Learning to Dance Again Read Online Free Page A

glanced up at the clock on the wall, ‘it’s 2.30 now, if we let her sleep it off this afternoon, maybe she’ll feel a bit better when you come along with Duncan this evening.’
    Julia nodded; but almost immediately Alice calmed down on her own. She slumped back against the pillows and stared intently at something in the corner of the room. She smiled and lifted her hand as if she was greeting someone who had just appeared.
    Julia turned to see what Alice was looking at. There was nothing but a chest of drawers with a group of family photos on it. Julia picked up a photo of Duncan and Martin that had been taken when they were teenagers. She put it on the bedside cabinet so Alice could see it more easily; but Alice wasn’t interested in the photo. Her face had lit up in a picture of pure joy, and it was possible to glimpse the warm and friendly woman she used to be.
     
    Julia drove home, saddened by the burden of telling Duncan about his mother’s decline in health. She parked the car on the driveway and sat for a moment, after she had taken the key out of the ignition. She stared at the white silk daises in the little vase on the dashboard; the flowers Duncan had laughed at when she first bought her beloved Volkswagen Beetle. She brushed away a tiny cobweb that had appeared on one of the daisies, and then noticed she had left her mobile phone on the passenger seat while she had been visiting Alice. She checked it for messages and saw she had missed five calls from the school. She looked at the time; Duncan would have left by now, so she didn’t bother to ring back. He hadn’t left a message, so it couldn’t have been urgent.
    She went indoors and headed straight for the kettle to make some tea, wondering at the same time what she should make for dinner. She opened the fridge and took out some chicken and vegetables and decided to make chicken in red wine, one of Duncan’s favourite dishes.
    She s et about preparing the meal, drinking her tea as she did so, and then put the casserole dish into the oven and washed her hands. She made a fresh mug of tea and carried it over to the kitchen window where she had a view of the road leading down to their house. She couldn’t wait to hear how Duncan’s first day back at work had gone. She rested her arms on the deep window sill and stared up the hill.
    Their house was at the end of a long narrow track that branched off the main road half a mile away, with the result there was never any passing traffic. Sometimes the house could feel isolated, but since they were only a fifteen minute drive away from Lerwick, they didn’t normally feel lonely. Their house was a place of tranquillity and peace. They had chosen the plot deliberately, as the perfect haven from the demands of their busy and sometimes stressful jobs - but it was also close enough to civilisation and their friends.
    Julia was taking a sip of tea when she noticed a police van meandering down the road towards her. She guessed it would be Jamie’s best friend Liam, who had joined the police force at the same time as Jamie had gone off to University. The boys had been friends since they started primary school together, and Liam had stopped by a few times while Duncan had been ill, just to see how he was getting on. Julia often used to joke he was their third son.
    The van pulled up behind her car and Julia grinned and waved as Liam got out. He looked world-weary and she wondered whether he had come round to let off steam about his day.
    She went out to the front porch to welcome him and opened the door as he approached.
    ‘Oh dear, you look like the world’s just ended. Come in and tell me all about it.’
    Julia grinned at Liam, marvelling at how the quiet little mouse of a boy she had known for so long had grown up to be such a capable young man. He had become so much more confident since he had joined the police; able to talk to anyone. However, he didn’t seem very confident at this particular moment in time;