Read Online Shared Skies by Josephine O Brien - Free Book Online Page A

reminisced about the
picnic they had all gone on when Gaiah was four or five. Kaley
smiled back at Gaiah. “You planned a secret treat for us all.”
Alasdair chuckled. “Unfortunately, for once, you managed to keep a
secret.”
    “ Oh no, what did I
do?”
    “ Five enormous slices of
ice cream, wrapped in serviettes and hidden in your bag. Which you
tried to produce two hours later. That's what.”
    Alasdair's description of Gaiah’s face as
she discovered the treat gone and her bag soggy with melted
ice-cream reduced them all to helpless laughter and Gaiah felt as
if she remembered it herself. By now, dusk was claiming the day and
Gaiah watched Inverness, which they had just skirted, being marked
by ribbons of light.
    “ Nearly home.” Alasdair
sounded happy. “We must pick up some groceries first.”
    They drove through the new developments of
red brick houses, past dozens of identical white houses with neat
gardens. A few twists and turns off Leachkin road and they were
heading into highland country at the far side of Craigphadraig
woods. A small country shop at the side of the road had a display
of potatoes and cabbages outside.
    “ Oh, this will do fine,
let’s call into Mrs. McKintyre,” Alasdair said as he pulled off the
road. They strolled into the tiny shop, and were warmly greeted by
a small round woman with grey hair. She filled their order,
collecting and packing, eggs, fresh bread, vegetables and fruit.
All the time, she was shouting to some unseen person in the
back.
    “ Have ya nae found those
boxes yet, Graeme? Hurry up now, you’re dawdling!” She nodded at
the back of the shop. “Young people these days, no idea how to
work! And now, his school friend’s arrived to chat. I dunno how I
put up with it. If it weren’t for the fact that my grandchildren
are staying with me for the summer and they seem to love him, I’da
sent him packing ages ago.”
    They loaded the car and were just starting
to pull off when Gaiah thought of her father and checked her phone.
There were two missed calls. Trying to return the call, a voice
told her she had insufficient credit. “Oh, would you mind just
hanging on a sec while I run back and see if I can buy credit
here?”
    “ No problem.” Alasdair
stopped the car again.
    She ran back and stopped in her tracks just
inside the door. There was no sign of the woman. But there were two
guys who seemed to fill the space. She stared at the one behind the
counter, who was facing her.
    He was gorgeous. Really gorgeous, well up
there. He was tall, with the darkest brown eyes she had ever seen,
and those, put together with floppy black hair, made an unbeatable
combination in Gaiah’s book. But at this moment he was looking up
angrily at the much bigger bloke looming across the counter at him.
Tension filled the small shop. Gaiah could only see the back of
this figure, a ponytail of thick, dark brown hair and broad
shoulders.
    Everything seemed to recede into the
background as this form lent forward and said, “I told you I’d had
enough! This isn't the place for you. I'm serious, Graeme. You
should go back to where you came from!”
    Having so recently been a victim of bullying
herself, Gaiah’s blood boiled. All that had happened in the last
few days had given her a new view of herself, and a fast-growing
confidence that she could never have imagined. She was not going to
stand back and watch this intimidation. Stepping closer, she hit
the guy hard in the back with her mobile.
    “ You big jerk! Leave him
alone!”
    He whirled around, already crouching into a
fighting stance. His broad, tanned face was tight with anger and
his green, green eyes were bright with rage.
    “ Who the hell are you?” He
stopped and his expression changed. He straightened and gazed at
her. She knew him. The guy from the shop in Inverness. Was it? She
wasn’t sure. He seemed familiar, he towered over her as she looked
up at him. His almond-shaped eyes, narrowed in fury, seemed