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“Flying’s fine. It’s just keeping it in the brace a little while longer. I can still bear weight.”
She gives me an upside-down smile, as if that’s not the advice she’d give. “What about your crutches?”
Annie never mentioned the crutches. I just picked them up out of habit when I left… “Just the one for now.”
“Well,that’sprogress, at least,” she says, opening the car door and smiling up at me in some kind of way.
“What?” I eventually ask, hating that I’ve lied to her.
She frowns slightly, her eyes dropping to my lips. “Nothing. I’m just thinking about how happy Ave will be that you’re coming with us.”
I blow out a breath, remembering why I’m doing this. I step toward her, slipping between the open car door to stand at her front. “What about you? Are you happy I’m coming?”
She tilts her head to the side, my eyes dancing around her smiling face as she contemplates it. She is so close, so beautiful.
“Yeah. Yeah, I am.”
“You got the all clear? We can go?” Waverley asks, jumping up and down on the steps at Lowerwick. She has a summer dress on, a sun hat, and a black pair of sunglasses covering her eyes.
I step out of the car and hobble toward her. “I got the all clear.”
She rushes to me and hugs my waist. “Vinny just finished packing up all the cars. We’re leaving in twenty minutes!” She runs back up the steps, passing Mason and Ellis on her way. Mason steals her hat, placing it on Ellis. Ellis pulls it off, rolling his eyes and giving it back to Waverley.
“They said you’re good to fly?” Mason asks with a wide smile on his face.
I nod. “Just about.”
“He still has some way to go,” Scarlet corrects. “And they’d like him to use a crutch.”
She passes it to me, and I slip my arm through the loop.
“The cars are packed up?” Scarlet asks.
“Yep. Everything that was in your rooms. Ave was snooping in your suitcase,” Mason tells me. “I don’t think she took anything out, but you’re welcome to check. I’ll get my tribe rounded—”
I follow his line of sight, his frown aimed over my shoulder. When I turn, I see the Audi rolling slowly in the lane. As it nears, my heart drops to my ass.
My mother sits behind the wheel.
“Did you know she was coming?” Mason asks.
I shake my head. “No, I did not.”
As she steps from the car, I take in everything about her all at once. From the smile lines that make up her face, to the dyed, muddy brown hair she has chopped short at her shoulders. Not much has changed, if at all, and yet I can’t help but hope that maybe it has. That maybe she’ll come over and give me a cuddle and tell me she missed me.
“Sorry, I didn’t call ahead. I did try your phone, Scarlet, but I couldn’t get through.”
I turn to look at Scarlet, not sure what to expect. She seems to be waiting, like I was, maybe for the same thing even.
“Hello, Lance. It’s good to see you.”
My brows rise in surprise. “It’s good to see you, too. I didn’t realise Scarlet had your number. I was trying to contact you whilst in the hospital.”
She takes a half step back. “I’ve been working a lot. It’s a busy couple of months in the hospitality industry, and with Dougie, Lois, and Poppy not in school, it’s impossible to get away.”
Regardless of the fact the school holidays started after I was released from hospital, my attention snags on the other part of her sentence. “Sorry… who?”
“Douglas, Lois, and Poppy,” she repeats, a sliver of guilt shining in her eyes. “Nessa and Chloe’s children.”
