Chapter 21
‘I have to admit I’m a bit jealous. I’d love to own a record shop. And how cool were those people in the choir? Such a great bunch. You did such a great job tonight. Anyone listening in would be shocked that they had only just learned those songs. They sounded awesome.’
It had been such fun; much more so than Angelia had expected. And her condition hadn’t reared its head either, which was a bonus. Perhaps there was something to be said for being relaxed.
She thought back to some of Isla’s comments and couldn’t help giggling again.
Working with the choir was going to be interesting if only for her malapropisms. ‘They are lovely, aren’t they?
’ she said, more to herself than anyone else.
‘Isla’s hilarious, but I don’t even think she does it on purpose. ’
‘Yes, she’s a gem,’ Ed said. ‘The chicken tikka comment almost choked me. I’m not sure how I kept it together after that.’
‘And the moose scaring,’ Angelia said, laughing. ‘She’s so serious when she says things though. She’s either an accidental genius or a cunning one who knows very well what she’s doing.’
‘Sadly, I think it’s the former rather than the latter,’ Ed replied, grinning, then fell silent for a while and seemed deep in thought.
The sun had begun its descent which, Angelia recalled, tended to occur later and later as May progressed.
The weather was dry and the sky overhead was an inky blue that faded to lilac, then pink, then orange.
The mountains were now a mere silhouette of jagged edges.
She had missed this; missed the beauty of Skye and its ever-changing colour palette.
‘You didn’t tell me Ferris was hot,’ Ed said out of the blue.
‘Sorry?’ Angelia asked, quite surprised at his comment.
‘When you talked about him, I expected him to be some bald fat bloke with protruding teeth who spoke with a lisp.’
Angelia gasped but laughed all the same. ‘I never even described him so how did you come to that particular conclusion?’
‘I suppose I just?—’
‘Stereotyped him?’ she said. ‘And badly.’ She shook her head, but soon realised she too had done the same when she had met him.
He chuckled. ‘Maybe a tiny bit. But I didn’t expect him to be that good-looking. You don’t expect religious people to be attractive.’
‘That’s a little unfair, Edwin Halsall.’
He poked her leg lightly. ‘Ooh, you used my Sunday name. Am I in trouble?’ Angelia shook her head and smiled.
After a few moments, Ed spoke again. ‘Are you and he…?’ His question trailed off and he turned to stare out the window at the road, clearly not wanting to know the answer to his incomplete question.
Angelia narrowed her eyes and prodded him back with her finger. ‘Are he and I what?’
He glanced at her briefly again. ‘Is there something there? Between you and Ferris the vicar, I mean.’
Angelia rolled her eyes. ‘I’ve only known him for a few weeks and we’re friends. Although why should that matter to you?’ she asked, a little befuddled.
Ed shrugged. ‘No reason. I’m just being nosy.’
‘Well, don’t bother. There’s nothing to tell. Anyway, why don’t you tell me about Ava.’
Ed stiffened. ‘What do you want to know?’
‘How did you meet her? What’s she like? Are you guys serious?
You didn’t even tell me you were dating anyone, so I know nothing, remember?
I had to hear it from Fee and then when I talked to you on the phone you couldn’t wait to hang up.
’ She knew she sounded a little wounded and surly about not being kept in the loop.
He held up a hand in a defensive motion. ‘Okay, okay, jeez.’ He gave a deep sigh. ‘She’s Australian. I met her when I travelled to Sydney with the Chamber Orchestra. She plays the cello. She’s nice.’
Angelia laughed with incredulity. ‘That’s just a repeat of what Fee told me. And if I was Ava and I heard that that’s how you talked about me I’d dump you.’
Ed scrunched his brow. ‘What? I said she’s nice, how is that a bad thing?’
‘Nice is such a meh kind of word, Ed.’
He laughed without humour. ‘Well, what else is there to say?’
‘What colour hair has she got? Is she tall? Short? Curvy? Slim? What do you like about her? There are so many more superlatives you could’ve used other than nice.’ She shook her head in exasperation.
‘She’s short, slim and pretty with long black hair, her parents are Japanese, and she’s sweet, better?’
Angelia huffed. ‘Fine, I get the feeling you don’t want to talk about her.’
Ed paused and tapped his fingers on the steering wheel and clenched his jaw. ‘It’s not that… it’s just… we broke up. That’s sort of why I’m here early.’
Guilt niggled at Angelia, knotting her stomach. ‘Oh, shit, sorry, Ed. Maybe you should have just said that though, eh?’
He shrugged. ‘Maybe. Sorry. It’s no big deal though. We weren’t that serious.’ She could see from the sadness in his expression that he wasn’t being entirely truthful.
‘Why did you break up?’ She knew the question was possibly a step too far, but the words were out before she could stop them.
He narrowed his eyes briefly and shook his head. ‘We wanted different things, I suppose. Why does anyone break up?’
‘Is there any chance you might get back together?’
He shook his head. ‘Nope. Definitely over.’
His curt answers told her it was time to stop pushing. And why, she wondered, was she so bothered anyway? She reached out and squeezed his arm. ‘Well, I’m sorry to hear you broke up, even though it did mean I got you here early.’
He smiled but it was fleeting. ‘Thanks.’ He fell silent again for a few moments until he turned to her again. ‘How about you? Seeing anyone?’
‘Nope. My love life is non-existent, as usual.’
‘I saw the shit in the paper about you and Josh,’ he said, saying the drummer’s name as if it left an acidic taste in his mouth. ‘Has he been in touch much?’
Her heart sank and it was her turn to stare out the window now. ‘No. I try not to think about Josh,’ she replied flatly.
The rest of the journey was made in a heavy, weighted silence that neither of them seemed able to break.
* * *
After she had updated her parents excitedly about the choir practice, they all watched an episode of Shetland, another of her parents’ favourites.
Angelia had preferred the books to the TV drama, having read them on tour when her mum sent them a while back.
Her mum had agreed that the books were better.
Meghan, however, agreed with Angelia’s dad about the show being brilliant.
After they had watched another episode, with Scrappy asleep beside Angelia on the sofa, she walked Ed out to the campervan.
‘Are you sure you’re going to be okay out here?’ she asked, folding her arms around her body. It was almost midnight now and there was a nip in the air despite the fact it was spring.
He shrugged. ‘Absolutely. It’ll be an adventure. Speaking of which, when do your parents go away?’
‘They leave on Monday to go down to Heathrow, but they fly out Wednesday the twenty-eighth for three weeks. They’re going to travel on the Rocky Mountain Railroad which I’m a tiny bit jealous about.
I know I told them they had to go but I’ll miss them like mad.
It’s been so good being home with them again. ’
‘I know what you mean. I miss my mum and dad too,’ Ed said with a sigh as he stared off into the distance and shoved his hands into the pockets of his baggy jeans.
‘And yet you chose to come here instead of going home to Hampshire.’
He pursed his lips for a moment. ‘Yes, but unlike yours, my folks are so hard on me. Always have been. As soon as I get home, they start asking when I’m going to apply for bigger orchestras, or higher paying, more prestigious work.
I think they like to live vicariously through me which is an awful lot of pressure.
And if it’s not that it’s, “when are you going to settle down and get married? We’d love some grandkids while we’re still young enough to enjoy them”,’ he said in an almost mocking tone.
‘Honestly, I can’t win. I do love them, don’t get me wrong, and I really do miss them but it’s easier to be away from them than it is to visit home more than once a year.
Coming to see you was definitely the better option. ’
‘Well, I’m glad to have you here,’ she said, hugging him. ‘I hope you manage to sleep okay.’
He removed his hands from his pockets, pulled her into his embrace and squeezed her tightly, giving a small laugh.
‘Believe me, when you’ve slept on as many airport floors as I have a camper is the epitome of luxury.
’ She smiled up at him, then turned to walk away. ‘Hey, hang on a sec, I’ve got an idea.’
His words stopped her in her tracks, and she turned to face him with eyebrows raised. ‘Ooh, that’s dangerous,’ she replied with a grin.
He tilted his head. ‘Funny.’ He eagerly took a step towards her.
‘Seriously, I was thinking, why don’t we head down to Glenbrittle for a few days while I’ve got the van?
From the pics I’ve seen online it looks stunning.
There’s this great campsite by the water out in the middle of nowhere.
We’d be undisturbed, I’m sure. We could visit the Fairy Pools and do some hiking.
Get some fresh air. Scrappy would love it. ’
She laughed. ‘You do know it’ll be midge central, don’t you? It’s May, Ed. On Skye? Do you want to get eaten alive?’
‘Pfft, we can take some of that stuff that repels them, you can buy it online. How bad can it be?’
She shook her head. ‘God, you’re such a towny.
It’ll be horrendous. It’ll be heaving with people, because it always is, and I can tell you now Meghan won’t go for it.
Imagine how cramped it would be and how bored silly Meghan’d be if she came with us.
We’d be reminiscing about uni days, and she’d just be sat there swatting midges. ’