Page 54 of One Golden Summer
Ginger glanced up at Kirsty. “I noticed you haven’t answered my initial question about you and Saffron. Things seemed weird the other day in the shop. Has something happened?”
Kirsty went to speak, then stopped. Should she tell Ginger? If they truly were friends, she would. Her mind raced as she tried to work out what was the right thing to do.
“We kissed.” Her mouth made the decision before her mind could catch up.
Ginger’s mouth formed an “O.” “And?” She sat forward, her forehead creased with concentration.
“And nothing. It was all going great, but then she got a text from Echo. Saying she missed her. And I saw it. So I left.”
Ginger threw her head back and let out a sigh. “Fucking Echo.”
“Exactly, that’s my concern.” Kirsty’s mind was still filled with images of Saffron caked in leather. But she also knew what Echo looked like in leather, thanks to the movie.
“You know what happened?”
Kirsty shook her head. “No. I know Saffron’s going to disappear. I know I don’t want to get in the middle of something that’s not done.”
“It’s done. I promise you.”
“If you’d seen this text message, you wouldn’t have said so. She told Saffron she missed her in her bed.”
Ginger’s face clouded over. “She probably does. But that’s her issue, not Saff’s. She shouldn’t have been such an idiot and posted private photos of them on her social media, should she?”
Kirsty froze. Her stomach dropped. “She did that?” How awful for Saffron.
“You didn’t see them? Hear about them?”
Kirsty shook her head. “I’m not really a social media person. I’m barely on top of it for the shop.”
“You must be the only person alive who didn’t see the shots. Echo swore it was a friend who posted them. But it was on her account, and it was conveniently timed when the movie came out. She did it for her career, I have no doubt about that. Sure, she deleted them afterwards, but the damage was done. For someone like Saffron, who has always had trust issues, it was the last thing she needed.”
Kirsty sat back. “Wow. I didn’t know.” She ran through all the conversations she’d had with Saffron so far. She’d never wanted to talk about Echo. Now Kirsty knew why. “But why didn’t she just explain things to me? Tell me what happened?”
Ginger sighed. “My sister doesn’t open up easily. Even to me. She’s also probably still processing it all, as it was only a few months ago. You can ask her for the full details, but she won’t want to tell you. She doesn’t want to offend anyone. But she needs to remember you can’t please everyone all the time. It’s just not possible. And if you try to, you end up pleasing nobody, least of all yourself. Saffron’s doing it with her career and her love life at the moment. Quite some feat.” She leaned in to Kirsty. “Promise me one thing, though. Don’t give up on her. My sister is a wonderful, loyal person. But she’s also her own worst enemy.”
Kirsty pushed the cake away, suddenly not so hungry anymore. “I’m not going anywhere. This is my home. But the thing is, it’s not Saffron’s home, is it? Because of that, I’m not sure I’m the person who’s going to make Saffron happy, no matter how much you might want me to be.”
Ginger shook her head. “I know Saffron wants a change. She’s had the nextGirl Racerscript sitting in her house for ages, and she hasn’t read it. Maybe now would be a good time for her to take some time out. She’s never done that. Slowed down. Cleared her head.”
“Shouldn’t you be telling her this?”
“I did, the other night. Maybe I need to ring Echo and tell her the same. She’s not right for Saffron.”
“And I am?” Kirsty’s body told her she was, but her mind was shaking its head.
Ginger looked her directly in the eye. “You might not see it now, but I really think you could be.”
Chapter 18
At half past nine on Wednesday morning, the sun still hung relatively low in the east, but the pleasant temperature, the cawing of seagulls, and other sounds of summer propelled Saffron to leave her house for her daily walk much earlier than normal.
As she meandered past the beach huts, her mind wandered to Kirsty. What did she do on a beautiful summer morning? Was she in the wine shop already? Seemed early for wine. Well, not for Saffron’s parents, who enjoyed what they termed, breakfast wine. Not that Saffron thought Kirsty a boozer, but Saffron imagined owning a business more than likely involved loads of tedious and time-consuming tasks, like inventory and spreadsheets.
A shiver put an extra pep into Saffron’s step, the harbour coming into view. She loved exploring the stalls of local artists and shop owners, an awe deep within for the creators willingly standing to the side while someone critiqued their work in real time. There was no way Saffron could ever put herself through that. She always showed up for the red-carpet portion of opening night, but slipped out when the movie started.
Given it was still early in the day, the crowd consisted mostly of locals and the owners setting up for the day. Saffron purchased a coffee, buying an insulated stainless steel to-go cup with a blue old-fashioned rowing boat painted on it. Perhaps buying a piece of kitsch was silly, but she couldn’t resist having yet another root to the seaside town.
Sipping the piping hot coffee, which combatted the occasional chilly breeze coming off the water, Saffron stepped into a stall with crafty home items. The type of mementos tourists would purchase for their avant-garde family and friends.
