Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 119005 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 595(@200wpm)___ 476(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119005 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 595(@200wpm)___ 476(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
“Can we talk?” I bit out.
“She doesn’t want to talk to you,” Rachel Lang sneered.
I ignored her and noted the flick of annoyance Beth shot her way. That slight betrayal of the old Beth made me press, “Beth, can we talk?”
She licked her lips nervously but nodded. “I’ll see you guys later. Have a nice Christmas.”
Her friends murmured the same as Beth started toward the school exit and I fell into step beside her.
“I heard you’re leaving. Congratulations, Callan,” she offered quietly. “I’m really happy for you.”
“Thanks.” I was happy too. Well, I would be, if it didn’t feel like a herd of fucking elephants was sitting on my chest at the thought of not seeing her again. I abruptly stopped and Beth halted, too, frowning. “Why?” I blurted out. “Why the silent treatment? Why Ryan Preston?”
Beth blanched and looked away, refusing to meet my eyes. It was so unlike her. At least who I thought she was.
“Beth?”
She turned back, swallowing hard, her gaze darting around but never resting on me. “I realized … you and I … we’re too different, that’s all.” She shrugged unhappily. “And you’re going away, anyway.”
“Aye, fifteen minutes from here.”
“I’m sorry.” Her lips trembled, like she was about to cry. “We’re just too different,” she repeated.
Too different.
Also known as “not good enough for a Carmichael.”
I wouldn’t beg. Never. A memory I’d long buried, of me running after my dad’s car as he left us when I was six years old, popped into my head. I’d screamed “Daddy” over and over again, my mum chasing after me sobbing, as I tried to catch up with him.
He never looked back.
It was the first time someone broke my heart.
My mum and stepdad were the second and third, though they never meant to.
And I’d promised myself there would never be another.
I hadn’t meant to break that promise.
But I vowed to myself that Beth would be the last.
“Right then.” I stalked off, my long strides tearing me away from her.
And this time it was me who never looked back.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
BETH
Present day
My aunt Liv was the head librarian at the University of Edinburgh and had been for years. Via her mum’s position, Lily had gotten a coveted tutoring job through the library. Cara and I had spent today on Bristo Square, which housed the Pleasance and McEwan Halls, and was a vital part of the university estate. We were capturing footage of one of our clients who was an Edinburgh Uni alum, as part of a “getting to know you” reel. It had been a long morning, shooting footage in Old Town and on university grounds. Scotland was popular on social media, and we were not above using our location to get our clients views.
After lunch, I’d left Cara to make the short walk to George Square, through the small park between the uni buildings and the main campus library.
It had been weeks since I’d seen Lily, and I was trying to make a more concerted effort to be present in the lives of the people I loved all while juggling this crazy, busy career. Lily had a quick half hour before her next tutoring session, so we’d agreed to meet in the large reception where there was comfortable seating and people were free to talk and be social without bothering those who were studying elsewhere.
Lily spotted me as I sauntered through the glass entrance doors. She caught my eye, standing from a low-backed, two-seater sofa. Her laptop and books were scattered on the table in front of her.
Genuine joy filled me at the sight of my cousin. I’d missed her.
I pulled her into a hug. She embraced me with a tight squeeze. “Missed you, cuz.”
Squeezing her back, I replied, “Missed you too, Lil.”
As I released her, she immediately tugged on her shirt to cover the slither of skin it had revealed. Trying not to frown, I took the seat opposite her and watched as she sat down and wrapped an arm around her belly, covering herself. It was an unconscious move, one I’d seen her do many a time. Lily was a beautiful girl, inside and out. She had her mum and dad’s dark hair and her mum’s unusual golden-hazel eyes. Both Lily and January had inherited their dad’s dimples and their mum’s glamorous smile. Altogether, the combination of Nate and Liv in their daughters had resulted in unfairly gorgeous human beings.
While Lily’s younger sister, Jan, was confident and outgoing, Lily was only ever confident behind the podcast mic. In real life, she struggled with self-image issues and shyness. It was frustrating to see her pop back into her shell around people she didn’t know well, or cover her curvy body like there was anything wrong with it (there wasn’t!), because Lily Sawyer was sweet, kind, and utterly hilarious once you got to know her. At least listeners of the show had gotten to know her. That was something.