Find Her First by Emma Christie

Author:Emma Christie [Christie, Emma]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 24

The little car park close to Holyrood Palace was packed when they got there so Stef drove a little further on, parked on the road close to the ruin of the wee chapel that overlooked a loch on the path towards the summit. They sat together on the back bumper of the car, elbows knocking into each other as they leaned over and tied the laces of their walking boots.

‘Ready?’ Stef opened her favourite hiking app, the one they used to find and record hikes even in the wilderness of Scotland; places a phone signal would never reach. Stef had scoffed when Andy first suggested they download it, convinced GPS technology wouldn’t work in remote places, that a mobile phone could never replace a map.

Andy had laughed, said she’d learn to love it. And she had – although she wasn’t quite as obsessed as Andy was. He’d started timing everything since he turned forty and was automatically propelled into a different age category. He’d assumed he’d scoop up all the records since he was probably one of the youngest in that group but the crowns and medals didn’t come as often as he’d have liked.

Still, he’d come home beaming when the app told him he’d done well and if they weren’t together he’d take a screenshot photo of his result, text it to her. Before his mum succumbed to dementia she’d told Stef that he did the same to her, was forever sending her news of his tiny victories. They’d laughed about it at the time but later Stef felt sad, suddenly seeing the wee boy in Andy that still so desperately needed his mum’s approval. He needed to know she was proud of him; proof, somehow, that he’d been forgiven for what happened to his wee sister. That would have meant more than all the gold medals and speed records put together.

But it never came, and now would not.

She locked the car and followed Andy up the tarmac path then on to the lumpy line of trampled grass that led to the edge of the Salisbury Crags. She walked more slowly than he did on the best of days but Andy never seemed to mind, would reach the highest point of any path then find himself a plinth to stand on, push himself a little closer to the sky and take in the view from there. Today was no different. The ridge was busy but she spotted him right away, standing atop a rock with his hands on his hips facing the Old Town, streets strung with garish Christmas decorations that would be switched on later. From time to time he’d turn his head to the right and she knew he’d be looking for the beach promenade at Portobello, would count the streets back from the end until he saw the roof of their house.

She wanted to be up there with him, to hold out her hand and let herself be warmed by the heat he radiated, whatever the weather.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.