Returning Home by Alexa Milne

Author:Alexa Milne
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-07-05T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Darach’s stomach rumbled. He’d missed breakfast in his hurry to get out for his date with Brice. If this was a date. “I’m starving. Do you want to have something in the café here, or do you want to get fish and chips and go down to the links? We could park and watch the sea or something.”

They’d spent the last couple of hours wandering around the various exhibitions at Duff House.

“Take me to the beach,” Brice said. Despite being so close, he hadn’t been to the coast much, because it reminded him of things he could no longer do, like walking along the beach feeling the sand between his toes. Sand wasn’t conducive to wheelchair use.

“Right, then, there’s a place on the main street that does takeout.” Darach pressed the button to summon the lift, and twenty minutes later, they were sitting watching a couple of dogs playing on the small sandy beach while their owners threw balls for them to fetch.

Darach opened the window. The breeze had died down but still had a chilly edge to it. “Not too cold for you?” he asked.

“No, and the food is keeping me warm. It’s good to get some fresh air. My therapist was right. I do need to get out more. Oh, my God—look.”

Darach followed the direction Brice was pointing.

“Dolphins,” Brice said excitedly. “I’ve only seen them that one other time. There are a lot of them. Isn’t it incredible the way they jump out of the water for the fun of it? They seem so free and without care the way they twist and turn. I suppose you’ve seen them lots before.”

“A few times,” Darach said. “But they never get boring. I’ve seen whales too, and there are seals down on the rocks past Buckie. You should go on a boat trip. I think there’s one that starts trips at Easter—the Seascape II—and before you say anything, they will take people in wheelchairs. It’s decided—we’re going. Now, where else could we go?”

By the time they’d watched the dolphins disappear out of view and they’d eaten their food, Darach had come up with several ideas for places to visit. “I haven’t been to many tourist spots myself.”

“I suppose you don’t when you live there anyway,” Brice said.

“Exactly. And you’d be able to sketch as well and not simply rely on photographs from the net.” He hadn’t been this excited in years. It was like seeing his home area through new eyes and realizing it wasn’t as dull as he remembered. He liked the thought of showing Brice around. Off duty in Glasgow, all he and Mitch had done was go out to eat or to the pub. They hadn’t even been to the theater, and Mitch had yawned at any mention of a museum, favoring other activities like trips to the races at Hamilton and Musselburgh. Darach had loved the horses, but betting was a mug’s game. The only people who won were the bookies, and sometimes he’d worried about how much Mitch had spent on those days out.

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