One
The January snow came early as Ruth finished packing the rest of her and Simon’s things. She hated the snow and knew that they would have to get up extra early to get to the airport in time for their flight. The smile hadn’t left her face all evening as she packed her jumpers neatly into the suitcase, sealing them away with steel teeth. Due to work commitments, she hadn’t been to Scotland to see her family all through the Christmas period.
“You work too hard!” Simon told her a few nights ago. Recurring rhetoric that repeated like a broken record.
“The book isn’t going to write itself!” She scalded, three glasses of red wine deep as her thick-rimmed glasses reflected the light from the laptop. She was so close to finishing her third Novel Diamonds in The Night, a story of three women that are sold into the slave trade of blood diamonds following a Safari trip in South Africa that turned deadly.
“I know.” Simon resigned, getting up from his armchair. The fireplace crackled and popped as smoke pushed out of the chimney into the quiet street outside. They lived in a small cottage, nothing too fancy, but the old stones and the large meadow overlooking their home made it all the cozier and even made the front page of the countryside brochures in their remote village in Devon.
Simon placed his aged hands on her shoulders. A carpenter for years who had long hung up his saw, but the hands told a story, and it was one of love and labor. “We need to go and see your mother in Fort William soon.” He whispered tenderly, massaging the knots in her shoulders that had developed from the months of being hunched over a computer screen. “The publisher will understand. You are ahead of schedule anyway.”
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That had done it. The next day she got off the phone with the publishing house and she had a wry grin on her face.
“Well?” Simon spoke, lingering at the foot of the door like a nosey child. Ruth exhaled and Simon felt his aged heart begin to break. The look on her face told a story of sorrow. Her fair skin looked flustered. But then, like the melting January snow, a bright light emanated from her growing smile. One that said I don’t care what they say, everyone needs some time to themselves!
The day was spent gathering last-minute items and putting their belongings together into a couple of small suitcases. They would normally drive, but both comfortably in their sixties and with the thought of traveling so far in the snow, it just made more sense that they took the plane to Oban, hired a car, and took the coastal route up to Fort William. Maybe even climb Ben Nevis in the Winter. Ruth had once been a keen hiker, and she felt like she still had some life left in her old bones.
Simon finished getting things sorted around the house: passports, climbing gear, maps. All the things he would normally leave to Ruth, he had taken care of and placed them all in a duffel bag for the airport. As if knowing she was watching, he looked up to see her smiling in the doorway in her nightgown. Hair In rollers and supporting a Baileys on ice. Simon stood, moving to her, his silvered beard stretching into a wide smile. “Shouldn’t you be getting some rest?” He joked. “We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.” A nightcap later, he tucked her into bed and put on his coat.
“Where are you going?” She queried, a slight urgency to her voice. “It’s late and the snow is falling. You should come to bed.”
“I’m just stepping out to get some fuel,” Simon said, sitting by her bedside and placing his hand on hers. “I looked earlier and the car is on fumes. We don’t want to be rushed in the morning. I won’t be long. I’ll be right back.” He gave her a small kiss on the lips. “Get some sleep.” He stood and moved to the door, his hand lingering over the small lamp that sat near the doorway. Ruth watched wide-eyed as his finger moved towards the switch. They held each other’s gaze, and Simon nodded. His hand moved away from the lamp. And then he was gone.