Excerpt
‘So it’s Dr Hamilton who’s backing you then?’
‘Yes. He was looking around for something to invest his money in. Now there’s a man who believes in making lots of money. He’s shrewd. Anyway, he reckoned that building houses in Belfast was a sure-fire winner. He came to Glasgow and we talked business. We formed a limited company with Clifford as chairman holding the majority interest. I am the managing director. My family has shares. Some business associates of Clifford’s in Belfast have shares. Fiona has shares of her own. And business is booming.’
‘May it long continue to do so.’ Nora raised her glass and drank. She put the glass on the table and cupped her hands round it. ‘Why did you want to get away from Glasgow?’
‘I was waiting for that one,’ Ian declared with a smile. ‘I wanted to get away not so much from Glasgow itself as from my life there. If I had wanted to run away from Glasgow itself I certainly wouldn’t have headed for Belfast. No. I wanted to escape from the clutches of my family. That sounds unkind, but I know now that it’s true. My mother and my sister were overbearing and invincible. They still are. My brother became a weak, nervous wreck. My brother-in-law is even worse. Neither of them made it into the forces, though it would have done both of them a world of good. I hate to say it, but even getting killed would have been good for them.’
Nora did not like to hear of men being killed in war, even if they might have been better off dead. She stared quietly at her drink, a sadness in her eyes. Then to change the subject she said, ‘How do you like staying at the cottage?’
Ian looked as guilty as a truant schoolboy. ‘I’m not staying at the cottage,’ he said. ‘I booked in here last night. I couldn’t bear to be up there on my own amid all those gloomy mountains.’
‘So you moved closer to Corrymore.’ Nora smiled coyly, seductively. ‘How do you like staying here then?’
‘This is definitely my scene.’ Ian fixed his eyes on Nora’s. ‘I’m like John Simpson. I wasn’t made for the Spartan life. I’m enjoying myself here. I have a room with a beautiful view of the sea. Would you like to see it?’
‘Let’s go for a walk along the beach first,’ Nora suggested. ‘Then you can show me this beautiful view of yours.’
