Page 62 of A Summer of New Beginnings
‘Only to your bike.’ She felt terrible.
‘Hey, please don’t worry. We were all really concerned when we heard. I was away visiting suppliers when I was informed.I didn’t think for a minute it would be someone I knew!’
‘Ugh, well, now you know who to invoice for the damage.’
He laughed again. ‘I’ll do no such thing. I’m just relieved that you’re okay. I’m so glad I’ve seen you. I wasn’t even going to come tonight. Not my kind of thing, seeing as everyone at school hated me and the feeling wascompletelymutual, current company excepted, of course. Sohow was the NC500? It’s incredible, isn’t it? We’ve cycled it a few times now.’
She sighed and a wistful feeling took over her. ‘It is. Absolutely wonderful. The strange thing was I did it under duress. It really wasn’t my kind of thing. But now… I really miss the fresh air and the stunning views.’
He raised his eyebrows. ‘It’s got you, hasn’t it? Honestly, the Highlands get under your skin.There’s something that pulls you back, just you wait and see. But it really does stay with you.’
She nodded. ‘It certainly does. But I fell in love with it so fast, which I absolutely wasn’t expecting. So many incredible places and vistas.’
‘Yes, and the beaches. Seriously, there’s no need to go abroad when you’ve got stretches of clean sand with hardly anyone to bother you.’
She rememberedthat feeling of standing on the sand during her trip and how she had thought exactly the same thing. ‘I wasn’t sure I’d manage it at first. Some of the hills are killers. And I’m not the best cyclist in the world. I’m not a regular at the gym or anything so I was dreading it.’
‘You’re not alone there. Exercise of any kind was hell for me when I was a kid. When I met Sophie at university in theHighlands and it turned out she was a real outdoorsy kind I decided to make some changes. We were friends for ages first, but things just blossomed. And that was before I lost all the weight. I’ve got the Highlands to thank for that. The place found a little space in my heart and filled it. I adore it. The fact that Sophie’s Scottish and mad about the Highlands too just ices the cake really.’
‘Why did you go to uni all the way up there?’
He chuckled. ‘Oh, I wanted to get as far away from London as I could without going abroad. My memories of school weren’t exactly happy ones.’
‘So why did you decide to come here tonight?’ she asked with journalistic intrigue.
‘In all honesty, I wanted to come and show them all I’ve made something of myself but when I arrived and saw everyone againas adults the threat was gone. The need to prove myself was gone too. They’re not doing the kind of things I’m doing, but that doesn’t mean they’re better or worse than me. Just different. And I accept that even iftheycan’t. I’m happy with my life and I don’t need anything from this lot to make that so. How about you?’
She grinned. ‘Exactly the same.’ She pondered for a moment. ‘What you saidabout the Highlands filling a space in your heart, I totally get that.’
‘Well, maybe you’ll relocate too someday. What’s stopping you?’
She huffed through puffed cheeks. ‘The fear of failing. Of not being able to do what I love. Of being alone, I guess.’
‘What do you want to do with your life? Are you happy being a journalist?’
She nodded. ‘Oh, yes. I love my job. But… I think maybe travellingso much is making it difficult for me to put down proper roots. And I can’t help feeling that I’m missing something.’
‘You’ve the perfect job to be freelance, you know. There are lots of newspapers and magazines where staff can work remotely.’ He had a good point.
‘I suppose so. And that would be really great…’
He tilted his head. ‘I sense a “but”.’
‘Hmm… you see, what I really want to dois… Ugh, it’ll sound so far-fetched and stupid.’
He grinned. ‘More stupid than a fat kid ending up owning a bike shop and cycling round the Highlands for fun?’
She smiled and took a deep breath. ‘Okay… okay… I want to be a novelist. I want to see my books on shelves in shops. I want to tell my own stories, not just those belonging to other people. I’ve actually written a book already, in mylimited spare time, but I’d love to write more.’ She couldn’t believe she had so readily admitted it aloud to someone she hadn’t seen for years.
His eyes widened and he pursed his lips. ‘I’m impressed. You should and could totally do that. Rent a little croft somewhere with good Internet. Get a dog. Be a freelance journalist and in your spare time write those bestsellers.’
‘You make it soundso easy.’
His expression changed to one of serious sincerity. ‘Zara. You haveonelife. Make it so that you’re free to be the thing you want to be more than anything. You might not end up a millionaire, but you’ll certainly be happy. And that’s what life’s all about, isn’t it? Being happy.’
He was right on so many points but there was no way she could simply up and leave everything and everyone.And not on a whim like this. Not after one trip to the Highlands. It was crazy to even consider it… wasn’t it?
Patrick held out a business card. ‘Here, my number and my email are on there. If you decide to visit Scotland again you should come and stay with us. I’ll get Sophie to work on you. You’ll be packing London in for good in no time.’
She reached up to hug him. ‘Thank you, Patrick. I’mso glad I’ve seen you. It’s a small world, eh?’
‘It sure is. Now go and fight for your ultimate dream. It’s totally doable. Time to make some changes.’ He glanced round the room. ‘Well, I think I’m done with this place. Time to move on for good, I reckon. So long, Zara.’
Patrick hugged her again and she watched as he walked towards the door without so much as a backward glance at what was, toall intents and purposes, his past.
