Chapter Fifty-One
Rory
I was fucking miserable.
I was doing the job I loved, leading a group of trekkers—all from the States—on the Skye Trail, with my best friend as co-guide. The weather was nearly perfect—not much wind on the Ridge, cloudless skies with brilliant sunshine. Everyone in the group was eager to be out there and having a good time.
But I felt no joy in traversing the Ridge, in seeing nothing but dramatic mountains and sapphire-blue lochs as far as the eye could see. I swam to the point of exhaustion in Bearreraig Bay that night, but still couldn’t sleep. Tommy tried his best to cheer me up, but nothing helped.
Amelia wasn’t there.
I lay awake in my tent, recalling how we’d gone from barely being civil to each other to so much more in a matter of days. Hours, really; the episode with Tommy on the edge of Sgùrr a’ Mhadaidh Ruaidh leading to my nightmare, which led to that first kiss on this very same beach.
I winced, remembering how I’d grabbed him, shouted at him like he was a punk kid I’d caught stealing my wallet. God, that had been an epic fuckup that really could have cost me my job if the group complained.
But they hadn’t complained. Instead, they’d praised me, especially Gordon, who’d actually told me he was impressed with me because of it.
I lurched upright, a glimmer of a thought popping into my brain. I turned on my torch and unearthed my journal from my pack. I flipped it open to the roster we got before each trek. There it was. Gordon Marshall, with his email address and phone number.
The next day, when we arrived in Portree, I tossed my pack into the room and told Tommy I was going for a walk. As soon as I was away from the B&B, I pulled out my phone and dialed. “Mr. Marshall?” I asked when the call was answered. “This is Rory Sutherland, from Scotland By Foot? I did part of the Skye Trail with you—”
“I remember you, son,” he interrupted in his booming voice. “It was barely over two weeks ago, for goodness sake. And call me Gordon.”
“Thanks, Gordon.”
“How’s Amelia? Did she finish the trail?”
“We finished about three days after you did. Turned out it was a sprained ACL.”
“Good for her. She must be a hell of a young lady to finish with that injury.”
“Aye, she is, sir.” He had no idea.
“So, Rory, what can I do for you?”
I licked my suddenly dry lips. “I… Well, sir, you said on the trail that you’d hire me in a second. If that was true, then I’m calling about a job. Do you have any positions available in the States, specifically southern Florida?”
He was silent for a moment. “Why the hell would you want to leave Scotland for Florida? Aren’t any mountains here, and it’s hotter than hell for most of the year.”
“I know, sir. But…the woman I love is there. Or she will be in a couple of months.”
The woman I love. I thought it would be strange to say the words out loud to a stranger. But nothing had ever felt more right.
“Hmm, Amelia mentioned she was moving to Miami in a couple of months.”
I smiled. “You have a good memory, Gordon.”
“Strange coincidence.”
“Not really.”
“I see.” And I knew he did see. “Well, why don’t you tell me what you’re looking for, then?”
When I returned to the room a little while later, Tommy was sprawled across his bed, his nose in a book. He looked up when I closed the door behind me, then did a double take, setting aside the book and sitting upright.
“You okay, Ror? You look…weird.”
“Wanna grab a beer?”
Before I finished saying “beer,” he was on his feet and stepping into his flip-flops.
We went to a pub on the other side of town, where we’d be unlikely to run into anyone from the group, and sat at a back booth, pints in hand.
“Okay, spill,” he said after taking a long sip. “Everything okay with Amelia? With Carrie?”
“As far as I know. I haven’t talked to her since last week when Carrie woke up.”
“So what’s that look for? It’s almost like…part hope and part dread, if that’s even possible.”
That about summed it up, actually. “Remember Gordon Marshall, from the last Skye Trail?”
“Of course. Didn’t I just spend a week walking with him?”
“Anyway, he has a company in the States that books travel and tours for people.”
“Right, I remember. He was doing the trek so he could recommend SBF to his clients.”
“Oh. I don’t think I knew that.”
“Well, you were gone after what, day three? He may not have mentioned it by then. So, what about him?”
“Remember how he said he was so impressed with us he would hire us in a second?”
“Yeah…”
“I just called him.”
Tommy’s eyes widened. “Wait. What are you saying? You asked him for a job?”
“I mentioned that I might be interested in something in the States.”
“Like in Florida, you mean?”
“Aye.”
“And what did he say?”
“He has a Miami office, believe it or not. They do a lot of stuff with cruises and travel in South America and the Caribbean. And as he told you, he’s been wanting to expand to booking adventure travel in the UK, so he was intrigued by my call. He said he’ll get back to me in a few days.”
Tommy sat back, his finger tracing patterns in the ring of condensation from his mug.
“What is it?” I asked. “I thought you’d be happy for me, that I might be able to be with her.”
He looked up from the table, his eyes troubled. “I would be thrilled if you could be with her, man. It’s just…you don’t belong in an office, in business casual, staring at a goddamn computer screen and wearing a headset, offering people incentives if they book their trip with you. In Florida, where the nearest hill is probably four hundred miles away—or more.”
“There may not be hills there, but there are other outdoor sports, like sailing, parasailing, scuba diving—I’ve always wanted to try that. Plus, it’s warm and sunny all year. Might be a nice change from this place, especially in the winter when it’s dark for sixteen hours a day.”
He shook his head. “You’d be miserable.”
I slammed my hand down on the table, rattling our bottles. “What do you want me to say, Tommy? Do I want to work in an office in Florida, staring at a computer screen and wearing a headset, four hundred miles from the nearest hill? No. I want to be out walking the Highlands. But if I was in an office in Florida, she’d be there. Her face would be the last thing I see before I go to sleep, the first thing I see when I wake up in the morning.”
I took a long swallow of beer. “Since she left, I’ve been adrift. I looked out at the Ridge yesterday, and it was like looking at a stone wall. It doesn’t feel like home anymore. And if putting on khakis and a button-down and sitting in that office means I can be with Amelia, then I’ll do it happily.”
Tommy nodded. “I get it, man. I’m just asking you not to do anything rash, okay? Just think about it before you make any decisions.”
“I will. I promise.”
But in my head, the decision was made. If Gordon offered me the job, and if Amelia wanted me, then I would take it.
I wouldn’t let myself think about what would happen if she didn’t want me.