‘Careful,’ he cried, as his foot automatically stretched into the footwell, looking for a non-existent brake to pump.
‘You’re doing it again. Just relax and listen to Chris; helovesdriving on dark, icy, overcrowded roads. I’d never have guessed you were a nervous passenger.’
‘I’m not nervous, I’m having a great time.’ Jonathan sipped his coffee and set his eyes on the cars’ lights snaking in a chain on the road ahead. ‘How much longer?’
‘Hmm, couple of hours. It’s nice just puttering along with you.’
‘I liked the bit at the services best,’ grimaced Jonathan.
‘You’re going to have to distract yourself… tell me a story or something.’
‘OK, t’was the night before Christmas…’
‘Tell me about your mum,’ Kelsey urged.
‘Oh, well, OK. Let’s see. She’s real dainty, like my sisters. I guess I don’t get my height from her. She works one job these days but when I was a kid and it was just us two she worked all the time. I’m not kidding. I’d be looked after by all these aunties on my street – none of them were my real aunts – while mom worked the cash register at the 7-Eleven, or taught her art and acting classes, and she was a cleaner in this old lady’s house for a while. Yeah, she’s amazing. You’re gonna love her.’
‘I know I will.’
‘Once she met Art things got easier. He’s an English professor. Now Mom teaches her drama classes and that’s it. She’s thinking about retiring soon though. Yeah, you’re gonna love her. Do you,uh, think your mom’s gonna like me?’
‘Hah! Well, be prepared for the loudest scream you’ve ever heard when she sees us. If that doesn’t frighten you off, you’re definitely going to get along. All she ever wanted was for me to be happy like she was with Dad.’
She threw a quick glance at Jonathan listening starry-eyed beside her. He reached for her hand on the gear stick and squeezed it gently, and they fell silent for a while.
‘Look, there it is!’ Kelsey called out, pointing to the roadside.
They both stared at the sign, a huge saltire cross in blue and white with the Gaelic words, ‘Fàilte gu Alba’ in bold letters.
‘Failty goo alba?’ He squinted as they passed.
‘Welcome to Scotland,’ she said, and the words caught a little in her throat as she was hit by the same sudden wave of sentimental pride every Scot making their homecoming journey ever felt, the feeling made all the stronger because this time she was bringing Jonathan with her. ‘Welcome to Scotland!’ she said again, pressing the pedal a little harder, carrying them off into the night, so close to home.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
‘She never told her love,
But let concealment, like a worm i’ th’ bud,
Feed on her damask cheek.’
(Twelfth Night)
As Mirren left the Yorick the last of the Christmas Eve audiences were swarming into the theatres on the riverside buzzing with excitement for the last performances before the break.
It had been an exhausting shift but the sight that greeted her as the crowds thinned made up for every empty pint pot she’d hauled out of the steamy glasswash trying to keep up with demand at the bar.
Kenneth had helped her serve all afternoon, his shirt sleeves rolled up, and she’d barely had a chance to stop, even missing the free turkey and trimmings Christmas Eve lunch she’d been so looking forward to.
There had been the added distraction of thinking of Kelsey driving north with her boyfriend and she thought about them often as she worked; no doubt they were holding hands on the gearstick and grinning soppily at each other like two gigantic nerds in love.
The single life was hitting her hard just as much as it was fuelling her pride at keeping her promise to herself. There would be no cosy boyfriend-for-Christmas moments and no visit home for her this festive season.
It’s always nice to have someone to kiss at Christmas, she’d pined as she served the happy couples in town on seasonal mini breaks – all sexed up and gorging on Shakespeare and champagne – and her heart cracked a little when she told herself it might actually have been quite nice to see her mum who was all alone in her little house with the telly blaring and the temptation of the off licence just around the corner. Maybe she should have tried to get home for Christmas after all?
She’d sighed so much during her shift even Kenneth had been worried. Putting a fatherly arm around her shoulder, he’d told her she could knock off early if she needed to, but – partly thinking of the quiet, lonely barge waiting for her and partly spurred on by her loyalty to the Yorick – she’d persevered and time had passed as it always does.
But now, like a reward for her efforts, Adrian Armadale was waiting there in the shadows of the high wall that contained the pub’s front garden, his black hair shining metallic blue in the coloured festive bulbs strung high above them. It was cold and dark but the people walking home with last-minute shopping ready to settle in for Christmas meant the town was alive with laughter and chatter. The whole scene lifted Mirren’s spirits.
