Runaway Actress Read Online Free PDF

her and placed her three suitcases onto it.
    ‘Are you wanting a taxi?’ he asked.
    ‘Yes, I am.’
    ‘Allow me,’ he said, leading the way to the taxi rank outside the airport.
    ‘I can’t thank you enough,’ Connie said, removing her sunglasses and smiling. As soon as she did, she knew she’d made a mistake.
    ‘Good God!’ he said. ‘Aren’t you—’ the man cocked his head a little and looked at her quizzically. ‘Connie Gordon?’
    ‘Oh, lord, no!’ Connie laughed, exaggerating her English accent and pushing her sunglasses back on. For most of her childhood, Connie had had an English tutor which meant that she was often hired to play English roles in films and, although she occasionally had an American twang, she could easily get away with being English.
    ‘I could’ve sworn!’ the man said. ‘You look just like her. Remarkable! You could be in the movies.’
    ‘Well, I’m very flattered,’ she said, looking up and down for a taxi and hoping for a quick escape to avoid further questioning. ‘Ah! Here’s one,’ she said as the next available car pulled up and a man got out to load her suitcases. ‘Thanks for your help,’ she said to the suited gentleman.
    ‘My pleasure,’ he said, staring at her in wonder.
    Connie hopped into the taxi and the driver was soon pulling out from the kerb.
    Phew, she thought. She’d made it.
    ‘Where to, lass?’ the driver asked.
    Connie leant forward in her seat. ‘Lochnabrae, please.’
    ‘Lochnabrae Road? Lochnabrae Street?’
    ‘Just Lochnabrae.’
    ‘In Glasgow?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Outside Glasgow then?’
    Connie nodded. ‘It’s near a town called Strathcorrie.’
    ‘Strathcorrie?’
    ‘You know it?’
    ‘Aye, I know it. That’s over a hundred miles. It won’t be a cheap fare, lass. You got the money to pay for it?’
    ‘Of course,’ Connie said. ‘I wouldn’t get in a taxi if I didn’t have the money for my ride.’
    ‘Just checking. I don’t want to be stranded in the back of beyond with a lass with no money.’
    Connie held back a hollow laugh. Money was certainly no problem for her but that didn’t necessarily mean she was happy. If she could buy some sort of happiness, she wouldn’t be there now, tired and lonely.
    The taxi left the airport and Connie felt her eyes closing. Transatlantic flights always took it out of her and she felt she’d been airborne for days rather than hours. A little sleep would do her the world of good.
    When Connie woke up, she was surprised to see that the sky had darkened.
    ‘You won’t need them glasses now,’ the taxi driver said.
    Connie took them off but kept her cap on in case she was recognised, but the driver didn’t seem to be interested in who she was.
    ‘Had a nice sleep, have you?’
    ‘Yes,’ Connie said. ‘Where are we?’
    ‘Just approaching Strathcorrie now.’
    ‘I must’ve been asleep for hours!’ Connie looked out of the window. The road was narrow and straight and there wasn’t a single house to be seen. The countryside had opened out into an elongated valley with a river silvering the land, and great mountains heaved up into the sky.
    ‘Welcome to the Highlands.’
    Connie smiled. She was here at last – the place that her mother had once called home.
    ‘Can we stop?’ Connie suddenly asked. ‘Just for a moment?’
    The taxi driver pulled up at a lay-by. ‘You feeling all right?’
    ‘Yes. Yes!’ Connie said excitedly, opening the door and getting out. She stood absolutely still, looking left, right, up and down, and then she smiled. It was three hundred and sixty degrees of loveliness and she was smack bang in the middle of it. The mountains soared majestically up into the sky and there was a bright waterfall in the distance that cascaded down to the valley below.
    The taxi driver switched the engine off and joined her.
    ‘Not going to be sick, are you?’ he asked.
    ‘No,’ Connie said. ‘Although I think I might have been if I hadn’t left LA in