My Big Fat Low-Fat Wedding - By Katya Starkey Page 0,46
time!
“What are you pointing at? Is there a spider up there?”
I hadn’t realised that my inner convictions led me to express myself physically. I’m standing here with a finger in the air as though I’ve just given a speech. I did give myself a mental pep talk, but Callum doesn’t need to know that.
“Um, yeah.” I reply to my nosy fiancé. “It’s just there, can’t you see it?” I don’t give him a chance to answer. “Never mind, I’m off.” Pushing past him I make my way towards the bedroom door.
“Where are you going?”
“To the Worcester Beacon.”
“Yeah right.”
“Oh ye of little faith in me!” I turn and force my hands onto my hips.
“I’ve got every faith in you, darling.” Callum edges close and wraps his arms around my middle. “It’s just the mountain’s steep incline that defies belief.”
He doesn’t think I can do it.
Pulling away from his grasp, I squint evilly up at him. “It’s not a real mountain, the Worcester Beacon is just a hill.” A hill that I can most definitely conquer.
Callum frowns in all seriousness. “You really are determined to do this today, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” I tell him, matter of factly.
“Just promise me you won’t take any short cuts while you’re up there.”
“Psht! As if I’ll need to.” I wave him off with my hand and release myself from his embrace. “As a matter of fact,” I add. “I think I’ll take the long way around. You know? Starting at the back of the hill in West Malvern.”
I get a crooked grin in reply from my fiancé. His look makes me wonder what’s truly on his mind. I think I know what he’s thinking though. I don’t remember exactly how many times I’ve told him I’m going to do something, only to fail. I’m sure it’s more than a few though.
Well, this time will be different. Besides, it’s too late to take back what I’ve said. I should have waited to tell my betrothed about my Beacon hiking accomplishments after I’d scaled the heights. If I fail now he’ll think the same as he always does about me; that I have good intentions but I never follow through.
“That’s good, because it’s a flatter point for mum to start at as well.”
I had almost cleared the room when Callum uttered his final statement.
“Oh, Emily!” I hear Brenda squeal at me from the bottom of the stairs. I turn to look back at my fiancé but he’s conveniently disappeared into the loo.
***
“Oh!” Brenda shouts from the passenger seat nearly causing me to over correct the steering wheel and flip the car entirely. “I need to stop by Paige’s shop before we start up the hills, Emily.”
Seriously? She couldn’t have warned me about this before we left the house? It’s not that my hiking resolve is waning, it’s just that I want to get up and back down off the bloody hill at some point today. At this rate though I might just end up running errands all over town with Callum’s mother. He’d insisted she was only trying to help, back at the house, but I don’t really see how the woman is going to affect my doggedness. I’m on a personal high! I don’t need a personal trainer to kick me into gear today!
“What are you pointing at, dear? Is there a spider on your windscreen?”
Oh flip. I’ve allowed my inner convictions to express themselves physically again. I’m pointing at nothing in a gesture of determination. “Um… yes,” I reply to Brenda, placing my hand back onto the steering wheel. “It’s gone now though. It was only a tiny bug.”
Beside me, Brenda shivers. I know she hates spiders. The feeling runs in the family. I don’t know how many times Callum has told me the horror story of his youth when his dad used to torture him with big spider corpses by pretending to eat the little blighters when he’d catch them.
I give an involuntary shiver too and nearly miss shifting gears. Getting the clutch under control I nudge the car up the steep hill. I’m using the car park at the back of Belle Vue Terrace so that I can drive out of here quickly after we’ve visited Paige’s shop.
I will get up onto the top of that Beacon soon! I vow! But this time I don’t stick a finger into the air as we hop out of the car.
Upon entering the health food store I’m immediately on the lookout for hovering tub bots.