‘Unbelievable. Dad – it was awesome.’
‘Ah that’s great – that’s just great.’
‘It was hard.Sohard, Dad.’
‘But you did it son – youdidit.’
‘Yep.’
‘I’m proud of you.’
‘Thanks but I just thought I’d, you know – call.’
‘Well I appreciate that – thank you very much.’
‘We’re going to Edinburgh tomorrow. It’s going to take quite a while.’
‘I like a long journey – you earn the destination.’
‘I get that now.’
‘Okay, well, it’s great to hear from you, Taylor – thank you for calling. Say – what time is it over there?’
‘It’s just gone three in the afternoon.’
‘Is that so?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Three in the afternoon.’
‘Three in the afternoon.’
‘Well you have a great time now. Say hi to JB and Drew.’
‘I will. Bye then.’
‘Bye son.’
‘Bye.’ Taylor paused. ‘Oh—and Dad?’
The line was dead. His dad had gone. But Taylor had wanted to say how areyouDad – are you okay? He really had planned on saying I’ve been thinking of you and Ireallyhope you are okay. He looked hard at his phone. Should he call again? But the moment had gone; if he called again now it would be awkward. Perhaps he could say it in a text? No – not a text. He groaned out loud and fell backwards into the sand, pushing handfuls of it through his hair. He’d make that call, hewould, but on another day.
Back at Flora’s House, Taylor was taking a shower and Drew was starting to pack and downstairs, JB was noticing all the little details in the cottage he hadn’t thought to observe until now. He browsed the paperbacks, the maps and the guidebooks and leaflets, and he ran his hands over the stones of the wall. A rock as old as the moon – he’d forgotten what it was called, but Drew would know. There were a couple of small watercolours of Harris and a dazzling piece of glasswork, a seascape. He held it against the window where the afternoon light made the colours jewel-like. He wondered what the island was like midwinter, thinking that this cottage would be so cosy – as long as someone remembered to keep that peat fire going. In his back pocket, his phone was vibrating. He looked to see who was calling him. It was his father.
‘JB! I tried you yesterday. You did not answer. How did it go?’
‘Hey Dad.’
‘How did it go? What time did you make? I researched the elevations – but your weather was mostly good, right?’
‘I did not run.’
‘You did not run?’
‘Nope.’
‘What do you mean nope?’
