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By the end of the lunch, after we’d split the bill and said our goodbyes, I felt a thousand tiht of er felt like the crushing landslide it had before I’d left

I even skipped a little

Once I’d left the cobblestones behind, of course Anyone with half a brain cell knew you didn’t skip on those Walking was hard enough at the best of times Unless you were a child—then you beelined for them because it was fun

I s just that on a cobbled section just to the side of the carpark and got in my car Was Dad home yet? If he was, I wondered if he would have ten minutes for me to talk to him about my course

I had to get it over and done with as soon as possible

The drive back to Arroood Estate was quick and easy That was one of the perks of living in the country—the only things likely to hold you up were tractors or livestock It wasn’t unusual to see a road full of cows or sheep being ushered along by a farether Neither of those things had happened today, thankfully

After I’d parked in the barn we’d converted into a garage e’d opened a portion of the house to the public, I htly The rip it harder

“Dad? Are you home?”

Nothing

“Aunt Cat? Dad? Alex?”

“In the library,” Aunt Cat said, passing me with two books tucked under her ared and said, “I want to take up plu”

I wasn’t going to ask

“You do that” I watched as she passedstaircase and trotted up the the top book

Plu?

You do you, Aunt Cat You do you

I walked into the library wherea newspaper with his reading glasses balanced on the end of his nose “Hi, Daddy” I bent over the back of the sofa and kissed his cheek “Hoas your trip?”

“Busy,” he replied, not looking up froeline?”

I wasn’t going to ask how he knew “It was nice We’ve all been busy lately, so it was nice to catch up”

“I’m sure How is Victoria?”

“She’s well,” I answered “I’ll pass on your best next time we talk”

“Please do”