Читать книгу Five Ladies Go Skiing: A feel-good novel of friendship and love - Karen Aldous - Страница 17

Seeing Ginny’s name light up on my phone had momentarily jarred me as it had often done of late, since I’d been party to the unwelcome information. There’s nothing worse than having to swallow something unsavoury and not being able to handle it. I read the text. Mission control. I liked that. Ginny was right. This would be our headquarters for the next seven days. Aw, and sweet – a subtle reminder to get in the wine. At least Ginny was in good humour. She’d had a tough few years and deserved some serious fun. After some hectic months nursing at the Midland General in Perth, and trying to deal with the issue concerning Ginny, I was seriously in need of fun too and looking forward to seeing and sharing the experience as well as spending time with my old buddies.

The restaurant terrace was filled with skiers. The welcoming smell of Savoyard cheeses filled my nostrils, making my tummy rumble as the memory of the mini cheese fondue I ate last night enthused my taste buds. I’d skipped breakfast after gorging on so many delicious dishes in the hotel restaurant. ‘You taste,’ the Italian had urged, and had sent out relentless small plates containing cooked meats, pasta, fried aubergines, curried cabbage, shellfish and finally the one course I’d requested, a flavoursome Savoyard fondue. The perfect mountain food as far as I was concerned. My guilty pleasure. Warm, rich and indulgent.

I ignored a whiff of diesel fumes and even the view for a while. I took a sip of my wine and leant back on the chair to let the midday sun wash over my skin. I closed my eyes. Sleep was tempting but I was too excited. Nervous too. I mean, whilst I couldn’t wait to see my friends again, meeting Ginny face-to-face, knowing this was the opportunity to tell her what I knew, was terrifying, far worse than confronting Will about moving back to England. Worse even than confronting my drunk and violent father. Confrontation scared me, I’ve always feared conflict – but losing Ginny scared me more.

At first, I held back from relaying what I’d learned because I didn’t think Ginny would cope. She had not long returned from having such a lovely time with me at my home in Perth earlier this year and was still highly emotional after losing Mike; then when I did drum up the courage to tell her, I found out her company had made her redundant and she was desperately seeking work. When I rang, she was so low.

So, as the months went on, hearing from the girls how she had withdrawn, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. And I had to be with her. Her self-esteem had sunk so low. In fact, I then feared that if I told her after all that time, I would lose her friendship. She would hate me. The thought was unbearable. Ginny was special. It was surreal to think that I was going to hurt the one person who had virtually carried me throughout my younger days. A knot tied in my stomach every time I thought about it, and when this trip was organised, and I knew I would see her, I made up my mind that it was my opportunity to sit her down, face-to-face.

Startled by that fact, I opened my eyes, catching sight of my T-shirt. The Flowers, such a great acronym; they would be here soon. I checked the time on my phone and like a meerkat jumped up, with wine in hand, taking a few steps over to where I could see, and peered up the road.