Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Lily suspected the line about looking for her sunglasses wouldn’t cut it today. With Saffron glaring at her from the end of the hall, she stayed completely still, considering her move.
“Caught you,” Saffron whispered with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
“This isn’t what it looks like,” Lily replied frantically.
“Don’t worry.” Her eyes softened. “Your secret is safe with me. I promise I won’t tell anyone.”
Lily frowned, dazed.
“He’s old for you though, isn’t he?” Saffron remarked, her eyes shifting to Roland’s door.
Blinking rapidly, Lily walked along the hall. “Excuse me?”
“I mean, you’re both adults, so I say do what you want – I just wouldn’t have guessed it.”
“No!” Lily said, not stopping to think about the fact that she was about to blow her own cover. “That’s really not what was going on.”
“I promise I can be discreet,” Saffron said. “Us girls have to stick together. If anyone asks, I’ll say you’re here visiting me. Okay?”
“Umm… that would actually be great. Thank you.”
A door along the hall opened, and Martha walked out of her room. “Hello again,” she said shyly.
“Lily’s here to visit me,” Saffron announced. “We got on so well the other day. Some people just have an instant connection, don’t they? That’s what happened with us. I bet we’ll be friends for life. Don’t you think, Lily?”
Probably not. Lily nodded weakly.
“Would you like a cuppa?” Martha asked.
“I don’t want to put you to any trouble…”
“I’d like it if you stayed for a drink,” Martha replied. “I feel terrible about yesterday, and I hope you’ll let me apologise.”
With no idea what she was talking about, Lily waited, hoping she’d explain herself.
“It was nothing to do with you. I’m not even convinced I fully registered you were there. The phone call was intense, and I was focused on that. I realised afterwards how rude I’d been.”
“It’s fine,” Lily said. “I didn’t think much about it. I interrupted you, so it was probably my fault.”
“That’s kind of you to say.”
“Was it your husband on the phone?” Saffron asked. “Is everything okay? I’ll bet he’s missing you.”
“I think he is.” Martha moved to stare out of the window, apparently forgetting about making drinks. “I’ll be back home in a few days, and it’ll only be ten days altogether. You’d think he’d manage on his own for ten days, but he’s clingy.”
“That would drive me crazy,” Saffron said. “I’m such a free spirit – I could never put up with someone making demands of me. I bet you’re the same, Lily. Are you strictly a ‘no strings’ kind of person too?”
“I’m not sure I’d say that,” Lily mumbled, her stomach turning at the conclusion Saffron had reached about her and Roland. “How long have you been married?” she asked Martha.
“Far too long,” she muttered, then sighed heavily. “Twenty-six years.”
“Aren’t you missing him at all?” Saffron asked.
“You’ll think I’m awful, but no. I’m having a wonderful time, and it’s only marred by his nightly phone calls.”
“How sad,” Saffron mused. “Have you ever thought of leaving him?”
“I think about it all the time, but I can’t imagine actually doing it.” She looked lost in thought for a moment. “Although while I’ve been here, I have wondered if maybe it’s possible…”
“Anything is possible,” Saffron said eagerly. “I can help you make a plan for a new life if you’d like. I’m great at that kind of thing. It’d give me a thrill to help you come up with ideas for your new life.”
Martha seemed to ponder the idea. “I don’t know. It feels wrong even considering it.” She shook her head and left the room.
Lily stared after her, wondering what it was about her time at the retreat that made her feel as though leaving her husband was a possibility. Stealing a backpack full of cash, perhaps? That would probably make someone feel they had more options in life.
“I have to get back to work,” Lily told Saffron.
“Thank you for coming to visit me,” Saffron said with a cheeky wink.
Out of ideas for where to look next, Lily wandered slowly outside. Aside from Gideon’s private rooms, she’d searched everywhere she could think of. Though maybe the thief had been more creative about where they stashed their goods.
“Can’t keep away, can you?” Gideon’s voice drew her attention to the studio, where he was standing in the doorway.
“I struck up a friendship with Saffron,” she replied. “Just called in to say hello.”
“She’s cheerful. I’ll give her that. Enthusiastic is the only good thing I can say about her artistic abilities, but I should be used to that by now.
” He puffed out a breath. “When I opened this place as a retreat, I na?vely thought I’d be mingling with like-minded souls, and others with artistic talent such as my own.
Sadly, all I get are washed up housewives trying to fill a gap in their lives, or ragtag wannabes who beg to come despite not being able to pay for accommodation.
” His gaze went pointedly to Silas’s tent.
“Not an ounce of artistic talent among the lot of them. I try not to let it get me down, but I can’t say that’s easy. ”
“It must be enjoyable too,” Lily ventured. “Getting to meet all kinds of people. Plus, you get to do what you love for a living. I think that’s what most people dream of.”
“I suppose I shouldn’t grumble.” Bending, he picked something from the floor.
Wrapped in his fist, Lily almost missed that it was an identical pencil to the one she’d found at her place.
“Marketing materials?” she asked, tipping her head at it.
“Yes. The guests expect some sort of goodie bag. So they told me in the reviews. That’s what other places do. Or so they say.” He rolled the pencil between his thumb and forefinger. “So now I give out a little welcome pack.”
“They’re just for guests, then?”
“Oh, you’re welcome to as many as you like.
” Misunderstanding the question, he moved inside and reappeared with a handful of them.
“Bane of my existence, these things. As though I don’t have enough junk to contend with, I went and added an extra zero to the order by mistake.
Now they seem to be everywhere I look. I give them away to everyone I meet, but the stash doesn’t seem to decrease. ”
Lily’s heart sank. All the time she’d spent assuming the thief was someone from the retreat and it could have been anyone.
“I’ll just take a couple,” she said, handing the rest of the pencils back. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He told her to have a good day, and she left feeling utterly disheartened. Maybe she’d never see her backpack again.
The only good thing was that the police didn’t seem to be having any more luck than her. So long as they didn’t find her stuff, she was okay.