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1
Holly Taylor plucked the headphone from her right ear. Mum was phoning for the thousandth time. She’d planned to call when she was nearer Glasgow Central Station, but the train was a good fifty minutes away yet and her mother’s constant calling was getting in the way of the audiobook she wanted to finish.
She let it go to voicemail and, with a huff, stabbed at the pause button, taking a moment to compose herself. This had felt like the right thing to do as she boarded the train at London Euston four long hours ago, but the closer she got to Glasgow the tighter the grip on her stomach became. This was it: she was officially returning home with her tail between her legs.
Holly held the ringing mobile to her ear, suddenly aware she was holding her breath. She let out a wavering sigh, her heartbeat thrumming against her ribs.It’s only Mum.
‘Holly, hi! Are you nearly here?’ Mum said, panic clear in her voice.
‘What’s wrong?’ Holly asked, her heart rate rising for a completely different reason now. The sound of the family’s busy shop was loud on the line, so at least she wasn’t in a hospital or worse.
‘It’s your dad.’
‘What’s wrong?’ she repeated, straightening herself in the train’s seat, on high alert. It had better not be his blood pressure again.
‘That’ll be two ninety-nine. Sorry, it’s my daughter. I know! Have a good day.’
‘Mum,’ Holly scolded, her patience already non-existent.
‘Sorry – customers. It’s your dad. He’s put his back out.’
Holly breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Is he okay?’
‘Oh aye, he’s lying in the basement just now. I told him not to pick up that box of juice, but you know what he’s like.’
‘So why the ten thousand calls?’
‘Well, this place is going like a fair, and we’ve a heck of a lot of home deliveries to get through. I know you wanted to get straight home, but do you think you could call by the shop and help out?’
Holly slumped back in the seat, her muscles relaxing now she knew it wasn’t an emergency. ‘Yeah, sure, no problem.’
‘You’re an angel! Right, I better go. Got a queue out the door.’ Mum punctuated the call with an excited squeal. It was nice to hear her so happy. She’d never been like that when she worked in banking.
Holly repositioned herself, not bothering to put her audiobook back on. Instead, she focused on the countryside whizzing past the window. They were well into Scotland now. The view hadn’t changed much in the last hour, aside from England’s flat fields slowly being replaced with distant tumbling mountains, but a patriotic warmth hugged her bones. It felt like an age since she’d done this journey. Ithadbeen an age.
Christmas. Two years ago. The shop had only just opened and her visit was so whistle-stop she’d only managed to walk past it when it was closed. It would be good to see it in all its glory. Her parents had done an amazing job of building the deli up to where it was. They’d recently won Best Customer Service in the Shawlands Business Awards. No mean feat.
She checked her messages, half expecting to see a message from Shona. Nothing. Just Dad urging her to phone, and Mum’s missed calls. Even after four months, her mind was on autopilot. If she ever heard from Shona again it would be too soon.
There wasn’t really anyone to warn of her imminent arrival. When she’d run off to London she’d let friendships fall by the wayside. Was there anyone she knew left in Glasgow? Would they even care she was back?
She shoved her phone in her pocket.
Fuck, Holly. How did you mess this up so badly?
