Her Last Chance: Utterly heartbreaking, gripping and emotional fiction by Alison Ragsdale

Author:Alison Ragsdale [Ragsdale, Alison]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781800193659
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 2021-04-12T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 20

Their room was bright and high-ceilinged, with a king-size bed and a marble-floored bathroom, with a massive tub that Carly immediately climbed into, fully clothed, laughing, and saying that she could sleep in it. Two sash windows overlooked the gardens, and the majestic castle beyond, and as they stood together, looking down on the people milling around, Carly rotated her head from side to side, tipped it to the right, then slipped her sunglasses back on.

The series of movements becoming as familiar as they were heartbreaking, Ava put her arm around her daughter’s narrow shoulders and pulled her close. ‘What do you want to do first?’ She kissed the top of Carly’s silky head.

‘Get an ice-cream smoothie, and then start with the gallery?’ She stepped back from the window and, as Ava held her breath, Carly managed to skirt the edge of the bed, missing the corner of the bedspread that lay, artfully draped, across the carpet. These tiny manoeuvres, seemingly so inconsequential, had become monumental, and Ava was living on her nerves each time Carly either succumbed to, or conquered them, one at a time.

‘Great idea. Ice cream is the best way to start any outing.’ Ava diverted her gaze to the door, as, making her way to the bathroom, Carly trailed her fingertips along the wall, another new habit that, each time she witnessed it, swept the ground from under Ava.

They quickly unpacked their bags, walked to a café down the street and picked up some blended drinks, then headed towards the National Gallery. The June afternoon was mercifully mild, so they lingered in Princes Gardens. They sat on a grassy bank for a while, people-watching, and as Carly noisily sipped her drink, her head moving away from the sun as it slid in and out from behind the light covering of clouds, Ava subtly checked her phone again. Seeing nothing, she slipped it away.

Above them, Edinburgh Castle was perched high on its basalt cliff, the Castle Rock, dominating the Old Town skyline. Ava stared up at the familiar shape, using her hand as a visor as she focused on the impressive structure, the impossibly high walls springing straight out of the rock beneath them. No matter how many times she saw this sight, it never failed to impress her. Archaeologists had suggested that the rock had been occupied, in some form or another, since the Iron Age, that fact lending even more weight to Ava’s innate pride in their capital city.

Despite the thick, raspberry smoothie she’d just drunk, the smell of cinnamon in the air was making Ava hungry, so she nudged Carly’s arm. ‘Hey, shall we get some warm doughnuts? There’s a vendor over there, near the merry-go-round.’ She pointed to her right, seeing Carly squinting into the watery light, tracking the course of Ava’s finger.

The merry-go-round had been a fixture in the gardens for years, and Ava remembered riding on it with her parents when she’d been just eight years old. As she helped Carly up, Ava once again slipped back in time.

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