Page 78 of One Golden Summer
Like it meant nothing.
Tears welled up inside. Kirsty shook herself. She had to get back to her flat before she fell apart. She wasn’t doing it in an alleyway. Not when everyone in town knew who she was. Somehow, though, even with the shop mere minutes away, it seemed to take forever.
When she finally passed Wine Time’s window, Helena was grabbing a bottle from the display. Her face broke into a smile when she saw her business partner.
Before Kirsty could stop her, Helena had yanked open the shop door and was beside her. “Can you believe it? We’ve sold out of that new Chilean Cabernet you ordered. Going like gangbusters. So much so, I had to steal one from the display for an order someone just called in.” She paused. “Why do you look like you’ve swallowed a bee?”
Kirsty slumped against the doorway, but said nothing.
“You haven’t swallowed a bee, have you?”
Kirsty let out a strangled yelp as she shook her head. “No, but I have swallowed a whole bunch of lies.”
Helena’s face spelled alarm. She grabbed Kirsty’s arm and dragged her inside. She scooted around the counter and snapped her laptop shut. Then she pulled out a chair at the end of the tasting table and put Kirsty on it. She put the bottle of wine down, too. “What’s happened?”
As Kirsty filled her in, Helena’s eyes widened.
“You’re sure it’s not just a set-up? Just something for the cameras?”
Kirsty shook her head. “She told me it was a meeting with her agent and Echo. Then I find out through some crappy TV channel it’s just her and Echo, looking very cosy.” She threw up her hands, swallowing down the tears that were threatening. She pulled a tissue from the box on the table and blew her nose.
“If this was you, what would you think? Saffron can have me or Echo Black.” Kirsty jumped up and paced the shop. “What have I been doing these past few weeks? Apart from deluding myself.” She shook her head, then stopped pacing. She swivelled on her right foot and marched to the counter, scrabbling in the top drawer until she pulled a piece of paper out.
Then Kirsty turned to face Helena, waving the note in the air. “Remember this?Life is not a Hollywood rom-com, you stupid fuck.How damn prophetic was I? It’s more like a slasher movie right now.” Kirsty scrunched up the note and flung it behind the counter. Then she sat again, shaking her head.
“Oh fuck! I’m doing her sister’s divorce party. Saffron said she was coming back for it. Maybe that was a lie, too.” Kirsty put her head in her hands, her insides collapsing, her voice scratchy. “I can’t go to that now. I can’t possibly face her and everybody else.” For some reason, Anna’s face flashed through her mind, full of fake pity for her.
Kirsty brushed it aside. She didn’t need her romantic failures lined up in her mind right now.
“You bloody well can.” Helena reached over and put a hand on Kirsty’s arm. “Listen to me. You’re doing that party. You live here. This is your manor. If Saffron has played you, you hold your head up high. You did nothing wrong. If she’s chosen Echo Black over you, that’s her loss. You’re worth five movie stars all stacked on top of each other.” Helena’s face was bright red as she stabbed the air above her head. “I tell you what, if she wants a fight, she can have one. Sandy Cove is on your side, not hers. If she comes in here, I’ll punch her lights out.”
Kirsty blurted out a cry-laugh at that.
Then Helena wrapped her arms around her.
Kirsty let her as her tears fell.
Chapter 26
Saffron parked her car, but didn’t get out, all ten digits white-knuckling the steering wheel. Her publicist had been calling non-stop, wanting to know what to say about the Echo Black rumours? Were they back together or not?
“It’s okay, Saff, if it’s just for show, but I need to know the truth so I can spin it the right way to maximise your image,” Andrea had said, after Saffron had shouted for the umpteenth time she never wanted to hear Echo’s name again.
No. None of this was okay. Not by a long shot.
Pearl didn’t get it.
Nor did Andrea.
Echo had been her cagey self on the socials, posting old photos of them together, with hopeful messages like:will be back together soon.
How would anyone believe Saffron had been played like an unsophisticated rube? She was known for portraying the bad-ass motorbike chick, brimming with confidence and intelligence. Saffron always smoked the bad guys. Always!
When Saffron had watched the clip zinging through the ether on every platform all over the world, she knew she was in deep shit with Kirsty. Saffron wanted to text Kirsty not to believe everything she saw or heard, but couldn’t find the words necessary to convey the message.
Ultimately, she decided it’d have to be done in person and there was no time like the present. Too many priceless hours had slipped past since the date setup. All because Saffron was terrified of losing everything that was outside of her control. She hated the swirling sensation, as if her life and happiness were being flushed away. All because of Echo Black!
Had Kirsty seen the footage or photos? She wasn’t exactly the type to watch rubbish on the telly, but someone in her circle had probably been exposed to the lie on social media at the very least. Sandy Cove protected its own, and Kirsty fell into that category, not Saffron.
