Chapter 28
28
People were multifaceted, Holly got that. She had several sides to her. The people at the sweet shop only ever got to see the happy, smiling Holly, but there was also the grumpy version of her that sat at her computer for hours doing her tax refunds, the Holly who volunteered reading with the children at Hope’s school, and the one who more than once considered whether she should sell the sweet shop and train to become a primary school teacher. There was the Holly who liked nothing more than quiet evenings by herself, but also the one who liked joking and whiling away the hours, drinking wine with her friends. All people were multifaceted; she understood that. But with Sienna, it was like the woman had so many strands and viewpoints, it was impossible to keep track of them all. Let alone get an idea of who she actually was as a person.
‘I know these charity events aren’t about how you look,’ she said. They were over an hour into the train journey, and they had already moved on from the conversation about wedding clothes to clothes in general. ‘But it matters. It really does. It’s hard to make someone donate large quantities of hard-earned money to your cause if you’re dressed in a manner that stops them from speaking to you in the first place. You need to attract their attention. Then, once you’ve got them in, once they think they know the type of person you are, that’s when you turn things around and then start with the heavy-hitting stuff. But I wouldn’t be able to get to that point if they didn’t take notice of me first. Designer gear helps with that. And as an added bonus, it means I get to spend lots of money on gorgeous clothes and accessories. If people assume I’m shallow because of that, then that’s up to them.’
It was a fair enough point, Holly considered, although she couldn’t deny that was what she’d done: met Sienna and judged her as the type of person she wouldn’t want to be friends with. So what did that say about Giles? The fact he proposed to her probably meant he had stuck around long enough to find out more. And yet the thing with the ring still left a bad taste at the back of her mouth, not to mention her comment about not wanting children, even though she knew Giles did. Still, Holly had a full weekend to get through. If she didn’t keep an open mind about Sienna, it was going to be an incredibly long forty-eight hours. At some point, she would definitely need to get Faye’s opinion on the situation.
‘I’ve already arranged a taxi to pick us up from the station,’ Sienna said as their stop approached. ‘It’s just a fourteen-minute drive, traffic dependent, and I don’t want to spoil anything, but this place is so special. You’re going to love it. I’m absolutely positive you’re going to love it.’
‘Buffet and pool,’ Faye repeated. ‘Oh, and a comfy bed. Those are my three requirements.’
‘Well, you’ll definitely get two out of three of those,’ Sienna replied.
Two out of three, Holly thought. It felt like a peculiar thing to say, and she was about to ask Sienna what she meant when the train tannoy announced their station.
‘Make sure you’ve got everything, girls,’ Sienna said. ‘If you forget your swimsuit, then you’ll be stuck. I doubt you’ll be able to fit into one of mine. At the minute anyway. Fingers crossed this weekend will help.’