a job.’
Archie nodded, as if he understood, but Nick went further, trying to explain why he had sold out on his dreams. ‘My parents … they own a B&B up in Fort William, and barely have enough money to make ends meet themselves. I just didn’t want to be a burden on them.’
Archie nodded again, taking everything in. ‘Life never works out the way you expect. It’s full of surprises. Look at me. I never thought I’d end up in Glasgow. I was sure I’d be killed falling off a cliff or something.’
Nick did have to laugh at that. ‘What made you come here?’
‘I’ve got a niece here. With grandkids of her own. The family persuaded me to move down here, and to be honest, I’m not sorry. Glasgow is a great city. Lots going on. And it’s great to see more of my family.’
‘Yeah.’ Nick thought of his parents. ‘Family is special.’
They stayed in silence for a few more minutes, the quiet settling around them like a comfortable blanket.
‘Fort William!’ Archie laughed, as if suddenly remembering something. ‘Now there’s a good place for walking. I should tell you about the time I went up Ben Nevis and had to rescue a man who got stuck in a snowstorm in his shirt sleeves! Wheel me inside, lad. I want to go and look at this new tram there’s been such a hoo-ha about.’
Jade and Lily walked slowly through the front doors of the museum, Lily leaning heavily on her stick and relying on Jade’s arm for balance. ‘What do you want to see?’ Jade asked, as they paused for a second to have a look around.
‘I heard they’ve revamped the shops along that nineteenth century street they have.’ Lily gestured with her stick in the general direction. ‘Let’s go see those.’
They browsed the shops, pointing out things of interest to each other. As they sat for a minute in a dentist’s waiting room, just to let Lily have a rest, she nudged Jade gently. ‘What about this young man of yours? Where did you find him?’
‘He’s not my young man.’ Jade was quick to defend herself. ‘We only met last Saturday. I found him on the bridge.’
‘Ah.’ Lily’s gaze seemed suddenly sharper, but Jade didn’t shrink from it. She had already shared a good deal of her history with the older woman and had found more love and acceptance than she could possibly have ever hoped for.
‘Yes.’ Jade kept her eyes steady. ‘I don’t think he’s very happy. So I brought him here, knowing how you helped me, and I was hoping that you would be able to help him too.’
The older lady pursed her lips. ‘I don’t help people, you silly muffin.’ She slipped an arm around Jade’s shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. ‘You were the one who helped yourself.’ She gave a sigh. ‘And Nick has to help himself. All we can do is give him the opportunity.’ She chuckled suddenly. ‘But I’m mighty curious how he’s getting on with that crusty old codger.’
Jade’s eyes danced. ‘Should we go and see if he’s pushed him in the river by now?’
Lily shook her head. ‘No, my dear, let’s leave them to it. I want to go and see the dressmaker’s across the way.’
And, of course, they had to go and sit in the old-fashioned Subway carriage for a bit, even though they had both done it many times before. While they were sitting, waiting for the sound effects that would make them feel that they were rushing through a tunnel, Lily nudged Jade again. ‘But tell me, don’t you think that he is quite a handsome man?’
‘Who, Archie?’ Jade said, wilfully misunderstanding.
Lily snorted, poking Jade with her stick. ‘As if! You know who I mean.’
Jade considered Nick for a while. Thinking about how she had seen him on the bridge, all pale and tired with his hat jammed down over his ears. Then the transformation she had seen today, wavy brown hair flopped untidily over his forehead as he sang lustily at the top of his voice. And the flash in his bright blue eyes when he had grinned at her.
‘Well,’ she said reluctantly, ‘I guess you could maybe say that. Just a little!’ she amended, as the older woman gave a crow of victory. ‘And that doesn’t mean I’m going to start dating him. I couldn’t cope with dating someone like that. It would just be too much to worry about.’
Lily looked at her with a knowing look. ‘I hear you. But then again, isn’t it worthwhile sometimes taking a chance in life?’ She heaved herself off her seat, gathering her stick up in one small feathery hand. ‘Now, get me to that café. I’m parched for a cuppa.’
The four of them sat at a square table in the café. Archie abandoned his wheelchair in favour of a proper chair. Three of them had soup, and Nick went for a massive cheese and pickle sandwich. The place was busy, with people chattering all around them. A couple of children ran around the room, laughing as they dashed in and out of the tables. The smell of fresh coffee made it seem warm and cosy.
‘I can’t believe how much stuff they have crammed in here.’ Nick waved his arms around to illustrate his point. Even the café had small displays littered around the edge of the room. ‘They have cars stuck up on the walls! And a whole steam train! I don’t know why I’ve never thought to come here before.’
‘That new tram looks very spangly,’ Jade remarked, knowing Archie had been keen to see it.
Archie sighed happily. ‘Ah yes. Brings back a lot of happy memories. Now, I remember the time I jumped off the roof of one, just to avoid the ticket inspector …’ And he was off, waving his arms around as he told them what had happened. Jade didn’t mind. All of his stories were interesting ones, and she loved hearing about how things used to be.
‘So how did you start doing these trips?’ She realised Nick was speaking to her and drew her attention back to him, blushing slightly as she remembered her earlier conversation with Lily.
‘You mean how, or why?’ Jade wasn’t sure exactly what he meant.
Nick had just taken a bite of his sandwich and took a moment to swallow before answering. ‘I mean, what got you into it. How did you think about doing this stuff? You know, giving up your free time just to take other people out.’
From the pause in his voice she knew he had almost been going to say old people. She winked at him, just to make him aware that she had caught his almost-mistake, and the back of his neck tinged slightly with pink. Intelligent, though, with Lily and Archie sitting right there. Her eyes twinkled, thinking of how the conversation would have gone if Nick had said the word old. Maybe not though. Lily and Archie were chatting away on the other side of the table, completely engrossed in a discussion about different models of trams.
‘My gran died a couple of years ago. I miss her a lot.’
Nick’s eyebrows rose. This obviously wasn’t what he had been expecting her to say, but Jade carried on. ‘I used to mope around the house. It was my mum who got me into this.’
She indicated one of the younger grey-haired helpers, sitting a couple of tables away. ‘Connie over there is friends with her. So I started coming down to the home to help out, just to get out of the house. And then I met Lily.’
Lily looked over at the sound of her name. ‘What was that, dearie?’
She put emphasis on the dearie, and Jade laughed, knowing it was on purpose. ‘I was just telling Nick how much of a burden you are and how I hate taking you out.’
Lily reached over and gave Jade’s hand a quick squeeze. ‘Gripe away, dearie. I’m used to it. Especially living in the same place as this old codger.’
Archie drew in a breath, pretending to be offended.
‘Sorry.’ Lily’s eyes twinkled. ‘I should have said, living in the same place as this fine gentleman.’
‘It doesn’t make your complaint any better, you know, wrapping it up in such fine words,’