by Clare Lydon
“I’m harmless. The weapon in question is rainbow coloured. That should put you at ease.”
“This is silk, not piano wire.” Saffron held it in both hands, like an offering to a Greek goddess. “You can trust me.”
“Can I?” Kirsty’s penetrating grey eyes locked onto her target.
“Yes. Look—can you lower the stick, rainbow or not? You wielding it like you’re about to smash my skull in, is intimidating as hell and this is hard enough.” Saffron slouched her shoulders to appear less intimidating.
Kirsty let it drop to her side.
“I know I mishandled the website snafu—”
“How could you believe I was involved?” Kirsty tapped the stick against her chest.
“It was my worst-case scenario coming to fruition, or so I thought. Having someone use my name for their own profit. I didn’t stop to think. I only reacted. I’m sorry.” Saffron splayed a hand over her chest. “Really, really sorry.”
“Are you going to blindfold me or not?” Kirsty used the stick to point to the scarf.
“Does that mean you accept my apology?”
“I’m considering it.” Kirsty wheeled about. “I want to whack this ring.”
“Is that right?” Saffron tied the cloth around Kirsty’s eyes. “Do you have a thing against rings?”
“Not necessarily, but it’s here and I think better when in motion.” She pranced on her feet like a prize fighter. “I’m ready.”
Saffron laughed and placed a hand on each of Kirsty’s shoulders. “I’m going to spin you three times, and then you can take a swing.”
“Why do you have to spin me?”
“It’s the rule.”
“Why do Americans like this?”
“Got me.” Saffron twirled Kirsty once, keeping her hands firmly on her. “Ready for another?”
“Yes.”
After the third rotation, Saffron steadied Kirsty. “On the count of three, do your best. One… two… two and a half… three!”
Kirsty took a swing, barely hitting the pinata, shuffling on her feet as if she was about to fall.
Saffron reached out to steady her, but Kirsty, still blindfolded, was already winding up for another whack, with Saffron as the target. “Whoa! Don’t shoot, cowgirl. You’re aiming at my head.”
Kirsty slapped the weapon into her palm, making a thwacking sound. “And, you think that’s an accident?”
Saffron laughed. “I’m an optimist that way.”
“You hurt me.” Kirsty whacked her palm with a much louder slapping sound.
“I’m truly sorry.” Saffron tried to swallow the lump in her throat, but it took a couple of attempts.
“That night was also my worst-case scenario coming to life. I’ve been taken for granted and cheated on.”
“It breaks my heart that you thought me capable of hopping from your bed into Echo’s.” Saffron massaged her heart.
“Try being me. I remember her text saying her bed was lonely without you.” Another thwack of the stick into her palm.
“Okay, I see your point and I want to clear this up right now. I didn’t sleep with her that night.”
“You didn’t?” Kirsty asked in a tiny voice.
“No.”
“The video made you two look like love birds.”
“I’m aware. Echo is a pro when it comes to presentation.” Saffron had to suppress her anger at Echo and focus on what truly mattered. “You probably don’t know what to believe, but you said you need to move to think better. I’m going to reposition you to hit the ring. Not me. Okay? You promise not to hit me?” Saffron held her palms up in spite of Kirsty not being able to see.
Kirsty nodded.
Saffron helped her get into the proper stance. “Hit as hard as you can. Get the anger out. Like I said, pretend it’s my head. Don’t keep it bottled in.”
Kirsty whacked the fuck out of the ring. Then again. And again.
Wrapped sweets dribbled out from a tear.
Saffron whistled. “You really like smashing my skull in.”
Kirsty nudged the blindfold up. “I pictured Echo.”
“That’s a relief.” Her laughter came out shaky, like she’d been terrified Kirsty really did want to bash Saffron’s skull in.
“Why don’t you give it a go?” Kirsty’s shoulders seemed much lighter.
“Can I picture Echo?”
“If that’s who you want to hit.” Kirsty prepped Saffron, and spun her around. “One more for good measure.”
Saffron chuckled. “This really is a bizarre party tradition.”
“Okay, pard-ner,” Kirsty’s over-the-top American West impression brought a smile to Saffron’s face. “Do your best.”
Saffron’s wild stab made contact, followed by the trickle of more sweets. “Did you check out my social media accounts?”
“I did.” Kirsty kept her voice neutral.
“Did mine say anything about this week away with Echo?”
“You don’t know?” Kirsty sounded dubious.
“My team handles all that. I’ve never tweeted in my life. I don’t see the point.” Saffron swung again. “So, am I going on holiday with Echo-Fucking-Black?”
“Not according to your socials, no.”
“At least my team is listening to me.”
“Out of curiosity, what did you tell them about Echo?”
Saffron planted her feet and gave the stick a shake, prepping for a wallop. “Let’s see if you can guess from this.” She released hell.
Kirsty whooped.
Saffron hoisted the blindfold off, zeroing in on the broken ring on the ground. “Just in case you need more of an explanation, I can’t stand Echo. If I never see her again, it’d be too soon.”
“Won’t that be hard when you start the movie?”
“I’m not doing the movie.”
“You’re not?” Kirsty’s eyes widened.
“Nope.”
“Why?”
“Besides the fact that I don’t want to go to prison because I may bash her brains in if I’m in the same room with her?”
Kirsty started to speak, but stopped, letting Saffron continue.
“I don’t want to make movies anymore.”
“Not at all?”
“My solicitor is crafting a suit to get me out of Pearl’s clutches. I’ve put an offer to buy the beach house. Tomorrow I have an appointment to see a dog I want to adopt.”
“Wait.” Kirsty put her arms out as if trying to stop herself from spinning. “You’re not going back to London?”
Saffron shook her head.
“Or LA?”
Another shake of the head. “I’m putting both places on the market. I realised I hate both places. Sandy Cove makes me happy. Being near Ginger. And the sea.” Saffron pointed the rainbow stick at Kirsty. “But there’s no ifs, ands, or buts, it’s you who makes me the happiest.”
“But… we were tested and we both failed.”
Saffron bobbed her head, taking that onboard. “It’s true. The question is: will we learn from it or will we fail every other test?”
“I don’t know, Saff. The fact that we’re having this conversation the night of your sister’s divorce party speaks volumes, doesn’t it?”
“It does.”
“Then why are you smiling like that?”
“Because you’re still talking to me and we’re getting our feelings out.” Saffron used her hands to demonstrate unburdening herself. “That also has to mean something. I know a simple apology won’t wipe away my mistake. But—I want to show you something.” Saffron dashed for her bag and pulled out a sketch. “I want to paint this for you.”
“It’s my shop.” Kirsty squinted one eye at Saffron.
“Yes.”
“It’s incredible.”
“And, here’s one of the beach house.”
Kirsty took the paper from Saffron. “Oh, wow. Look at the detail.” She brought the paper closer. “Is that me?”
“In the garden, yes. I ne
ver would have finished either of these sketches before coming to Sandy Cove. I’d start one, but would get busy, losing steam. Sometimes, I’d misplace the scrap of paper. I want to slow down. I want to learn to appreciate the small things in life. I want to always stroll on the promenade. Most of all, I don’t want to be miserable anymore.”
“Were you?”
“Yes. You helped me see just how trapped I’d let myself become.”
“I fear I’ve made things even worse, though.” Kirsty tucked her elbows into her sides.
“Yes, but I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately. I’ve decided all of it was necessary. Okay, maybe not necessary… sorry, Ginger has been encouraging me to communicate more to avoid trouble, but…”
“Go on…” Kirsty prodded.
“Are you busy next week?”
“Like every day next week?” A cloud of confusion overtook her face.
Saffron balled up a fist, her nails digging into her palm. “Geez, you’re aren’t making this easy, are you?”
“What?” Kirsty’s eyes sparkled.
“Me asking you out on a date. I’ve never done it before.”
“And here I thought we were turning a new page.” Kirsty mimed this.
“We are!”
“I’m supposed to believe you’ve never asked a girl out on a date?” Kirsty tapped a foot, shaking her head.
“I really haven’t. I started acting when I was a teenager. This kind of thing wasn’t allowed.”
“Dating?”
“Being normal. Everything was staged. For the public.”
“Will you miss it? Even a tiny bit.” Kirsty held two fingers in the air, barely apart.
“Living in a fishbowl? No.”
“You say that now.”
“Shall we bet? One year from now, I bet I don’t miss it at all.” Saffron stuck her hand out.
“What do I get if I win?”
“What do you want?”
“I’m not sure you can give me what I want.”
“Movie star.” Saffron waved a hand in front of her face. “Try me.”
“You know you’re proving me right well ahead of the deadline?” Kirsty smirked.
Saffron snorted impatiently. “Still waiting for your answer. What do you want to wager? Because I’m all in on restarting my life away from the spotlight to be with you.”
The band started to play the Abba song “Take a Chance on Me.”
Kirsty looked at the stage and then back to Saffron. “Did you plan that?”
“What?” Saffron didn’t have to feign innocence.
“You were in charge of music. But how did you get them to sing that song right now?”
Saffron bobbed her head as realisation washed over her. “I think fate gets the credit and I’m still waiting to hear what you want from me. Tell me how hard I have to work to convince you I’m in this for the long haul.”
Kirsty pulled Saffron close. “I want this.”
They kissed.
“Christ! That took you two forever,” Ginger shouted.
There was clapping and hooting.
Neither of them stopped kissing.
Chapter 32
“Can I walk you home?” Saffron tossed some party hats into a bin, wiping away glitter from her shirt.
Kirsty emptied her arms of Single AF bunting. “Is this another new thing for you?”
“Cleaning up?”
“Walking a girl home.”
“Yes. Usually my driver takes a woman home, after he pays her, of course.”
“You’re incorrigible.”
Saffron cupped her ear. “I haven’t heard a yes or no if you’re ready to go.”
“Let me say goodnight to the staff, first. Don’t wander off.”
Saffron made a show of planting her feet. “Not moving an inch.”
“Maybe being a living statue is in your future.”
“Hurry up, this is exhausting.” Saffron shooed Kirsty away, wanting to leave the party so they could be alone.
Ginger sidled up, bumping her shoulder into Saffron. “Check you out. About to get lucky.”
Saffron twisted her hair to get it off her back. “Stop. Don’t curse this.”
“I’m the curse? I’m the one whose been playing peacemaker.”
“You talked to Kirsty?” Saffron craned her neck to see into Ginger’s face, unsure if she should be irritated or grateful for her sister’s meddling.
“Yep. You can thank me later, but do me a favour?” Ginger gripped Saffron’s arm.
“Can’t wait to hear this one.” Saffron waved for Ginger to get it out, bracing for a very Ginger-like demand. Given they’d just wrapped up Ginger’s divorce party, Saffron wasn’t sure if she should do whatever was asked.
“Don’t mess up again. She’s worth a million Echo Blacks.”
Saffron sought out Kirsty, who was hugging her mum goodnight. “You can’t put a price on her.”
Ginger melted. “Why are you wasting that line on me? Go. She’s waiting.”
Saffron gave her sister a one-armed hug, and rushed to meet Kirsty halfway. “Ready?”
“Kirsty! Wait.” Out of breath, Helena slipped something into Kirsty’s pocket and said, “Read it in the morning.”
“Are you sure?” Kirsty’s eyes clouded over.
“Yep. You have better things to do. Now, skedaddle!” Helena gestured for the two of them to get going.
Saffron gave Kirsty a questioning look, but she simply shrugged, and asked, “Water or the short way?”
“Come again? Do you need water for the walk?” Saffron glanced about for a bottle.
“How do you want to get to mine?” Kirsty looked at Saffron like she was adorably clueless.
“Oh, right. The short way.”
“I was hoping you’d say that. I’m knackered.” She let out a breath.
“Shall I get a car?” Saffron got out her phone.
“I’m sure I can last the five minutes.”
“Let’s roll, then.” She pocketed her phone and crooked her arm for Kirsty.
“It’s moments like this when I remember how bloody tall you are.”
“Do you want me to bend my knees or walk on them?”
Kirsty swatted Saffron’s arm, both of them giggling.
After they started out, Saffron turned her head to Kirsty. “When I finish your painting, will you hang it up in the shop? If you like it, that is?”
“Why wouldn’t I like it?”
“I might be a rubbish painter.”
“I seriously doubt you could fail at anything. But why do you want me to hang it up?” Kirsty’s voice tightened with confusion.
“Because I flipped out over the website. It’s like a peace offering.”
They turned left onto Kirsty’s street, her shop not too far off in the distance.
“That’s sweet of you, but not necessary.”
“I think it is.” Saffron rubbed the back of her neck.
“Seriously. An apology was more than adequate.”
“Damn. You may not like what’s coming next, then.”
Kirsty stopped in front of her shop, looking slightly unsteady on her feet. “What?”
“Look up.” Saffron pointed to the sign overhead.
“Why?”
“I see we’re back to not trusting.” With a nudge, Saffron tipped Kirsty’s head up.
“My sign has been painted.” Kirsty blinked. “You paid someone to paint my sign?”
“No. Anton and I painted it. Along with the front of your shop.”
“You painted my shop and sign? Why?” Kirsty had her eyes on Saffron.
“You said it needed a makeover.” Saffron’s shoulders fell. “You did say that, didn’t you? I’m not losing my mind.”
“Yes, but how? When?”
“While you were setting up the party. I knew you’d have your hands full. Helena told me you wanted burgundy. It is the right colour, I hope?”
“It is.” Kirsty ran a tentative finger
over the wood trim as if it was still wet and then slowly looked back up to the sign. “That’s why you were running late tonight. I’d assumed you didn’t want to see me.”
“That’s never the case, even when you’re mad at me.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“No words are necessary.”
“Stop right there. I think we’ve learned communication is indeed needed.” Kirsty edged closer.
“I love words. I say them all the time.” Saffron shuffled forward.
“You know what’s better?” Kirsty’s breath tickled Saffron’s ear.
“What?” Saffron whispered.
“This.” Kirsty pulled Saffron in for a kiss.
Saffron walked them back, pressing Kirsty against the glass of the shop. “I never thought we’d do this again.” She cupped Kirsty’s face in her hands. “I thought I’d fucked up beyond belief.”
“I believed the same—that you’d never speak to me again.” Kirsty placed a hand over Saffron’s heart. “The thought nearly killed me.”
“It’s funny. I’ve been paid so much money to say other people’s words, but when it came to that night…” Her throat thickened and it was hard to get out the rest. “I couldn’t find the ones I needed to tell you how I felt.”
“Try saying them now.” The softness in Kirsty’s eyes emboldened Saffron.
“I’m scared.” Saffron pressed her forehead to Kirsty’s. “It’s so much easier building walls then letting someone in.”
“Speaking of that.” Kirsty rolled the back of her head on the glass to the left and right. “Do you think we should take this inside? Someone might snap a photo of us?”
“Can I send it to Echo with fuck off written in your lipstick on it?”
“How did I miss this anger?” Kirsty’s smile had bite.
“I’m used to shutting off around others.” Saffron ran a hand in front of her face, like a curtain falling, her expression turning perfectly bland.
“Can you not do that? It’s disturbing.”
Saffron moved closer to Kirsty as if compelled. “I don’t think I can resist you anymore. You have no idea how much energy it’s taken all this time. To fight this feeling. To stop myself from getting close to you in every way.”
“Stop fighting it,” Kirsty pleaded.
“You have to as well.”
Kirsty inhaled a deep breath, her chest hitching.