She winced and I swallowed hard. Of course my parents were worth staying for, but I was still in a lot of pain from their part in the break-up. It was going to take time.
“Be careful driving down that road, son,” Dad said. “Don’t get frustrated behind slow-driving campervans.”
“I never do. I’ve been driving that road for years.” Jonas gave Dad a quick hug, as did Simon. They’d all really hit it off, much as Rory had the first time.
I gave my parents a cursory hug and hung my head to avoid their gazes before I slipped into the back seat. Mum stepped forward opening her mouth, but Dad put his hand on her arm and drew her back.
Jonas glanced at me in the rear-view mirror before we pulled out the drive. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay?”
“Just drive, Jo. He’s not coming back.”
We set off, a playlist of banging dance tunes blaring out of the rolled down windows.
Maybe I should have texted or phoned Rory to check he wasn’t heading to Glencoe, but I couldn’t bear the idea of hearing his groggy voice and some other woman in the background.
As we drove over Rannoch Moor, my vision blurred, and I swiped at my tears. I couldn’t cope with Rory moving on. Not yet. Maybe not ever. I needed another clean break.
“You okay, Big?” Jonas asked looking in the rear-view mirror.
“Fine.”
I swiped my tears away again and frowned. Why was there an ambulance parked in a lay-by at the side of the road? And why did the guy at the front of it look like Rory? God, I was going insane. Even the way he was leaning against the bonnet of the ambulance looked like Rory.
“Is that not ...?” Simon started.
“Well, well,” said my little brother.
The vehicle didn’t say ambulance, and it had no blue lights. The writing on the side said, Kendrick’s Pet Hospital.
Jonas braked slightly but couldn’t stop because of the arsehole in the campervan behind him who obviously wanted to get better acquainted.
“What the ever-loving ...” I asked.
“He never ceases to amaze me,” said Jonas.
“Turn around!” I yelled. The guy in front of the ambulance was waving us down. I undid my seatbelt and leaned between the front seats. “You need to stop.”
“I’ll turn around when I can. You know this road is hellish. Besides which, if Mr Campervan gets any closer, he’s going to need to introduce himself and bring some lube. And Simon and I are not those kinds of boys, are we, darling?”
Simon snorted. Neither of the men in the front seat were the slightest bit camp, but Jonas could put it on when he wanted to.
What the hell was Rory up to? We’d be almost in Tyndrum before Jonas could turn.
Shit.
Rory
I COULDN’T BELIEVE Jonas drove past with Lacey in the back seat. Just fucking drove past. Did he even see me?
I pulled my phone out of my pocket. There had been signal when I called recovery, but there was none now.
Walking up and down the lay-by, I held my phone out at every angle, yet there was no signal to be had.
Fuck my life.
All my plans had gone up in smoke. There was no point taking the pet hospital to Glencoe and showing her parents if Lacey wasn’t there. She was the reason I was doing this. She had to agree to it for her parents to see how much it meant. Had she really given up on me? Did I mean so little?
I was such an idiot. I’d lost her again. She was going to change her number. She’d probably just block me on everything like I blocked her last time. For the first time since I was a kid, my throat tightened and my vision blurred.
At the tooting of a horn, I snapped my head up and a grin started to form on my lips. They were back. However, when I saw the recovery vehicle, my smile disappeared.
A middle-aged man got out of the recovery van and walked towards me. “Hi, what have we here?”
“A flat tyre. I can change a car tyre, but this is a different prospect. I have a spare.”
“Aye, that’s fine. Probably best not to try it yourself. I have a good jack in the truck.”
I already had the spare wheel and the locking wheel nut out for him, and he set to work. He had just got the wheel off when a white Ford Fiesta hurtled along the road right for us.
Jonas drew alongside the ambulance, the rear window down with Lacey yelling above the music blaring from the car. “What the fuck is this?”
I gestured for Jonas to pull in as a large lorry barrelled towards them. I had no doubt he would see the car and stop, but better to be safe than sorry. Plus, there was no need to upset a big hairy lorry driver.
Lacey blew a frustrated breath through pursed lips and leaned forward to speak to Jonas as he pulled the car into the lay-by in front of the ambulance.
“Yo! Watch my toes,” I yelled, stepping back to avoid them becoming roadkill.
The second Jonas cut the engine, Lacey got out of the car. She walked over to me, shoving my chest. “I thought you weren’t coming back, you dick.”
“Well I was.”
“I hate you.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I do,” she said, but there was no heat in her voice. She gestured to the ambulance. “Rory, what the fuck have you done?”
“Let me get this fixed and we’ll go back to Glencoe and I’ll explain.”
She gazed at the side of the ambulance and raised an eyebrow. “It had better be a good explanation. You have a lot to make up for. Although, my parents are always going to hate you.”
That hurt.
“Maybe this will bring them around.”
“What the hell is it?”
“Wait until we’re back in Glencoe.”
“You dug a big hole for yourself, buddy. You’re never climbing out of it.”
“Would rather be balls deep in your hole, sweetheart.”
She punched me in the stomach, and the pain took my breath away. She was quite the little fighter.
“Nail in the road,” the recovery guy said, rolling the old wheel over to me. “You need to get a new tyre on that, but the spare will do for now.”
“Will it get me back to Glasgow?”
“Aye.”
“Cool. Thanks man.”
“No problem.”
The recovery guy turned to Lacey. “Listen, hen, I don’t like leaving wee lassies stranded at the side of the road, and you obviously have an issue with these guys. Do you need a ride?”
She smiled at the recovery guy. It was sweet of him to worry about her.
“No, that’s my brother and his fiancé, and this big arsehole isn’t actually bothering me.”
“His fiancé? But it’s a man?”
“Yeah he’s gay.” She frowned. This was not going to end well.
“Oh, I don’t hold with that gay nonsense.”
She drew in a breath and straightened to her full height. I placed a hand on the small of her back. She could be feisty, but she needed to stay calm. Getting into trouble for assaulting a middle-aged man wouldn’t go down well.
“That’s a shame. I’ll score your name off the guest list for the wedding then, shall I?” she asked in her sweetest, sickliest tone.
The man scowled and looked to me.
I couldn’t stop grinning. “Don’t look to me for support. I have no issues with the ‘gay nonsense.’ The lad driving is one of the nicest blokes you could meet.”