So far away from anyone, in this remote spot at the edge of the world was the last place she expected thoughts of Joanna to find her. Nevertheless, as she backed out of the dark room, into the wind on the headland, pulling the door shut behind them, Joanna was who she yearned for. Leonie had taught her what it was to put someone else’s needs before your own. She realized then, that perhaps Joanna had been trying to do that, all those years ago. Jo hadn’t abandoned Ruby. She’d sacrificed the chance to be a mother, the gift of experiencing the joy and the fear that came with being the provider of unconditional love. Alone on the rock with Leonie, Ruby wanted to find her mother, Joanna, and say she was sorry, that she was forgiven—and that there was nothing to forgive, really, because she understood everything now. Most of all, she wanted to hold her, be held by her, and to say that she loved her.

Seagulls circled above them as she hiked over the rocks, then over the machair to the road. Soon they would be back in the warm hotel, eating breakfast and waiting until it was time.

CHAPTER

52

NOW

Joanna

Friday, December 28

THE FLIGHT FROM Glasgow to Barra, which lasted a little more than an hour, wasn’t the kind of flight you could sit back and enjoy. Joanna watched her knuckles turning white as she gripped the seat in front and prayed for it to be over.

She supposed she had been warned, up to a point. “It’s a wee bit windy today,” the man she’d bought the ticket from had said. “Keep your eye on the board for a delay, or a cancellation.”

“Is it likely to be canceled?” There was only one scheduled flight a day. A cancellation would be unthinkable.

The man tipped his head in thought. “They fly in a force eight. But they won’t fly in a force nine.”

“What’s the gale force now?” she’d asked. Outside, trees were bent sideways. People leaned at unlikely angles, clutching their coats to them, hair battened to scalps by the driving might of the wind and rain.

“Eight point three.” The man laughed at her. “Don’t look so worried.”

She shut her mouth.

The plane circled back on itself, and if Harper hadn’t been gripped by the certainty that she was going to die, she might have appreciated the moment when they broke through the cloud cover and the island came into view. There was no airport, no runway that she could see. She tapped on the newspaper of the man next to her, who lowered it and raised an inquiring eyebrow.