“They’re calling herugly,” he says, disbelieving. “She did nothing wrong. They can’t say this shit about her.”
“No.” I grab the phone. “I did not make you a Picturegram account so you could respond to the comments. I made it so you could accidentally like her pictures from three years ago and get really embarrassed.”
He glares. “We have to dosomething. Some of these people post their real names.” His jaw tightens. “There are old tools in the shed.”
“A murder spree might makeyoufeel better, but not her,” I point out. “I know what’ll cheer her up.” I head to the coffee jug.
“Bring extra layers,” Alec tells me. “And towels. She’s smaller than you, she won’t handle the cold as well?—”
“All right, boss.” I pour the coffee into a thermos. “How long have we got?”
Alec checks his watch. “The morning. I need you both to finish village deliveries by the afternoon.”
I nod and go to leave.
“Fraser,” Alec calls after me. “If she wants to stay longer, she can,” he says stiffly. “If it will help her.”
Despite the situation, I feel my chest warm. I knew my friend was still in there. “Thanks. I’ll ask.”
Back in the bedroom, Summer is sitting up in bed. I lean in the doorway and grin at her. “Hey, baby. Wanna go for a walk with me?”
We’re both silent as we make the trek towards Loch Thara. I hold Summer’s hand, helping her over logs and through the trees.
I remember the first time I came down here. It was my first time at Lochview. I was seven. That day, Mum had come straight from one of my sister’s hospital appointments to pick me up from school. My teacher had pulled her aside and told her I was being “unruly.”
Mum had started to yell at me and then burst into tears in the middle of the playground. “I swear,” she’d choked out, “I can’t deal with him right now, not on top of everything else. I can’t handle?—”
Alec’s mum had appeared and hugged her.“Honey, it’s okay,” she’d said. “I’ll take him home with me, get him some dinner. He can play with Alec. You’re friends, aren’t you, boys?”
I remember looking at Alec, who was clutching his book bag and frowning at the two grownups.
We were friends. But I didn’t want toplay. I was angry. Rosie was always sick, and Mum never paid any attention to me, and I hated everything. But it wasn’t my decision, so I was sent to Lochview Farm.
When we got out of Alec’s mum’s car, I had to hide how impressed I was. We lived in a bungalow, and they had so much land. They hadanimals.I was too mad to admit I thought it was cool, so I ran away while Alec’s mum was making us a snack and hid behind one of the barns.
Alec found me. He crouched next to me, all solemn behind his glasses.“Let me show you my secret place.”
I was angry, but I was also a small boy. I couldn’t resist asecret place.So Alec brought me down to the loch.
“Here we are,” I say, lifting aside a branch so Summer can duck under it. She gasps at the sight.
This bank of Lake Thara is a secret of the forest. You have to find your way through the trees to get to it, but if you manage, the reward is spectacular. The loch is dark and still and deep, pooled in the hands of the hills. The bank is soft with green moss and rushes and tiny star-shaped wildflowers which slope gently down to the water.
Summer spins to take it all in. “It’s like a fairy tale,” she murmurs.
She’s not wrong. The place feels magic. Untouched. Birds sing undisturbed in the trees overhead, and the great hills of the Highlands stretch up around us, fading to blue in the sky. I lead Summer down to the water, passing the willow that Alec, Cameron, and I engraved our initials into as teenagers. Nostalgia drifts through me, bittersweet.
We spent so much time here growing up. This is where we’d come to hide from Alec’s dad when he was angry. Or when Cameron’s nan accidentally-on-purpose locked him out. Or when Rosie had a recurrence. After Alec’s mum died, I remember Alec floating in the loch for hours, staring up at the sky.
We haven’t been here together in years. Cameron hasn’t swum since his injury, and Alec always says he’s too busy. I’m the only one who ever comes here these days.
And now, I suppose, Summer. I watch her pretty face as she takes it all in. “It’s so lovely,” she says, gazing at two jewel-coloured dragonflies flitting across the water.
“Aye.” I reach for my belt. “Off with your clothes then.”
Her mouth falls open as I pull down my trousers. “You’re kidding.”
“Not at all,” I say innocently, stepping out in my undies.
