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“No, not this.” Kirsty stopped dead. “The lingerie from the show is still in the caravan.”
Caroline nodded excitedly.
“We forgot all about it. Now you have something to start with. Plus, Helena called. She spoke to the fashion editor at one of the women’s magazines and showed her the photos from the fashion show.” She grinned widely. “They want to run a spread on you and your work.”
“Holy moly!”
Kirsty stood up because it seemed the right thing to do. People liked her designs. They wanted to do a story on her that didn’t revolve around her mishaps. It blew her mind.
“I got calls from two shops wanting to know how they can order the lingerie,” Caroline said as she stood beside her. “I didn’t know what to tell them. I didn’t even know the name of the design label or what you called the tartan range.” She paused as she told Kirsty off in a look. “I felt really stupid. If I’m going to keep getting these calls then you need to give me information.”
“I don’t have any information,” Kirsty said as she threw up her hands in exasperation. “I told you, I don’t have anything at all.”
“Nonsense,” Caroline said. “You have the tartan lingerie. You have the photos from the show and the information on your website. You have a brain and a memory. Now all you need is a sketchpad, a pencil and a phone to make some calls. Your mum and the women in her group will donate materials and a sewing machine. I don’t see the problem.”
From the look on her face, she really didn’t. Kirsty beamed at her and pulled her into a tight hug.
“You are fantastic,” she told her friend.
Caroline’s face turned a deep shade of beetroot.
“It’s not me. All I did was answer the phone. You’re the one with all the talent.”
Kirsty nudged her with her shoulder before looking out over the loch. It was a start. A good start. She’d been so focused on what to do with the shop and where to live. Heck, on what to tell the bank when they opened in the new year. She hadn’t once thought about the lingerie from the show.
“You deserve it, you know?” Caroline told her. “You work so incredibly hard and you keep bouncing back after all the terrible things you go through. You really are the most courageous person I know.”
Her eyes teared up, which made Kirsty do the same.
“Courageous?” She smiled at the word.
Caroline nodded sombrely.
“Always have been,” she said. “I wish I had half your courage.”
Kirsty really couldn’t get her head around that.
“I’m so proud,” Caroline said, and Kirsty gave her another hug just for good measure.
“Now.” Caroline cleared her throat. “What about a name for your designer label? Or are you just going to call it Lingerie by Kirsty Campbell?”
Kirsty shook her head. A new start needed a new name.
“Okay.” Caroline sat back down on her plastic bag. “What about Phoenix?” She looked pretty excited. “Underwear that rises from the ashes.”
“As in underwear so hot it burns your boobs? Or lingerie that stinks of smoke?”
Kirsty looked out over the pale grey loch that blended into a pale grey sky. More snow coming.
“What about Highland Hotties?” she said in triumph.
Caroline shook her head.
“It sounds like a range of pies.”
Kirsty was stumped. She wrapped an arm around her friend.
“It’s going to be okay,” she told her.
