She drew a shaky breath, smoothing the creases from her burgundy wrap dress, which she’d hurriedly changed into in the bathroom of Glasgow train station. She was tired and afraid, and still felt like she was walking around in a dream state after such a full, confusing few weeks, but…
She also felt like she was home.
Her heels clicked against the cobblestones as she approached the B&B, heart pounding harder with each step. She paused when a shadow emerged from the arched doorway, tall and broad and instantly recognisable.
Fraser.
Instinct made her stop still as he turned his back to her, in a restless pace back and forth. Before she could even contemplate how she might greet him, he said her name.
“Harper.” Her knees went weak. She had missed that gruff brogue, the way her name sounded new and remade but still so familiar on his tongue.“Hi. I, er… I was thinking about you.”
A glint against his ear caught her eye. His phone. The realisation that he hadn’t seen her, that he wascallingher, ricocheted through her. She wasn’t sure whether to be glad that her phone had died forty minutes ago and now sat buried and useless in her purse. This was certainly a conversation she wanted to hear in person, but listening to him leave her a voicemail felt like she was spying, somehow.
Clenching the handle of her suitcase, she couldn’t bring herself to interrupt. What if he realised she was here and no longer had anything to say?
She was too curious to stop him.
He cleared his throat, pressing his head against the wall as though he was too exhausted to hold himself up any longer. “I wanted to tell you… that I miss you.”
Harper held her breath.
“And I’m sorry,” he continued, voice growing gravelly with emotion. “I don’t like how we left things. I was awrongun, to put it like a Mancunian, and I just wish you were still here so I could thank you. The launch is going well, and everybody is missing you, and… Fuck, Harp. I haven’t been able tobreatheproperly since you left.”
Tears blurred her vision, turning the street into strobes of watery light. The outline of his solid figure was the only thing she could see clearly.
She tasted copper and realised she’d been biting down on her tongue. Hard.
Here he was, saying everything she’d wanted to hear, and he didn’t even know she was just a few yards away.
Fraser bowed his head, running a hand over his wavy red hair. “I don’t know what happened between us. Whether I was the only one who fell too deep. But I want you to know that I only pushed you away because I was terrified. What I feel for you is terrifying. I’ve realised, though, that you not being here is worse. So if you could just maybe… I don’t know, I can’t ask you to come back, can I? What if I came to you, and we talked, and—”
“I’m already here.” Her voice wavered into fragments on the breeze.
Slowly, Fraser turned around, lowering his phone to his chest. His mouth parted with shock as his eyes locked on hers.
“Harper.”
She shuddered, feeling the intensity of his voice from the arches of her feet to the hinges of her jaw and all the parts in between. Her body seemed to wake all at once, like she’d been plunged into cold water in her sleep. Like she was back in that loch, seeking respite, only it was really here this time.
“Hi,” she said quietly, not quite sure what to do now. She wanted to kiss him. She wanted to hear more about how he couldn’t breathe, and about how he wanted to talk to her, and about how he would be willing to be the one to travel to do it.
She wanted to forget they’d ever separated at all.
“I didn’t think you’d come,” he admitted finally, taking a step towards her. “How much of that did you hear?”
“All of it, actually.”
“That’s, er, embarrassing.” He bit down on his lower lip, then sucked in a sharp breath. “Actually, no it’s not. It’s just true. It’s very, very true.”
“That’s two verys,” she pointed out, and felt silly for it. Her mind couldn’t seem to focus fully, with all the electricity surging through her. “Very, squared.”
His laugh fell out of him mangled and hoarse. “Fucking hell, I’ve missed you.” He frowned. “But why are you here?”
“I left my laptop,” she said. “And I have a book to finish.”
Disappointment pulled at his features. “Oh.”
“And I like it here,” she continued. “And I wanted to support Andy. And maybe volunteer at the preschool some more. And get that B&B discount I was promised.”
