Page 87 of One Golden Summer

Ginger nodded her head enthusiastically. “Still good. Keep going.”

“I’ve thought about buying one of the beach huts. Spend the day sketching or painting.”

“Excellent. Creating art has always soothed your soul.”

Saffron leaned back in her seat, taking a sip of the wine. “What should I name my dog?”

“Wait.” Ginger bolted upright. “Is that the end of your plans?”

“What else is there?”

“Kirsty.” She made aduhface.

“She doesn’t trust me.” Saffron pulled her owndon’t be daftface.

“It has to be earned.”

“What’s the point, now?”

“Don’t you dare do this to me!” Ginger waggled a finger threateningly at Saffron.

“Do what?”

“Give up on happiness because it scares you. I’m having my divorce party tomorrow—”

“Exactly!”

“No. Don’t try that shit with me. I married the wrong person. It took me this long to figure that out, but it doesn’t mean there isn’t the right person for me. Or for you.”

“I’m not sure I believe that.” Saffron hunched her shoulders, sinking her head between them.

“Is that right? Then why are you wallowing in self-pity? If you didn’t believe in love, you wouldn’t be hurting this much.”

“Oh please—”

“You and Kirsty make sense. You’re an old soul. She’s young at heart. When I see you two together, it’s clear as day that you guys belong together. Don’t give up on happiness because it got hard. I have news for you. The most worthwhile things in life take a lot of work. Every single day. The way I see it, you need to convince Kirsty how much you love her. Or you’ll never forgive yourself or be at peace.”

Chapter 30

“This pinata is bloody heavy.” Helena’s gaze was on Hugh, as he lugged the ring-shaped papier mâché pinata from one side of the venue to the other.

“It needs to be. It’s a divorce party. There’s going to be a whole lot of anger to work through.” Kirsty checked her phone, then put it in her back pocket. She’d had no urgent messages in the past hour, which was a miracle.

“Everything okay?” Helena’s cheeks were flushed after wheeling in some of the party wine.

“Absolutely.” Kirsty raised a clenched fist. “Fired up and raring to go.”

Helena set down the trolley and put an arm around Kirsty’s shoulder. “You should be very proud of yourself. Doing a divorce party in these circumstances is beyond brilliant.”

Kirsty snorted. “Understatement of the year.”

“Exactly. But you haven’t let it derail you. You’ve been professional to the last.” Helena swept her hand around the venue. “This place looks amazing, and that’s all down to you.”

Kirsty had to admit, the venue looked stunning. The bare bones were great, being that the building was on a jetty with the open sea as its outlook, picture windows framing the vista all the way around. However, Kirsty had strung the place with fairy lights, and the small tables set up to make the most of the view were festooned with seasonal cosmos flowers. The tables also had laminated photos of Ginger with friends and family, showing she didn’t need a partner to be happy. It was a sentiment Kirsty could get behind.

“It looks okay, doesn’t it?”

“It looks stunning! I particularly like the bitchy cupcakes.” They wandered over to the table that held them. “Whoever came up with the slogans stuck in the top was genius. Was that you?”