Contents ( 57)
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Acknowledgements
- About the Author
- Also by Sharon Gosling
‘And then I thought – it’s stupid, because I knew I’d have to at least either go to Aberdeen or Fraserburgh – but I thought I’d still be able to find a way to live here and still go to lessons. But I can’t. The trains take too long and don’t run at the right times. I’d miss lessons in the morning and I’d get home really late and anyway, it’d cost a fortune. So that’s it. I can’t go.’
‘But Edie’s friend in Aberdeen offered you a room in her house while you study, didn’t she?’
‘Yeah. And it’s really kind of her.’
‘If you don’t want to live there because it’d cramp your style, I’m sure we can find other student accommodation.’
Gilly laughed. ‘How would I afford that? I’m not asking Edie to pay for it. Or you. Anyway, that’s not why.’
Ezra pricked up his ears. ‘There is another reason, then. What is it?’
The girl’s face fell. ‘No, there’s not – I don’t want to go, that’s all.’
‘Gilly,’ Ezra pushed, sure that he was getting close to the crux of the matter. ‘You’ve admitted that you would have gone to college if you could have stayed here. Which means it’s not that you don’t want to go to college, it’s that you don’t want to leave Newton Dunbar. But why? We’ll all still be here whenever you need us. You can come back at weekends if you want to. Hell, I’ll get you a BatPhone and put my number on speed dial – all you’d have to do is punch it, any time, day or night, and I’ll drive right over and get you. If you’re worried about making friends—’
‘I’m not,’ Gilly said. ‘It’s not any of that. I’d be leaving Edie alone.’
Ezra stared at her for a moment. ‘Edie? You mean the Edie downstairs who could slay a dragon with her tongue? That Edie?’
Gilly didn’t laugh. She stared at her hands instead. The silence hung on, tenacious, and in it Ezra grew cold.
‘What is it?’ Ezra asked quietly. ‘What don’t I know?’
The girl let go a breath, as if she’d been holding it for weeks. ‘It’s her hands. They don’t work as well as they used to. I’ve watched her trying to carve and… and she finds it really difficult. She drops things, too. Once she knocked over a candle and—’ Gilly stopped. ‘It’s arthritis, I think. Something like that. I don’t know if she’s been to a doctor about it. But it’s not going to get better. It’s just going to keep getting worse. And I don’t want to leave her on her own. If I’m not here—’
Ezra reached out and grasped Gilly’s hand. ‘Hey,’ he said, trying to lighten the tone. ‘What am I, chopped liver?’
‘I know you’ll look out for her. But you don’t live here, Ezra. You live next door. That’s not the same and you know it. Besides, what happens if you two have a fight and break up?’