AllFreeNovel
Share Us
chapter 04
alex
I’ve never really understood Lottie’s fear of the ocean. There was no childhood trauma in the sea that might have triggered it, no near-drowning incident, and water itself isn’t the problem; she loves the pool and has been able to swim without armbands, even well out of her depth, for almost a year.
But this is a beach wedding and Lottie has to get used to the nearness of the sea, so, after lunch, I fortify myself with a stiff gin-and-tonic (full disclosure: not my first of the day) and take her down to the beach.
Fortunately, although her chin goes down and her shoulders hunch forward so that she resembles a bonsai charging bull, she doesn’t detonate as I’d feared. We walk slowly towards a raked section of powdery white sand, where the hotel staff is setting out rows of beribboned gilt chairs in front of a wedding arbour entwined with plastic starfish and shells. I lead Lottie down the sandy aisle she will tread at the wedding rehearsal in a couple of hours, and show her where she’ll sit in the front row tomorrow.
‘There’s no tide here,’ I explain, crouching down beside her as she stares towards the ocean, her features grimly set. ‘Well, not much of one. The sea isn’t going to come any closer, I promise.’
Lottie takes a firm step towards the shoreline, which is about six metres from where we’re standing. Trust my girl to face her fears, challenge them head on.
I hear Sian’s voice behind me. ‘Are you going for a swim, Lottie?’
Sian and her best friend and maid of honour Catherine are picking their way across the hot sand in matching pink flip-flops, their wet hair slicked back from their faces after their dip in the ocean.
‘We’re just on our way back to the hotel to get ready,’ I say.
‘But the sea’s so warm,’ Sian says. ‘And she’s got plenty of time before the rehearsal.’
‘It’s anocean, not a sea,’ Lottie says.
Sian crouches next to her. ‘I hope you’re not worried about people seeing you in a swimming costume, Lottie. No one minds what you look like.’
I want to smack Sian across her pretty face. But I need not worry; Lottie has the situation handled.
‘Why would I be worried?’ she asks bluntly.
‘Never mind,’ Sian says quickly. ‘Are you afraid of sharks, then?’
‘Of course not!’ she retorts. ‘Ilikesharks.’
‘She’s got no reason to be scared,’ Catherine says. ‘They’d take one bite of her and spit her out.’
Lottie appears to view this as a compliment.
My phone vibrates in my pocket as Sian and Catherine return to the hotel. I’m surprised to see my sister Harriet’s name on the screen. ‘Lottie, sit here and don’t move while I talk to Aunt Harriet,’ I say, pointing to a nearby sunlounger. ‘I’ll only be five minutes.’
I take a couple of paces towards the shoreline, tempted by the sea. The warm water ripples over my bare feet and I find myself wishing Lottie could get past her fear; the water reallyisperfect.
‘I wasn’t expecting to hear from you,’ I tell my sister. ‘Is everything all right? Are Mum and Dad OK?’
‘As far as I know. Why?’
‘Because youcalledme!’
‘Shit, sorry. Must have been a butt dial.’ Harriet sighs. ‘I thought something must be wrong when I saw the missed call.’
I take the implicit rebuke in my stride.
Harriet and I haven’t been close since we were children; we love each other, of course, but we’re chalk and cheese. We often go months without speaking, unless there’s a family crisis. Mum’s only fifty-seven, but she’s been in hospital twice in the last three years to have malignant polyps removed from her colon.
On each occasion, I’ve been the one who’s had to break it to Harriet, who lives up in the Shetland Isles with her husband Mungo, an oil-rig engineer. Despite the wonders of modern technology, I know she often feels very cut off from the family, especially with Mungo frequently away on the rigs. She’s an artist, working from home, so she has plenty of time to feel lonely.
‘Sorry,’ I say. ‘I didn’t mean to worry you.’
‘It’s all right. False alarm.’
