
‘No, she fell down the stairs. I don’t know what happened exactly. Sounded horrible, like something out of a fairy tale.’
Remembering the sudden emptiness that had fallen upon their family home, Kate felt a sudden pang of sympathy for her mysterious new boss. When her dad died, it was as if someone had put out a
light. Nothing changed, and yet everything was different. She would get up for school, do her homework, have her friends round to play music and sleep over. It didn’t occur to her for a long
time that her mother’s keenness to have Kate’s friends round was out of over-protectiveness, and a desire to know where she was at all times.
Living in a small town, it was hard to break out of her mother’s smothering embrace, but escaping to Edinburgh University had seemed the perfect opportunity. Her mum hadn’t seen it
as an escape, because Kate had been with Emma, her childhood best friend, the whole time.
In fact, Kate realized with a jolt, she’d headed up there and straight back home under her mother’s watchful eye. This was the first time she’d flown solo, and while it was
pretty terrifying being thrown in at the deep end of island life, she felt a sudden sense of pride. She was doing this without moral support, and there was nobody to hold her hand.
‘So Roderick came up here and got a fair bit of stick, as you can imagine, having been the posh public-school boy up till then.’ Susan absent-mindedly swirled her wooden stirrer
through the coffee froth. ‘But we were friends, and a wee bit more than that for a while, and eventually people just got used to him being around.’
‘So where is his dad now?’
‘He died of cancer a few years ago; it was very sudden. Only took a matter of weeks.’
‘And now Roderick’s in charge of the estate?’
‘He is, and it’s not in a good state, despite his best efforts. His father’s heart was never in it, after his wife died, and Roderick has spent the last couple of years trying
to get it back under control. There’s a fishery and a wood-yard, and they’re the main employers on the island. Without them, there are no jobs, and everyone will leave the island and
the place will end up empty.’
‘Oh,’ Kate’s face fell. ‘So I’ve taken a job away from someone on the island?’
‘Not at all. There’s not many people would want to live in your cottage,’ Susan said, raising her eyebrows. ‘It’s a bit – well, rustic. Most of the younger
folk prefer to be here in the town, and not five miles away on a road with a bus that only comes past once a week.’
‘Oh!’ Kate put her hand over her mouth.
‘What’s the matter? Is it Jamie?’ Susan spun round in her chair, expecting to see her toddler creating some kind of mess.
So much for going it alone. She hadn’t thought this through at all. ‘I don’t have a car. There are no buses. And I’m living in the middle of nowhere!’
‘Have you not got a car?’ Susan asked.
‘Nope. I left it with Ian.’ Kate remembered her battered old Vauxhall. ‘I told him he was welcome to it, because it kept breaking down at traffic lights.’
‘Ah. Right.’ Susan returned the sleeping baby to the pushchair, and wrapped Jamie up in
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