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“Come on, I’ll make you a cup of tea.”
They walked back across the road and up the stairs to the flat above Kirsty’s shop. As soon as she opened the door she could feel the tension ease from her. Lavender-coloured walls, pale blue sofas and soft grey cushions. The whole flat was done in a variety of muted, cold colours, from the dusky pink in the kitchen to the soft blue in the bedroom. It was soothing.
“What’s Billy up to, anyway?” Caroline said behind her.
“I’m not sure I should tell you. You’d feel obligated to do something about it.”
“Something illegal, then,” Caroline said with disappointment.
“Not really.”
“How can it be not really illegal?”
Kirsty smiled at her friend. All through their childhood, Caroline’s tendency to see the world in black and white got her into a lot of trouble. People like to be in the grey area, and they don’t want someone who disapproves hanging around to see them do it. She led Caroline into the kitchen and flicked on the kettle.
“Mum and her cronies have mobilised and are sabotaging Lake on my behalf,” she said.
Caroline’s hand flew to her mouth at the shock of it all.
“That’s just wrong,” she said.
“Probably,” Kirsty told her. “But not quite illegal.”
“Are you going to talk to her about it, stop it?”
“I was thinking I’d ignore it for a wee while. I mean, why ruin her fun? She probably sees herself as the leader of the resistance or something.”
“But it’s not right.”
“Try not to think about it,” Kirsty told her.
That one sentence was what got Caroline through school without someone beating on her. It took a long time to convince her that the world wasn’t going to live her way, no matter how much she approved, or disapproved, of it.
“Fine. It’s your war. I’ll mind my own business.” Kirsty couldn’t help but hear a very loud “for now” at the end of that statement. It made her smile.
“I was looking for you,” Caroline said as she sat perched on the edge of one of the kitchen stools. “Since the story was in the paper I’ve been hearing all sorts of things about Lake Benson, and I’m worried. What’s going on with this man? Do I need to do something?”
“Like what?” Kirsty smiled as she reached for the mugs. “Ban him from the library?”
Caroline pursed her lips.
“I can get a petition together and run him out of town. Or I can look into his permits to make sure that everything he’s doing is above board. I’ve never considered it before now, but I’m pretty sure that if I dig deep enough I’ll find some historical significance in that horrific building of Betty’s to stop him from renovating.”
Kirsty gave her friend a quick hug as she waited for the kettle to boil.
“Thanks, Caroline,” she said. “I keep forgetting that in the land of paperwork you are queen.”
Caroline frowned, obviously worried.
“I want to help. I don’t like the things I’m hearing. There was a lot of gossip in the library this morning, I had to say ‘shush’ about a million times.”
“Gossip about what?”
Kirsty reached for the biscuit tin, which she kept on the top shelf to dissuade herself from opening it. It wasn’t working. She needed a higher shelf. Caroline’s neck was red now, too.
“Spit it out,” Kirsty told her as she handed over the Tunnock’s Tea Cakes.
“Well...” Caroline hesitated enough to let Kirsty know that she was picking and choosing her words carefully. “There’s a lot of talk about him wanting to be the only lingerie shop in town.”
