Chapter 2 Hello, Gorgeous
922words
I wondered if they had things like coyotes, bears, or snakes around here and shuddered.
I dumped my backpack on top of the counter next to the gas stove and sighed. "One more year of putting up with this."
Well, a little more than one year before I turned eighteen. I'd have to turn seventeen first in a few days. Happy birthday to me. I pulled a face.
"Carly," Mom called from inside the house. There was a crashing sound, and I could hear my dad curse.
"Coming!"
Dad was crouching down and picking up glass from the floor when I entered the kitchen. Mom had a broom in her hands with a dismissal look on her face.
"I told you we should test all the shelves before putting anything on them," she chided.
"What happened?" I asked.
Mom waved a hand at a small shelf that clung with mercy to the wall with a single screw on its side. "The thing collapsed right after your dad placed all our glasses on it. All. Of. Them."
Dad stood up from the floor. "Looks like we will be drinking out of coffee cups for the next few days."
Mom scowled. "If we can find them."
I took a plastic bag from the counter and bent down to pick up the larger glass pieces.
"No need, love," Mom said. She turned, placed down the broom against the kitchen table, and picked up a tiny gift basket from it. "I need you to take this over to our neighbors for me, please."
I eyed the basket, thinking about the grumpy old man. "Do you need to do that? You know, not everyone is nice or like people."
"They're the only other people on the island. Well, except for the coast guard and the boatman as well, but it's considered polite."
"Mom, I don't think…"
"Carly, please? Your dad and I have a lot of work to cover." Mom pinned me with one of those looks that carried a warning that there would be repercussions if I argued.
"Fine," I sighed and got up from the floor. I wiped my hands against my pant legs before taking the basket from her. "What do I say to him?"
Mom's brow rose. "Him?"
"Yeah, the old man on the porch that looked like he could be the next chainsaw massacre murderer."
"That's not nice," Mom grimaced. She glimpsed at Dad. "Didn't Lachlan say a few people were living there?"
Lachlan was one of Mom's crew members who also believed in things that didn't exist.
"Yes. The old man? Lachlan said his name is Hector. Or was it, Victor?" Dad looked thoughtful for a moment. "I heard they're nice people."
"Right," I said. "He could have one of those resting bi—"
"For the love of Carly, could you please take it to them?" Mom interrupted. "And be nice, okay?"
"Be nice. Got it." When I turned away toward the door to hurry outside, my face soured.
There was the possibility that I was too judgmental. I was in a foreign country with no clue how people functioned here. He could have been curious and didn't realize he was glaring.
I sighed, dropping my shoulders. I couldn't believe I was letting this bother me so much.
For goodness sake, Carly, what is the worst that he could do? Bite you?
As I crossed the lawn toward our neighbor's house, I noticed movement across the field, leading toward the beach. It was the old man carrying a bucket and a fishing pole.
Relief washed over me that I didn't have to face him. I could place the gift basket down in front of the door and make a run for it. This was going to be easier than I thought.
When I was confident he was out of sight, I darted toward the neighboring house, up onto the porch. I bent over to place the gift basket down on the glossy, dark wood floor.
Wood smoke and fresh pine clung in the air. The house was warm and inviting—the kind of place I've longed for my entire life.
A sadness expanded inside my chest.
If only my parents had standard, routine jobs and could settle in one place for a proper amount of time.
They went out of their way to make me think we didn't have any problems. They gave me everything I've ever needed, but I was well aware that they were deep in debt. They've made a lot of loans to get us over here.
All this for things that didn't exist.
Mom had a side job as a telemarketer, but it wasn't enough to cover everything at the end of the day.
The glass bottle toppled out of the basket. I reached to pick it up and place it back when the front door cracked open.
I closed my eyes for a second, fighting a hiss of frustration that threatened at the back of my throat.
"What are you doing?"
I straightened up to explain myself when the words died at the tip of my tongue.
Holy crap.
He was so not what I expected to find in Scotland.
