“Even so, I’m too old for dyke drama. I don’t want to be caught in the middle of a break-up that’s not quite done.”
“But you like her. Maybe you could bend your rules just this once? ItisSaffron Oliver.”
Kirsty frowned. “If this is because you want me to date her for the shop—”
“It’s not! I want you to be happy.” Helena frowned, pink colouring her cheeks. “You deserve it. Plus, Saffron seems genuine.”
Kirsty gave her a resigned nod. “Genuinely unavailable and soon going back to her superstar lifestyle.” She threw up her hands and paced to the end of the tasting table. “She’s not going to settle here, is she? In sleepy old Sandy Cove?” Acid disappointment fizzed inside her. “It feels like she’s just been stringing me along. An amusement while she’s here, before she goes back to her real life with her superstar girlfriend. Like I’ve been her plaything.”
“What about after? Did she text or call?”
“Nope. Nothing at all.” Kirsty placed both palms on the table and dropped her head. “It’s just, I’d started to imagine she might stick around. How it might work. But now…”
Helena walked over and rubbed her back.
Kirsty straightened up, lightheaded for a few seconds until she acclimatised. “Next time I find myself falling for a movie star, slap me, okay? I am not starring in a rom-com. This is real life. In fact, write it down on a piece of paper and hold it up in front of my goddamn face if this ever happens again.” Kirsty strode to the counter and wrote on the back of one of the consignment notes Helena had just unpacked:Life is not a Hollywood rom-com, you stupid fuck. She handed it to her friend.
Helena held the note between her thumb and index finger, like Kirsty had just weed on it. “But you ate an oyster for her. You haven’t done that since school. Not even for Anna.”
“More fool me, eh?”
The shop door opening interrupted their chat. When Kirsty looked up, the last person she expected through the door was Saffron, but she was standing right in front of her with Ginger just behind.
Saffron gave her a pained half-smile and hung back, letting Ginger take the lead.
For her part, Ginger gave her sister a brief glance, before smiling at Kirsty. Did she know what had happened? Kirsty could only assume she did. Unless Saffron was so contained she’d told nobody. Kirsty had no idea. She didn’t really know Saffron at all.
“Hey, Ginger. I wasn’t expecting to see you today.” Kirsty’s tone was brittle. Not to be messed with.
Ginger gave her a look. “It’s the tasting, remember? You arranged for us to go to the Lobster Grill and taste the food they’re preparing especially for the party?”
Kirsty closed her eyes. Of course. The Lobster Grill didn’t open on a Monday, so this was the only day they could do. Why couldn’t today have been a bog-standard Monday where she could stay in the shop and hide?
“I brought Saffron along as her palate has tasted the finest foods in the world, so I figured she might be useful. Also, I thought she might find it impossible to turn down a free lunch as she always says there’s no such thing. But I was surprised at the amount of persuasion it took.”
Kirsty glanced at Saffron. She wasn’t surprised at all.
Kirsty turned to Helena. “It’s just for a couple of hours this lunchtime. I didn’t think it would be a problem. Sorry I forgot to tell you.”
Helena shook her head. “It’s not like we’re going to be overrun with wine lovers on a Monday lunchtime, is it?”
She was being the perfect business partner again. Just when Kirsty wanted Helena to tell her she couldn’t go. But she had to.
Ginger’s phone ringing pierced the air, making everyone jump. Ginger took the call into the shop corner.
Which left Saffron standing in front of Kirsty and Helena, who soon departed for the loo.
Saffron moved her mouth one way, then the other. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, then walked over to the wine shelves to her right, reading one of Kirsty’s handwritten notes. “Sunshine Fields Chardonnay is the perfect accompaniment to a summertime meal. Crisp, clean, uncomplicated.” She glanced over at Kirsty. “Would you recommend it?”
“I favour crisp, clean, and uncomplicated in my life. Sadly, it’s hard to come by. Perhaps you should buy a case so you know what it tastes like.” Okay, that wasn’t the answer she normally gave to customers. But Saffron Oliver wasn’t just any old customer, was she?
She was someone who Kirsty had developed feelings for far too prematurely.
Now, she had buyer’s remorse.
Ginger came back just in the nick of time. “So sorry. That was a client I’ve just taken on, and their website needs urgent attention.” She sighed as she looked from Kirsty to Saffron. “I know this isn’t the best timing and that you really do need me there, but could you do the tasting for me?”
Irritation slid down Kirsty, landing squarely in her stomach. She’d thought Ginger was her friend. However, she was her party planner, and this was part of her job. Kirsty was going to have to suck it up, wasn’t she?
