She disappears down the hall.After a few minutes of flipping aimlessly through the channels, I drop the remote and go to the kitchen to retrieve the package that arrived yesterday from Scotland.Our food should be here soon; I called in the order when we were partway home since Abby’s stomach continued to protest loudly.When I return to the living room, she’s sitting on the couch, wrapped in the tartan blanket I keep on the foot of my bed.
“What did you choose?”I ask.
She pulls the edges of the blanket back, flasher style, to reveal a blue Queen’s University sweatshirt and matching joggers.Both are far too big for her, making her appear tiny...and makingmefeel oddly possessive at the sight of her in my clothes.
Abby’s eyes light up when she sees what I’m holding.“Is that what I think it is?”
“If you think it’s a care package from my mum and dad, then aye.”I sit on the couch and place the large box between us.“Have at it.”
With Brodie out of town, I made the executive decision to open the box yesterday so I could call our parents to thank them.I was going to put everything away, but something told me to hold off.Now, watching Abby’s smile grow as she digs through the contents, I’m glad I did.
She hands me each item until my lap is overflowing with packages of Scottish tablet, Tunnocks Tea Cakes, Mackie’s crisps, Edinburgh Rock, and more.
“Aww, you each get your own little tin of goodies too,” she says.“Oh, and there’s one for Drew!That’s so sw—” The words die as she comes to the final item in the box.“This one has my name on it.”
“Huh, would you look at that?Good thing I didn’t eat it then, eh?”
She smiles and rolls her eyes as she pries the lid off the thistle-patterned tin.Her chin wobbles as she pulls back the parchment paper to reveal a selection of home-baked goods, courtesy of my mum.
I swallow thickly at the way her chin continues to tremble.I’m not sure if I can handle seeing her cry again today.“I’ve told her your favourites over the years.I don’t think I got a single piece of the millionaire’s shortbread she sent last time.”
The smile Abby gives me is likely meant to be contrite, but the gleam in her eyes tells me she’s not remotely sorry.What she doesn’t know is that I’d hand over the entire contents of the care package if it would make her happy.
“Well, you won’t have to share yours this time,” she says, inspecting the contents of the container.“Mmm, Scottish rocky road and raspberry snow cakes too.It wassosweet of Morna to think of me.”She counts on her fingers, and I know she’s doing some time zone math.“It’s after midnight in Scotland, otherwise I’d suggest calling her.Will you thank her for me the next time you talk to her?”
“Of course.”My parents love Abby and Drew.Every time they call Brodie or me and we’re with one or both of the girls, they insist on being put on speaker or switching to video.
The doorbell rings, and I leave the room to get our food.I return a minute later, balancing a stack of boxes, along with a bottle of root beer tucked into my elbow.“Your feast, my lady.”
Abby jumps up to help me.Knowing she’d crave comfort food on a night like tonight, I told her the sky was the limit, and she’d taken me seriously.We have pepperoni and mushroom pizza, breaded chicken bites, garlic knots, and cinnamon twists, plus the pop.While she spreads everything out on the coffee table, I grab plates and glasses from the kitchen.
“I bet your parents are excited you’re moving back to Scotland soon,” she says once we’re settled with overflowing plates of food.This is how things have always been with us: dropping and picking up conversations naturally, sometimes even days later.
“Mm, they are,” I mumble around a mouthful of pizza.
Abby looks at me expectantly, then laughs when I raise my eyebrows in return.“Give me more than that, Graeme!Or better yet, tell me howyoufeel about moving back home.”
Home.It’s strange to hear Scotland referred to that way.I love the country down to my very bones and always knew I’d return someday, but I’ve been away for years, and so much has happened during that time.It’s only now occurred to me how much I consider Kingston home too.And perhaps, more than that, I’ve come to think of being with Brodie, Abby, Drew, and Fern as home.
“I’ve got mixed feelings,” I admit.“It’s the end of an era, isn’t it?I never expected to stay in Kingston this long, but then Brodie moved in with me, and we met you girls, and...it felt like I had a reason to stay beyond just my job.”
Abby lays a hand over her heart and gives me the sweetest smile.This is as close as I ever come to admitting my feelings for her.It’s safe territory; a friend can say that to another friend without any romantic feelings behind it, right?What Idon’ttell her is that it felt as if my life truly began when she came along.I enjoyed attending Queen’s, and I liked the job I got as a real estate agent after I graduated, but it was a quiet, somewhat lonely life.
When Brodie announced he’d been accepted at Queen’s, my parents advocated for him to live with me rather than in the dorms.He’d lived a somewhat sheltered life until that point; he was poorly a lot as a child, so our parents had a tendency to coddle him.I told Brodie the decision was ultimately his, and I was secretly pleased when he decided to move in with me.After finishing his second year, he asked if his friend Brent could rent the second spare room, and I agreed since Brent already spent a fair bit of time at the house anyway.
Then Abby, Drew, and Fern came along.They were hilarious, curious, and exuberant, and they lit up my life in ways I never imagined possible.Their love of Kingston made me see I’d been missing out on the joys of the city.I had explored a bit on my own while I was at uni, but my life was mostly dedicated to school.The girls were always up for a wander, though, and they showed Brodie and me around, plus we often took short road trips.I went from leading a solitary existence to suddenly having this group of friends who shook up my life in all the best ways.
“The timing has worked out perfectly, at least,” I say.“My visa expires around the same time you’ll all be graduating and moving away.”
Abby makes a humming sound as she chews.I can tell by the far-off look in her eyes that she’s pondering something.“Is it completely selfish to admit there’s a part of me that wishes you were staying in Kingston?I know we’d be three hours apart and wouldn’t get to see each other often, but it would be doable.Scotland feels like a world away.”
Warmth spreads through me.It feels oddly like satisfaction, although it’s bittersweet.“I’ll see your selfish confession and give you my own: part of me wishes we wereallstaying in Kingston, and that life could go on as it has been.I know that’s unrealistic, but...”I shrug, feeling relieved when she nods vigorously.
“Then we’ll be selfish together.”She wipes her fingers on a napkin and holds her hand out for me to shake.I chuckle and wipe the grease from my own fingers before closing my hand around her much smaller one.
Our hands stay locked longer than necessary.I’m not sure which one of us lets go first, but we spend the next few seconds busying ourselves with stuffing more food into our faces.
“What about you?”I ask.“How do you feel about the big move?”
