TEN
THE ONE WHERE SHE FINDS HIM
Alex
I pushed the few items of clothing I’d just washed and dried into the holdall along with the rest of my clothes and zipped it up.
There, packing done.
I looked around the room. The sofa bed was folded up, the draining board clear of any crockery, and the chest of drawers empty––just as it had been for the last six months I’d lived here. I had never unpacked.
I picked up the small photograph album that had been my mum’s and flicked through the pages.
Not because I needed reminding of what was inside it.
I knew all those photographs, I had looked at them enough times, and I could see every detail in my mind’s eye.
Pictures of my mum and me from when I was a baby to my twenty-first birthday.
The last birthday I had with her. After that, the pages are blank.
I’ve never been able to bring myself to add to it.
Besides, there was no one to take photos of me and I didn’t much care for selfies.
I looked at that last photograph. It represented a lot of lasts in my life.
I closed it and placed it into my rucksack.
It was only five minutes until Paddy was due, and I knew he wouldn’t be late, so after locking the door to my room, I went downstairs to wait for him outside.
Sure enough. Ten o’clock on the dot, I saw the same black MPV as before cruise down the street and pull up in front of me. The passenger window slid down, and Paddy nodded at me from the driver’s side.
Before I had a chance to walk around to the back of the vehicle to throw my two bags in the boot, the rear door opened and out stepped Oliver.
‘Morning,’ he said. ‘All okay?’
‘Yes. Fine.’
I hadn’t been expecting him at all.
‘I tried to call you earlier,’ he said.
I couldn’t work out if he was pissed off or not. ‘Sorry. I have a new number. I was going to tell Paddy so he could pass it on to whoever needed it.’
‘That would be me,’ said Oliver. He moved around to the back of the MPV and flipped open the boot. ‘Is that all you’ve got?’ He nodded at my two bags.
‘Yeah,’ I replied, taking the bigger bag over. He took it from my hands and hoisted it with ease into the back. I pushed the rucksack in next to it. I noticed three other bags in the boot already.
‘Paddy. Me. Noah,’ said Oliver. ‘We’re coming up for a few days. I want to check on Grainger personally and to make sure you are all settled in and have everything you needed.’
He was all business as he spoke. He closed the boot and then stood by the door, holding it open.
‘Hi, Noah,’ I said as I climbed in.
‘Hi. Dad thought you had bottled it,’ he said.
I paused mid-way from clipping in my seat belt to look at Oliver as he climbed in and shut the door behind him.
‘Bottled it?’ I said.
Oliver had the decency to look embarrassed. ‘Yeah, well, not exactly.’
I fastened my seatbelt. ‘Bottled it?’ I repeated in a tone that said really. ‘Like I’m frightened of Grainger. He’s a big softie.’ I addressed Noah and gave a conspiratorial smile.
‘Dad said––’ began Noah but was swiftly cut off by his father.
‘Never mind what I said, listen to what I’m saying now.’ Oliver pulled an imaginary zip across his mouth.
I couldn’t help laughing. ‘Out manoeuvred again,’ I said, sitting back in my seat.
Paddy pulled out into the traffic, and we were on our way.
‘What’s your number?’ asked Oliver in that direct way he did when he was Oliver Laker, CEO. He passed me his phone, and I input the details. Then he tapped at the screen, and a few seconds later, a message pinged on my phone. It was from Oliver. I looked at the message.
Any changes let me know.
I nodded and saved his number in my new contacts list. I wasn’t sure if I had his direct work number or his direct personal number.
We took the same route as we had before Christmas. A plane from a private airfield just north of Watford and landed at Easterton airfield a couple of hours later. By the time we reached the estate, the grey wintery sky was making it feel dark already.
There was fresh snow on the ground, but nothing like the blizzard it had been last time I was up there. It had a different feel to it, almost like we had entered Narnia.
‘We’ll bunk down in Grainger’s cabin for the night,’ said Oliver, climbing the porch steps. ‘In the morning, I’ll show you your quarters, and we can get it sorted out for you.’
We went inside and took the same sleeping arrangements as before. I dumped my bags on the bed and went back into the main living area.
‘There’s not much here to eat,’ said Paddy, looking in the fridge.
‘We can go into Risk and get something to eat at the Thistle Bar,’ said Oliver.
‘Sounds good to me,’ said Paddy, flicking the fridge door shut.
‘Alex?’
‘Count me in.’
Half an hour later, we were driving into Risk. The town glowed against the dark sky, with strings of lights tracing the curve of the waterfront, their reflections shimmering on the black water. A line of fishing boats was moored up along the harbour wall, bobbing on the incoming current.
The town was small, but even on a cold, dark evening, it felt welcoming and warm. Paddy parked the car up alongside the harbour wall. We walked along the quayside to the other end, where the Thistle Bar was.
As we stepped inside, the smell of smoke from the open fire and something good cooking hung in the air. The low hum of conversation faltered for a moment as the locals glanced up at us but resumed almost instantly.
Oliver seemed to know a lot of people. I watched as he and Paddy said hello to some of the locals sitting in the pub, chatting easily with them. By the time he reached the bar, the barman had already pulled two pints and a fruit drink.
‘What’s the young lady having?’ asked the barman.
‘Alex?’ asked Oliver.
‘Orange juice. Thanks,’ I replied.
‘You want a warmer in that?’ asked the barman.
‘No, thanks.’
The barman gave a shrug and retrieved an orange juice bottle and a glass.
‘Thanks, Iain,’ said Oliver to the barman.
I noticed Iain didn’t ask for any money, and Oliver never offered. I assumed there must be some kind of tab. The significance wasn’t lost on me. Oliver might not be a local, but it seemed they liked him. I imagined Oliver put in a lot of hard work in keeping the town onside.
It wasn’t long before we ordered our food, and it arrived at the table.
It tasted as good as it smelled and looked.
We had all squared away our food in double-quick time.
As our plates were cleared and we were finishing up with some coffees, the pub door opened and in bundled two young women, dressed in jeans, hiking boots and thick winter jackets. One of them pulled off her woolly hat.
She looked around the room, and her gaze landed on us.
‘Oliver!’ she said and made a beeline for the table. ‘Hi, Paddy. And Noah. How are you all?’ She rested her hand on Oliver’s shoulder. I wasn’t going to let that bother me. Or so I said. She looked at me. ‘Oh, hello.’
‘Hello, Brooke,’ said Oliver. ‘This is Alex. She’s our new medic up at the estate.’
‘Hi. Welcome to Risk.’ Brooke flicked her golden coloured hair over her shoulder.
‘Hi. Thank you,’ I replied and smiled politely.
‘So you’re a nurse,’ she said. ‘Don’t let anyone here know, they’ll never leave you alone with all their aches and pains.’
‘She’s a medic. Former army,’ said Oliver.
I think the distinction was lost on Brooke, but I appreciated Oliver’s comment all the same. I noticed she kept her hand on his shoulder.
‘What are you all doing here?’ She turned to Oliver. ‘You haven’t moved up here yet, have you?’
‘Not yet. We’re just here for a few days. Alex is staying here with Grainger.’
‘Oh, yes. I heard he’d had an accident. Hope he’s okay. If you need me to call up to the estate and do anything, just let me know.’ She looked at me now. ‘I work at the local nursing home. Senior carer.’
I smiled and nodded. ‘That’s good.’
‘How are you, Noah?’ she asked. ‘You’re looking very serious tonight.’ Noah didn’t reply. ‘Cat got your tongue?’ she asked.
With that, Noah proceeded to poke his tongue out at her. I had to smother a laugh. Paddy, on the other hand, didn’t even try to be discreet and let out a loud burst of laughter.
‘Noah,’ warned Oliver. ‘Brooke asked you a question.’
‘I was showing her the cat didn’t have my tongue,’ said Noah.
I had to look away, but I made the mistake of making eye contact with Paddy, and we both were in fits that I couldn’t even begin to hide. Silent laughing was the absolute worst.
‘Cheeky little monkey,’ said Brooke, not quite able to hide her annoyance.
Oliver looked at his son, raising his eyebrows a fraction.
Noah took heed. ‘I’m well, thank you,’ he said.
I don’t know why that was funny, but it was, and it set Paddy and me off again.
Oliver cleared his throat. ‘Right, well, time for us to be going. Nice to see you, Brooke.’
He stood up, and we all followed suit. As we went out of the pub, I felt a little hand slip into mine. I looked down, and Noah was looking back up at me. I winked and held his hand a little tighter.
Once we arrived back at the estate, Paddy took Noah off to help him get some logs for the wood burner. A few flakes of snow started to settle on the ground.
‘It’s so beautiful here,’ I said, looking across at the loch. ‘Even in the dark, it’s beautiful.’
‘I love it up here,’ said Oliver. We wandered down towards the loch. ‘The first time I came up here, I knew this was the place I wanted to be most.’
‘It’s not very corporate,’ I said.
‘Neither am I.’
We reached the edge of the loch, the water gently lapping on the stony shoreline. The breeze off the water was cold, and I pushed my hands into my pockets. I couldn’t help sneaking a look out of the corner of my eye at Oliver. He was gazing out into the darkness.
‘How did you find this place?’ I asked.
‘A friend of a friend. You know how it is. Army mate knew someone who knew someone.’ He looked over towards the other side of the loch. ‘It needed some work, but it’s been worth it.’
‘When did you know you wanted to do something like this?’ I followed his gaze.