'I know I keep saying it but I can't get over how beautiful it is.' Cally’s breath formed little puffs of vapour in the cold air.
Eloise agreed. 'It's like we've stepped into a Christmas card. Better than.’
'It's so peaceful.’
‘It almost feels like a different world. It’s sort ofmuffled. I think the snow does that.'
‘I have to admit, I had some reservations about this trip. Reservations and expectations, actually.'
Eloise glanced sideways. 'Oh? What kind of expectations?'
Cally hesitated for a second. 'It's silly, really. But, as I said before, I thought Logan might have been planning something. He was really cagey and acting a bit weird when he was arranging it. Remember I said that I thought he might have wanted to come up here because of Alastair and do some sort of a wake thing.'
Eloise’s tone was careful. 'And now?'
'Now, I realise I was just letting my imagination run wild,' Cally admitted. 'It's been a great,normalweekend. And honestly, that's just what I needed. No surprises. I’ve had enough of them these past few years. I want a nice steady life…'
A shower of snow fell from one of the branches above them and little snowflakes glittered in the weak sunlight. 'The dinner with Birdie and Nina was fantastic. I don't think I've laughed as much in ages.'
Cally grinned. ‘When Birdie started telling that story about the mix-up with the prescription labels. I thought Nina was going to choke on her wine!'
‘I know.’
Cally chuckled and smiled. She was well pleased with how the weekend had turned out and very happy that Logan had not pulled any surprises out of the hat. She’d finally got to a point in her life where things were stable and on an even keel. She nodded to herself as they stomped along in the snow with the cold whipping around her head. She wanted it to stay that way and never, ever change. She hoped there were no more surprises in store. She’d had enough of those for a while.
48
It was the last day of the weekend in Scotland. Cally and Logan were strolling to the pub for brunch. They’d been around the cottage next to the fire and were going to the pub the long way round. As she walked along, Cally pondered the weekend and how it had done wonders for the state of her head. She hoped it had worked for Logan, too.
It had been a busy year for our Cally with lots going on. A few of the big life things had been in her orbit, including looking for a flat, the accident, and starting a new job. She’d taken it all in her stride, put her head down and got on with it. It wasn’t until she’d got away that she’d realised themagnitudeof it all. Pretty much since her grandma had passed away, she’d been running on her tank half-empty. The Scotland trip, however, had given her a little life reset and recharge. Tank filling at its finest.
‘So, what, the rest of them are meeting us in the pub?’ Cally asked as she walked along beside Logan. ‘Angus is going to drop them off, is that right?’
‘Yup.’
‘Funny how no one else wanted to come on the walk with us.’ Cally mused. ‘I thought they would have liked the fresh air. Each to their own.’
‘Mmm.’
‘Eloise said she’s had a lovely time over in the main house.’
‘Yeah, she said. Birdie said the same.’ Logan smiled and squeezed Cally’s hand through her glove. ‘I’m so pleased you love it here as much as the rest of the Henry-Hicks.’
‘How are you feeling about being here and what happened with Alastair?’ Cally had been reluctant to bring up Alastair, but the time felt appropriate so she’d gone in for the kill.
Logan sighed. ‘It’s getting easier, I guess.’
‘It does. It takes time.’
‘I thought it might be too hard with the memories of him all over the place here, but it’s not beentoobad. Mum said Cecilia has coped well.’
‘Good. I think the memories change as you go along. At least, that’s what’s happened to me.’ Cally surmised.
‘Yep.’
As they strolled along in silence down a hedge-lined lane in the direction of the town, Cally thought about her own grief when her grandma had passed away. Now, with hindsight and clarity, she realised that her home situation and her stress at the time had more or less meant that she had at the time sort of put her grief on hold. She’d been so desperate to find a roof over her head just about everything else had been numb. Now, things were different.
Gazing across the white-topped scenery, she thought about Christmas and how much she was looking forward to it. She’d planned a few things to make the whole time festive and celebratory; a trip to a Christmas tree farm to buy a small tree, a day out to a local National Trust property with Eloise for a Christmas meal, and a trip to London to see the Regent Street lights. She shuddered at the thought of Christmas in her childhood where, despite what her grandma had attempted to do, it had been sad and grim. A mother with mental healthproblems did not a happy Christmas make. She, however, had survived, and she resolved that it was never too late to change the trajectory of her life.
