Independent Jenny by Sarah Louise Smith Page A

somewhere warmer to be honest.”
    She bit her lip. Here came the real story. I knew there was some ulterior motive.
    “Do you remember Guy?”
    “How could I forget? Oh, I see! So it’s not all about me, after all?”
    Guy was Hayley’s first serious boyfriend, and they were crazy about each other from the age of about fourteen until seventeen, when Guy’s family moved to Scotland. His father was a farmer and an opportunity came up, so he whisked his family away and they settled there. Hayley was devastated. She cried for weeks after he left. They emailed, sending little love notes and parcels to each other for a while. Guy promised he’d moved back down south as soon as he left school, but they drifted apart over time and eventually, Hayley moved on.
    She started talking, quickly.
    “You see, I think about him a lot. I guess I never really got closure. We didn’t split up as such and have an emotional goodbye, we just stopped emailing after a while. And I was happy enough, but since Kieran proposed to me, I can’t stop thinking about Guy. I know it’s stupid and we’ve both changed I’m sure, but I just wanted to see him again and find out how he is. Get some closure before I start planning my wedding.”
    She spoke with such passion. More passion that I had for anything right now. I was envious.
    “Can’t you just look him up on Facebook?”
    “I did!” She pointed to her iPad again. “He’s not on there. I even looked up his brother, his parents, allsorts, but I can’t find anything. I tried the telephone number, but it’s no longer in use. So, if I want to find out where he is, I have to go up there.”
    “What makes you think he still lives on Skye?”
    “I doubt he does. But I have the address he moved to, so I thought I could see if he’s there, or speak to his parents if they are and, you know, just find out and get closure and move on.”
    “What if he’s married?”
    “I hope he is!”
    I doubted that by the look on her face.
    “Why?”
    “Because I love Kieran, I really do. Honestly, Jenny, I’m not trying to reignite this thing with Guy. It was so long ago … I just want to find out how he is, that’s all. Get closure. Forget him. I can’t forget him right now, I think about him every day, I have no idea why but I won’t be able to commit and get married until I see him again.”
    “I don’t know about this Hayley…”
    “Please come with me? I know it’s not as exciting as jetting off to Greece or something but you do love walking, and look at these lush green hills!” She pointed at the photos again. “We’ll go out every day, come rain or shine. We’ll find a nice little pub and go for lunch. If the weather is nice we’ll chill on the beach. You’ll have time to think things through and really clear your head. It’s just one day during the trip that I’d like to go see him, if he’s there.”
    I did like the idea of going to Skye. It looked beautiful. Plus, I’d save some money. I hadn’t even thought about how I’d afford to live on my own yet but it would be better not to blow too much of my savings on this trip.
    “How were you thinking we’d get there?”
    “I thought it’d be a fun road trip. We can take it in turns to drive, take some yummy snacks, put some good music on…”
    “And what if Guy is single and cute as ever? Are you just going to say hi, find closure, and come back to Kieran and forget him?”
    “I know it sounds crazy, I do, and I know I’m not seventeen anymore and I don’t want to hurt Kieran. But I just need to do this. So I can go up there one weekend alone, or we can incorporate it into our holiday and you can be there to listen and see how it pans out.”
    I looked at her face. She was so keen, and I figured the likelihood of Guy still being in the same house was slim. He didn’t want to move up there in the first place and had probably escaped long ago. And it did sound like fun.
    So, I agreed and while Hayley whooped with