The Hike(6)

Cat looked bemused, and Ginny was surprised yet again at her sister’s overly cheery mood. How could she be so damn chirpy at this hour?

‘I’m so glad I switched to water when you lot started on the shots,’ she said, reading Ginny’s mind. ‘I felt a bit funny after the beers, actually.’

Typical Cat. Always so bloody sensible. Ginny should’ve known that Cat wouldn’t drink shots. She’d pulled that trick before.

‘Forgive me for trying to have some fun,’ Ginny said, more harshly than she intended. She was pissed off that Cat had made a fool out of her with the fake shots. Not that the men seemed to have noticed or cared. She rubbed her temples. The headache was still lingering, and she felt like she hadn’t slept a wink.

Cat flinched. ‘Someone got out of the wrong side of the bed.’

Tristan squeezed Ginny’s arm. ‘Come on, Ginny-Gins. Get yourself sorted, eh? Wait until you see the mountain views . . . this hike is supposed to be spectacular, you know.’ He paused. ‘And not too challenging.’ He pulled a map out of his back pocket, unfolded it and smoothed it out across the table, shoving the breakfast things out of the way. ‘There’s a great halfway point here. This little lodge restaurant has excellent reviews.’ He pointed at a brown square on the map that meant nothing to her. Patches of green and grey, and broken brown lines. How on earth is he going to navigate us like this?

‘Isn’t there an app for this? I can’t believe you actually bought a map.’

He clapped his hands together. ‘Well . . . as you know, I agreed to help Cat with the planning, and we thought it might be fun if we did something a bit different. Proper old-school. Map, compass. Not a lot else. No apps . . .’

‘No phones,’ Cat continued, still smiling. ‘Some time for the four of us to reconnect. Properly chat without distraction. It’s been so long since we’ve all been away together. Everyone’s lived their lives online for so long, it’s going to be amazing to be back to nature, to—’

‘Are you both mad?’ Ginny stared at them both, then turned to Paul. ‘Are you having this? No phones? What if we get lost? What if one of us gets hurt?’

Paul opened his mouth to speak, but Tristan laid a hand on top of Ginny’s and gave Paul a small nod, his gesture saying leave it, I’ll deal with it. ‘Take a chill pill, Gins. We’re doing it because it’ll be fun.’ He glances at Cat. ‘We didn’t expect you to have a full-on panic attack over it.’

Ginny pulled her hand out from under his. ‘I just think it sounds a bit irresponsible. Especially for Cat.’ She picked up a glass of water and took a sip. Her heart was racing, and she was trying hard to regulate her breathing. ‘Since when did the two of you get so chummy, anyhow? There’s helping to plan and there’s being in cahoots . . . what are you both actually up to?’

‘Come on, Gins,’ Cat said. ‘There’s no conspiracy. I mentioned the idea to Tristan back at your birthday party and he said he’d like to help. Besides, it’s a bit rich calling us irresponsible when you were knocking back the shots too last night.’ Cat leaned in closer, lowering her voice. ‘Do you need something to calm you down a bit? The hangover is probably making you feel anxious. You’ve got your pills, haven’t you . . . ?’

Despite wanting to kick up more of a fuss, mainly to get out of the whole thing and spend the day admiring the view while she soaked up the healing powers of the outdoor hot tub, Ginny found herself nodding and reaching into her purse. She was glad to have a good private GP at home who knew when she needed the right things to pick her up or calm her down. Valium was exactly what she needed right now.

Cat watched her intently as she popped the pill into her mouth and gulped it down dry. Ginny felt a little uncomfortable under her gaze. It wasn’t like her sister to be so interested in her pills. Cat was one of those people who would wait for her head to burst open before she took a paracetamol.

‘Want some?’

Cat bit her lip. ‘Actually, do you mind? I might not take it now, but it might come in handy later if things get a bit hairy up there.’ She laughed.

Ginny frowned as she handed Cat a blister pack with a couple of tablets in it. It had better not get hairy. They’d promised her this was going to be a gentle hike and worth her while. Cat better not be lying to her, in an attempt to humiliate her later. If she tried anything, Ginny would bloody kill her.





Four

SATURDAY MORNING

Cat was happy to drive. It was only a short trip from the hotel to the starting point of the hike, but Ginny complained for most of it about how irresponsible they were being not taking their phones, and how she was sure it wasn’t a good idea for her to go to high altitudes with a headache and dehydration. It was always ‘me me me’ with her. Had been since they were kids. And yet Ginny still seemed to sail through life getting what she wanted without having to work for it. Cat had started to think recently that she should take a leaf out of her sister’s book. Maybe being demanding did get you what you wanted in life.

Not today, though. Today, for once, Ginny was being overruled.

The sun was already beating down, so Cat pulled into a parking spot close to a bank of dense pines in an attempt to keep the car cool.

Ginny was still rabbiting on as Cat turned off the engine, but Cat had decided that ignoring her was best for now or the hike wasn’t even going to start. She suppressed a sigh as she rubbed her eyes with her knuckles, pressing hard into the sockets.