“Hurry up and get into hospital or I’ll put you there myself, ” he seethed under his breath. Once he’d finished, he headed behind the bar to grab a wee snifter out of Len’s view.
“Don’t be drinking the profits.” It was Janice, and Ryan inwardly flinched. He couldn’t stand the woman and had no idea why his dad still employed her. He had wondered if there was more between them than Len let on. He shuddered at the thought and totally ignored her.
“You’ll no be doing that when your pa’s out of the way.” Her thick Scottish accent, and whiny voice went right through him, setting his teeth on edge.
He turned and looked at her. ‘She would need bringing down a peg or two,’ he thought. As if she could read his mind, she backed away and made a show of cleaning the glasses.
Reaching for his jacket, he headed back outside for a smoke and some time to think.
His chance came a few nights later. After another blazing row with his dad, Ryan had set off walking to the local shop for some cigarettes. As he walked along the uneven grass verge, the weather had taken a turn for the worse, and with only a thin denim jacket on he had quickly been soaked through. He could hear an approaching car, and in the vain hope it was a local not some hapless tourist, he stuck out his thumb.
Lady Luck was definitely smiling on him.
4
The Highland weather never failed to amaze Kate. When she’d set off to drop Joe at Cubs it had been dark and overcast. Less than thirty minutes later it was like the end of the world was on its way. Dark, stormy clouds had advanced and descended quickly. She was grateful she knew these roads or she would have become disoriented and lost. Despite using her headlights on the Ford Fiesta she’d recently purchased, she could barely make out the road ahead. She switched to full beam and leaned forward to peer through the windscreen.
“What the hell,” she muttered. Some poor sod had been caught in the storm and was walking along the grass verge. She flashed her lights, slowed down, and pulled over. She beeped her horn, the sound somewhat lost in the melee but it was enough to attract the attention of the figure which stopped and turned, heading towards her.
Kate leaned over to open the passenger door. The wind was howling, it was raining sideways and although she could barely make out whether it was a male or female at the side of the road, she knew it would be someone local. It was a common enough occurrence for her not to worry about it being a stranger.
The grateful figure stepped forward and practically threw themselves into the car. “Good of you to stop. I thought I was stranded there for a minute.”
“It’s no bother. The storm came in pretty quickly. It’s like the end of days.” Kate indicated to pull away from the verge.
The stranger laughed. “Do you often pick strangers up from the side of the road?”
“Haha, no but I figured you might be a local. Are you from round here? Your accent doesn’t seem local?” Kate was seriously regretting her decision to stop.
“Erm, kind of...”
The passenger had brought in the rain and chill of the night with him and Kate shivered. She felt a sense of recognition but couldn’t quite put her finger on it. “Where are you from?” she asked.
Ryan couldn’t believe that she didn’t recognise him but he played along. “I’m from here originally but I’ve been living in Leeds.”
“I thought I detected a bit of Yorkshire. Wait...” She glanced sideways. “Ryan?”
“Haha, I wondered when it would dawn on you.”
“What the hell... how...” Kate was speechless. She’d last seen Ryan on the final day of the court hearing, hanging around the court steps. As memories slowly clicked into place, her hands started to shake. Heart pounding, she moved from recognition to anger in a split second. She swerved violently and pulled haphazardly onto the side of the road. “What the actual fuck? What are you doing here?” She removed her seatbelt and despite the lashing rain, she opened the car door and got out. “Get the fuck out of my car now!” she yelled above the cacophony of noise that swirled around the hills.
Ryan leaned over into the driver’s seat and shouted something but Kate couldn’t hear for the pounding in her ears. Rage, shock, and fear took over.
“I want you out of my car now!” she screamed again, shaking with anger. Reluctantly Ryan did as she demanded and stepped into the monsoon.
“Come on Kate, don’t be like that.” He headed around the front of the car towards her but she backed away.
“Oh no you don’t Ryan, stay away from me.”
Ryan carried on forward, relentless. “Kate, what’s wrong with you?”
“Seriously? You seriously don’t know?” Kate fumed. “Tell me why you’re here? How did you find me? Why did you...”
Ryan moved closer to Kate and reached forward, pinning her arms to her side. She struggled furiously and lashed out, but Ryan was much bigger and stronger than Kate and he soon had her gripped to him. “You were always a bit of wild cat. Will you calm down and listen to me?” Ryan risked losing his grip and held her by the forearms. “And for God’s sake let’s get back in the car, we’re getting soaked.”
Reluctantly Kate shrugged free of Ryan’s grasp and sat back in the driver’s seat, slamming the door to vent her anger.
“Jeez,” said Ryan. “It knows how to rain up here, I’d almost forgotten.” He shivered as icy droplets found their way down the neck of his collar.
Kate was shivering too and not just because of the rain. Part of her past, the one she’d tried so hard to escape was sitting right next to her. She didn’t know what to think as she sat gripping the steering wheel and rested her head on the curve. The shock of seeing his face and hearing his voice brought back painful memories. Unbidden tears started to mingle with the raindrops on her face and merged to spill onto her soaking wet jeans. Next to her, Ryan was rooting around in the glove box looking for a tissue. His hand found an old crumpled pack at the back.
“Here, take this,” he offered, shifting around in his seat so that he was facing her as much as he could in the confined space.
Kate took the proffered tissue and wiped her face. Pulling herself together she looked at Ryan fully for the first time. “What do you want Ryan? Why are you here?”
Ryan went on to the explain that he had returned home at his dad’s request. “So whatever else you’re thinking I am genuinely here to help out at the pub.”
Kate listened but was skeptical. Part of her wanted to believe he was genuine. She had always felt a connection with Ryan that she hadn’t with Darren. Kate breathed heavily in and out in an effort to try and think straight. Ryan reached for her hand that had fallen into her lap. She let him hold her fingers lightly in his hand. “It’s just a bit much to take in Ryan. I don’t know what to think.”
Ryan, pleased that she didn’t pull away, gently massaged her freezing cold fingers. “I knew you’d be shocked, I’m sorry. Meeting you worked much better in my head.”
Kate’s head snapped up. “What does that mean?”
Realising his mistake, Ryan tried to backtrack. “I didn’t know it was you in the car.”