‘Good grief, you’re sodden too,’ she said, pulling away quickly. ‘Do you need a change of clothes?’
‘Honestly, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me,’ Felicity said, not wanting to make a fuss. ‘I’ll sit here and get warm by the fire. And congratulations! Look at you, all blooming. I believe it’s any minute now for this little one to make an appearance.’
Isla patted her stomach. ‘Blooming fed up. I’m more than ready for this wee one to come out now, and me, you and Allie, we need a proper catch up. I’m so glad you’re home.’ Isla pulled Felicity in for another quick hug.
Felicity felt relieved there was no awkwardness between her and Isla. It was like they’d never been apart. Isla had always been the calm friend, the voice of reason. She always saw the good in everyone and Felicity was thankful she’d welcomed her back with open arms.
Then, her thoughts turned to Allie. She knew it might not be as easy to build bridges with her. Allie was without a doubt the friend with lots of character, the feisty friend, who could hold a grudge until the cows came home … stubborn beyond belief. But even though the three of them had had their spats over the years they’d always stuck by each other no matter what … until Felicity had left the village. It was safe to say Felicity felt nervous at the thought of catching up with Allie.
‘How will Allie feel about that?’ asked Felicity, with a worried expression etched on her face.
Isla took a moment to answer. ‘I won’t try to hide the fact she was mad when you left without telling her. In fact, imagine one of those cartoon characters with steam shooting out of their ears, stomping around … I’m only joking,’ laughed Isla seeing the look of horror on Felicity’s face then taking a swift glance towards Fergus suddenly realising he’d been the reason Felicity had fled so suddenly in the first place. ‘But we know her from old, she’ll be fine,’ she quickly added, giving Felicity a knowing look with a tilt of the head towards Fergus.
Isla knew the heartache and devastation that Fergus had gone through after the tragedy; she and Drew had been left to pick up the pieces. But Felicity had no idea the effect her leaving had had on Fergus. Isla and Drew had never seen him so low, and he’d been lost without Felicity.
Fergus coughed and they both spun around towards him.
‘How’re you doing, Fergus?’ Isla asked, tentatively.
‘I’m okay, I’m just starting to feel a little normal again.’ They both noticed his teeth had finally stopped chattering and it was also a good sign that Fergus’s speech was normal, the colour of his lips gradually returning to a pinkish colour.
‘Is there anything I can get you?’ Isla asked, but before Fergus could answer Drew bounded through the kitchen door, stripping off his own wet coat from his back.
‘How are you?’ Drew placed a hand on his mate’s shoulder.
‘I’m doing okay, the cold was just a bit of a shock.’
‘He looks surprisingly good compared to the way he looked about ten minutes ago,’ Isla added, looking between Drew and Fergus.
‘There was a split second I didn’t think we’d get the pony out of there – or you for that matter.’
‘How is the pony?’ asked Isla placing the biscuit barrel on the table. ‘You need sugar,’ she said to Fergus passing him a biscuit before turning back towards Drew.
‘I’ve dried her off, put the heat lamps on in the barn and buckled on two fleece coats to warm her up, but with her thick coat we shouldn’t have any problems. She’s got plenty of hay. I’ll check on her again after I’ve taken Flick home and picked up Finn.’
‘Or you could stay for tea,’ suggested Isla, looking at Felicity. ‘There’s last night’s leftover curry and Finn would love to meet you.’
Felicity swallowed and shot a quick look over at Fergus, who wasn’t forthcoming with any encouragement – but why would he be? She was probably the last person he wanted to spend any time with.
‘I’d love to, but I’ve only just arrived home and Mum will be expecting me and the logs.’
‘The logs!’ Drew threw his hands up the air. ‘I’ve forgotten the logs with everything. I’ll load them up now and get you home to Rona.’
‘Thanks Drew, I’ll come and help. We’ll do it in half the time.’
‘If you’re sure?’
As Felicity stood to leave, she hovered at the side of Fergus. Her mind was in complete overdrive. She knew there was unfinished business between them, but this wasn’t the right time to bring any of it up.
‘Fergus…’ Felicity took a breath. ‘Can I come and see you?’ Feeling the emotion rise up inside her, she swallowed hard. Fergus didn’t look up but stared into the fire with the blankets still firmly wrapped around his shoulders. His features had suddenly become expressive. Disapproval was etched into every line, but he didn’t respond, leaving Isla and Drew exchanging uncomfortable looks.
Felicity’s lower lip quivered as she followed Isla into the hallway. As soon as they were out of ear shot of Fergus, Isla spoke. ‘He’ll come round, it’s just the shock of seeing you again,’ she said softly, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.
Felicity tried for a smile; the sad thing was that deep down she knew Fergus was still hurting. She was still hurting too. At one time Fergus would have given her the world but now he could barely make eye contact with her. She’d thrown away everything.
‘I hope so Isla, I really hope so.’
Back at the cottage the fire was nearly out when Drew and Felicity arrived. Fighting against the blizzard outside, Drew kindly loaded all the wood into the log shed and hauled in a huge basket of wood and placed it by the fire.
‘This should keep you going until morning,’ he said, bending down and poking the embers of the fire before throwing a few more logs into the grate. Within no time at all the fire was thankfully roaring once more.
Rona was more than thankful to Drew and offered him a cup of tea and slice of cake which he was grateful for.
‘Meredith has invited everyone over to the pub tonight for chilli. Are you and Isla going?’ asked Rona turning towards Drew.
‘It’s the first I’ve heard of it but if it’s an open invitation I’m not one to pass up on Meredith’s chilli, and I think it will do Isla good to get out for a while.’
‘Yes, it’s an open invitation. I think she thought everyone would have had quite a day of it with the weather and wouldn’t feel much like cooking.’
‘And she is right, we were having leftover curry. God love that woman, always thinking of others. I’ll pick up Finn from his friend’s and we’ll see you over the pub in about an hour,’ he said, finishing his tea and cake before pulling on his coat that had been warming on the armchair in front of the fire.
‘Good, good,’ said Rona, showing Drew to the front door after Felicity thanked him for rescuing her suitcase and bringing her home.
While she could still hear Rona chatting away to Drew, Felicity wandered through to the kitchen and placed the kettle on the hotplate of the Aga. The sound of the constant dripping from the tap caught her attention but however hard she tried she couldn’t get it to stop. Taking a look around the room she noticed that the place not only seemed tired, but the room felt quite chilly too. She placed her hand on the radiator. It was stone cold and she shivered. The only heat was coming from