‘Thank you. I’ll put it in the boot with the rest of my worldly goods.’ There was a pause before Rory pivoted to a new subject. ‘So, did I hear you say that you met that guy backpacking? Where were you?’

  They chatted about her trip for the next few minutes until they reached her hotel. When he stopped, she picked her bag up off the floor and turned to face him.

  ‘Thank you. It was so nice to meet you. Even in the week you won the Shit Stick award.’

  ‘And you. You were a pretty close runner-up.’

  She’d just put her hand on the door, when he had a realisation. ‘Wait a minute, are you going back to the St Kentigern after you’ve got what you need?’

  ‘Yes. But I need to go pack up my stuff. I was in a rush this morning, so I didn’t have time.’

  ‘Well, I can give you a lift back there. I only live five minutes from here and I’m just going to throw things in a case, then head back to be with my mum.’

  There was a hesitation, and Rory hoped he hadn’t overstepped.

  ‘Are you sure? That would actually be great. My experience of taxis hasn’t been the best this week.’

  He checked the clock on the dash. ‘I’ll probably be about an hour – is that okay?’

  ‘Sure. I need to check out and call my sister too. That’ll add half a lifetime to the wait. She demands details. Also, she’s in love with Carol, so we’ll have to discuss that too.’

  ‘Collect you in a week and a half then?’ he laughed.

  ‘I’ll cut it down to an hour. I’ll tell her she’s getting it in instalments.’

  She was still laughing when she closed the door, and he watched her bound up the steps of the hotel, thinking sometimes in life you just met people who made you smile. She was definitely one of them.

  Rory worked his way around the square, then along Ingram Street and managed to get a parking spot right outside the door of Albie’s building. First lucky thing that had happened to him all weekend. Maybe things were turning around. Actually, that wasn’t true. Reconnecting with his mum had been the best thing to happen to him since he’d driven away from her that night a year ago, knowing he had to do what she begged of him.

  If he could go back, he’d do a lot of things differently, but hindsight wasn’t available then, so he had to let it go. All that mattered was where they were now. His mum was going to speak to his father, to tell him he was out of her life, and Rory was where he was. Both of them with clean slates and now it was up to them what they did from here. He couldn’t wait to get started.

  He galloped up the stairs to the flat, and as soon as he walked down the hallway, he could hear the music. In the living room, he could see the carnage from yesterday morning was still there. In the kitchen, he was almost knocked out by the fragrant aroma of Friday night’s kebabs.

  ‘It’s a social experiment,’ Albie croaked as he walked in behind him, omnipresent cigarette dangling from his mouth. ‘I’m trying to establish whether those kebabs or my blooming relationship with Belinda will go bad first.’

  ‘I think the kebabs are already there, pal,’ Rory said, laughing as he used a spatula to scoop them all into the bin. There was no way he was touching them for fear of botulism.

  ‘Is Belinda back?’

  Albie’s expression transitioned to one of both surprise and pride. ‘She sure is. She’s next door right now. I think I’m in love. I’m even developing a liking for flowers on leggings.’

  ‘Definitely love. I’m happy for you, mate.’

  ‘Cheers. So where have you been then? Not to sound all parental, but you didn’t come home last night. Did you get lucky, get arrested or sleep in a gutter?’

  ‘Are those the only possible explanations?’ Rory asked, laughing.

  Albie shrugged as if it was obvious. ‘In my life, that’s the usual choices.’

  Rory realised that Albie had no idea about his dad. Or the accident. Or his reunion with his mum. Or any of the other batshit-crazy stuff that had happened to him since he’d left here yesterday morning. Albie didn’t read newspapers or have any interest in news sites. He’d always lived in his own chilled-out lane. Sometimes, Rory wished he could have the same level of oblivion to the outside world.

  He thought about filling him in on everything that had taken place, then decided against it. He didn’t have the time and he loved Albie too much to burst his bubble today. The updates could wait until he got back.

  ‘Lucky, mate. I got lucky,’ was the only explanation Rory gave him as he went to the big cupboard in the back of the kitchen, where he engaged in face-to-face combat with a hoover, an ironing board, a set of gold clubs, three guitars and the front wheel of a bike, to get to his suitcase at the back.

  Albie watched him fish it out. ‘Woah! So lucky you’re leaving me?’

  ‘Just for two weeks. Going on holiday with my mum. Please don’t let anyone have sex in my bed when I’m away, because I might need it for a couple of nights when I get back, just until I find a new place.’

  Albie immediately threw his arms around him, wailing, ‘I feel like my kid is going off to university.’

  Rory was choking with laughter as he peeled him off. ‘Yeah, but Daddy Albie gets to have loads of private time, so you can go get back in there with Belinda.’

  ‘Good point. Take care, mate. Call me if you need anything.’

  And then, leaving only a trail of carcinogenic fumes, he disappeared back off into the bedroom.

  It only took Rory half an hour or so to pack, so he was back in the car and drawing up outside Sophie’s hotel five minutes early. She was already there waiting for him. He opened the door for her, and she threw her backpack in the back seat and then jumped in.

  ‘Thank you. You’re packed?’

  ‘Case is in the boot,’ he said, pulling off.

  ‘So, tell me, what’s the plan then?’ she asked. ‘I mean, after you get back from the holiday.’

  ‘I’ve got no idea. Haven’t got that far yet. I was thinking about your trip around Asia though. I’ve been this corporate machine for almost ten years now. Into a job straight out of university, then marriage, house, commitments. The company is paying me for two years, so I think I’ll start by taking some time off after the trip with Mum. Maybe travel to places I’ve never been. Get lost on a beach somewhere.’

  ‘Yes! You should definitely do that! There’s nothing like a sunset on a Thai beach to make you think about what you want out of life.’

  He didn’t answer because he’d just stopped at traffic lights on Bath Street as she said that, and he was distracted by a car across the road. Parked. A red Ferrari. And two people were walking towards it. One was a guy he recognised as another accountant in his company. A senior manager. Bit of a dick. And the other was Julia. His arm was slung across her shoulders, and they were laughing and it couldn’t have been more obvious that they were a couple. Fuck. So this was what it had come to. The woman he’d loved, adored, promised to be with forever, only to get booted out and cancelled when it got too rough to handle. And there she was, with someone else, and without a fucking care in the world. If Sophie hadn’t been in the car, he’d probably have pulled over, punched the steering wheel, then tortured himself by watching them for longer. It would achieve nothing, but maybe it would be the bat around the head he needed to begin moving on.

  In fact, maybe he didn’t need to stop to cut those ties. They’d been fraying for months, so the threads were already bare. All he could do now, for the sake of his heart, was cut them completely.

  ‘Are you okay?’ Sophie said. Then she must have spotted where his eyeline was fixed, because she asked, ‘Someone you know?’

  Was it? He’d never been more sure that he didn’t recognise that person at all.

  ‘No,’ he said, and strangely, he didn’t feel one bit of regret as he heard it out loud.

  ‘Just someone I used to know. Not any more.’

  Not any more. Now he was only looking forward, not backwards. And also to the side, to the smiling face in the passenger seat.

  ‘So tell me where you think I should go then. Map it all out for me.’

  And as the lights changed to green and he drove off, that’s exactly what she did.

  EPILOGUE

  ONE MONTH LATER

  ‘Are you ready for the podcast, Aunt Val?’ Carly asked, that big beaming grin of hers on her face as usual. I couldn’t believe they were still here, but, God love them, they were.

  A month ago, on that day we’d got the rings back, we’d got home late at night from the St Kentigern Hotel. Carly had made us all a cup of tea, and we’d sat down right where we were now, at the kitchen table.

  Before I’d even unwrapped my caramel wafer, Carly had reached for my hand. ‘I need to say sorry, Aunt Val.’

  I’d had no idea what she was talking about. ‘For what, pet?’

  ‘For relentlessly persuading you to come down to my house so soon after you lost Uncle Don. I thought that maybe a change of scenery would be a good thing for you, especially as so many of the people in your life up here were away. I thought I could take care of you and that the different surroundings would be a way… well, not to forget, but to make the memories a little bit quieter. But if I’d stopped to really think it through, I’d have realised that what you needed wasn’t new memories, it was to have us take care of you while you came to terms with the old ones. We should have come here, to you. For as long as it took.’

  Carol was nodding in agreement. ‘She’s right, Aunt Val. We’re so sorry.’

  I’d put down my biscuit and grabbed a paper towel from the counter behind me. ‘Holy kitchen roll, just when I thought I had no more tears to shed. Listen, you two, you have nothing in this whole world to apologise for. I’m thankful every day that I have you both and I know you were coming from a place of doing your best and thinking you were doing the right thing. I didn’t think it through either. The pain of losing Don… I don’t think I’ve thought straight since, to be honest with you. And anyway, your lives are far too busy to be trekking up here at the drop of a hat.’

  ‘Actually, that’s something we wanted to talk to you about. We’ve been thinking that we could stay for a wee while?’

  ‘Nope!’ I’d blurted. I wasn’t having that. I had déjà vu from that first morning in Carly’s kitchen when they’d insisted on coming to Scotland with me. ‘I will not take you two away from your own families to stay here and look after me. I’m quite capable of…’

  Carol had stopped me. ‘We know that, Aunt Val. We know. But this isn’t that. Everything that’s happened this weekend has got me thinking that maybe I need to spend some more time with my mum, so I’m going to go stay there for a while. They’ve even agreed to turn the gym back into a bedroom for me. Cal can come up when he’s not slammed at work. And maybe the kids too, although they’ve all got their own busy lives going on, and that’s okay.’

  Carol’s mum was only a few streets away, so I could practically see what they were having for dinner.

  ‘And as for me,’ Carly had cut in. ‘I’m on my own anyway. Sam and Mac will be on location for another month, and Benny doesn’t have leave until October. I can work from anywhere, just like Carol…’

  ‘We can do the podcast from this table, just like we did earlier,’ Carol had added. ‘Besides, people love you on my Instagram. The post I put up with the video of you sharing that your rings had been found went viral and it got the most likes and shares of anything I’d ever done. You’re the star now.’

  I couldn’t think of anything worse. ‘I’ll send you my invoice,’ I’d joked, still trying to process their news about staying.

  Carly had sealed the deal. She’d wrapped her arms around me, the same way she’d done since she was a kid. ‘So we’d really, really like to stay. If you’ll have us.’

  I had been overcome with pure unadulterated love for these two magnificent women. ‘l’ll have you all day long,’ I’d told them, meaning every word.

  Since then, they’d kept to the plan, and now, four weeks had flown by and the month was up. They were leaving tomorrow, but I knew that I’d be fine. I was in a very different place from when I’d walked out of my front door and stepped into Larry McLenn’s taxi. Nancy and Johnny were back from their holiday. Tress, Noah and little Buddy were home too, and Nancy and I were back to two childminding shifts a week with the gorgeous wee button. I’d even managed to wander up and down the high street a few times. Once everyone got past the first encounter and gave their sympathies, it had got so much easier. And I was strong enough now that I didn’t crumble at the very thought of my darling big man.

  Maybe the biggest factor in that was that I wasn’t sitting in my own thoughts all day and night, because I had other company in the house now. It had taken a bit of persuasion when I’d picked her up from the airport after her trip to New York with Rory, but Alice had moved into our Dee’s room and it was lovely to have someone around the house again.

  I glanced over at Alice, who was also a different woman now. It was like the whole world had been lifted off her shoulders. She looked ten years younger now that her eyes were sparkling and all that stress was off her face. She’d added a few blonde highlights to her newly styled grey hair, and she always had lovely bright colours on. I had asked her how she always smelled so gorgeous, and Alice had told me that she lathered on loads of that Chanel No. 5 body lotion. Apparently, she’d bought a couple of new bottles of it in the duty-free on the way back from New York. She’d had a wonderful time there with her lad. She’d told me how they’d gone to the fountain in Central Park on their first day and they’d both taken off their wedding rings and tossed them in there. She said she felt like punching the air as she realised she was free. Truly free. Maybe for the first time ever.

  I was glad for her. She’s a good woman. Although, given that rings are a touchy subject with me these days, I was a wee bit perturbed that they’d thrown them away. Apparently, though, the fountain gets dredged regularly and all the coins and everything else of value gets donated to local charities. That would be a wee bonus for them this month then.

  Rory and Alice had spent the rest of their trip just walking in Central Park, strolling around the streets, eating in cafés and doing whatever the notion took them. Alice said it was like a decompression chamber and now she was coming out the other end, ready to face the world again. I was glad she was doing it here with me, especially since that arse she married was never out of the papers these days. As soon as he got out of the hospital, he’d been arrested, charged with driving under the influence and something about endangering lives. According to the Chronicle, he was up in Barlinnie on remand, and the chap that writes their legal stuff reckoned he’ll get at least a couple of years for it. Alice wasn’t fussed in the least when she told me that daft bint, Sandra, had started a petition online to free him. Nobody signed.

  Meanwhile, I’d offered to share the Jeep, so every day Alice goes off to her cleaning jobs and she comes back with a smile on her face. She says they saved her when she was at her lowest, and she isn’t going to give them up just yet.

  We’ve never discussed how long she’ll stay for, but I hoped she wasn’t in a rush to go anywhere. The two of us are good for each other – especially since Rory hadn’t taken the second flight on the trip back from New York. He’d got off in London, because he’d made an arrangement to meet up with Sophie. Two weeks later, he still hadn’t come back and given their big soppy grins when they FaceTimed last week, I don’t think he’ll be getting on the plane back up to Glasgow any time soon. Sophie has a few weeks off in the school summer holidays, so last I heard they were thinking about spending it travelling around Asia. Or maybe it was America. Or Europe. Or all of the above. Not that they’d be backpacking. That company he used to work for paid him all of his severance package, so they’d probably be in five-star hotels with shag pile carpets and minibars. I told him Alice and I are available for weekend visits.

  Oh, and Sophie did tell her dad and her sister what really happened that weekend, because she might have to come back up to Glasgow to testify in Larry McLenn’s court case. This time, her dad says he’s coming with her. They’re going to stay here with me and Alice, and you never know… maybe there could be a spark between Alice and Sophie’s dad, two souls who’ve been to hell and who are just trying to build new lives. Carly says if that happens, she’s going to write a book about it.

  ‘Right, Aunt Val, are you ready?’ Carol asked as she slid the microphone towards me.

  I patted my hair, dabbed on a bit of lippy, pulled my shoulders back.

  ‘I’m ready, love.’

  The camera started recording, and Carol and Carly said their greetings before giving me a lovely introduction. I jumped in right on cue.

  ‘Hello to all the Instas and the Podcasts!’ I added a wave to the camera and I could feel my cheeks hurt with the width of my smile but I didn’t care. ‘A few weeks ago, you all listened to my stories about losing my most precious possessions and hopefully you saw my wee clip that was filmed the day I got them back. And aye, since then I’ve invested in waterproof mascara because those big black lines of happy tears down my face weren’t my best look. You’d think my nieces might have pointed that out to me before they showed it to the world, but I’ll forgive them,’ I said, nudging Carol on the shoulder. ‘Anyway, I just wanted to come on here and tell you myself how grateful I am. The number of comments and messages we got was just incredible and I’ve had time to read them all now. I’ve always known that despite all the awful things that go on, most of the people out there are just kind and decent, and now I know that all those good folks listen to our Carol and Carly’s podcasts and video thingies. There were a few individuals who were directly involved in getting these back to me, but I’m respecting their privacy by keeping that to myself.’ I winked at Alice, over at the other side of the table, out of shot. ‘But I will say, Sophie Smith, if you’re watching, I now consider you part of my family, so you’d better hurry back to visit me soon. Anyway, I’ve taken up enough of you terrific folk’s time, so I’ll just say, thank you all for listening, for sending your good wishes, and remember, tell your people that you love them. Tell them every day. And don’t forget to lock up your valuables.’