Page 133 of Dream On, Liar

If I wasn’t enough for her to break her rules with, how could possibly me quitting the sport be enough?

If she had spent the weeks convincing me that the sport was a part of me, not that I was part of it as a whole.

And still, she had called it a mistake.

The plane touched down in England beneath a sheet of grey cloud.

I almost smiled.

Home.

There was something comforting about the cold.

The damp air.

The familiar colour of the sky.

The memories it brought back of Ma. The way she loved the rain. No matter if it rained most of the year, she loved each day of it. So much so, she ended up naming her one and only daughter something similar to it.

I could have kissed the pavement.

I didn’t.

We made our way through the airport, collected bags and scattered towards cars.

Everyone looked half-dead.

Nobody had the energy to pretend otherwise.

I barely spoke.

Raina and Oliver gave me a nod before disappearing towards Oliver’s car. I caught Maeve in the distance, talking to Faroq before she gave him a brief hug, before following Raina.

I looked away.

Good.

That was better. I wouldn’t have another thing tugging away at my mind as I wondered if she made it home safely.

I arrived before they made it back to the town house. Retreating to my room as I showered, changed and collapsed into the kind of post-travel silence that made even the smallest noise feel irritating.

I had already decided I wasn’t staying.

Not there.

Not around the two people who I was sure ready to talk about every single thing I hadn’t shared with them yet.

I needed somewhere that didn’t ask questions.

I could go to Ma’s cabin.

I’d been avoiding it for months. Ever since the letter had arrived, anyway.

Years.

Dev had been taking care of the cabin for nearly ten years now.

It sat tucked away in the Carmond Village in Edinburgh, far enough from the city that there was no reason anyone would come looking for me unless I invited them.