Chapter Thirty-Six
Kivi
“I say, what on Earth happened with you last night?”
Kivi had been floating all morning, but the enquiry from Mr. Ridgley brought her back to reality with a bump.
“What do you mean, Mr. Ridgley?” Her heart began to pound. Surely he hadn’t seen – had she left the curtains open? – had he seen her and Saskia-
“I looked out in the night, and Toto was out in the garden,” the old man said. “Having the time of his life, mind you, but it struck me as an odd time for him to be out. I wondered if you’d gone out in a hurry and forgotten about him, or something like that.”
His blatant nosiness raised Kivi’s hackles, but this was part and parcel of owning a guest house.
If you opened up your house to people, they very often expected to get to know you in return.
Kivi was careful to maintain a professional distance between herself and her guests – well, most of them – but sometimes, they still attempted to worm their way into her personal life. Like right now.
“Oh,” she laughed, praying her cheeks weren’t turning red. “I accidentally fell asleep in front of the telly. Didn’t wake up until gone twelve.”
Which was true. She had been asleep. He didn’t need to know about the carnal activities that had gone on before the sleeping.
“Oh.” Mr Ridgley looked almost disappointed that there was such a simple explanation. “I looked out again at about twelve-thirty, and I couldn’t see him.”
“Yes, that was around the time I let him in.” It had also been around the time that she and Saskia had had sex in the kitchen, but he didn’t need to know about that either. Stop thinking about it. Be professional!
“Morning,” Saskia said from behind her, just as she turned away.
Kivi’s heart rate, which had just started to slow, skyrocketed again.
Saskia was wearing an emerald green peplum blouse that set off her hair perfectly, her make-up was immaculate, and her entire being seemed to…
well, glow. Kivi realised she was staring at Saskia like Toto stared at his food bowl while she was filling it, and forced herself to snap back into life.
“Good morning,” she replied, the very picture of professionalism. “Did you sleep well?”
“Very well, thank you,” Saskia replied, all very innocent aside from the twitching of her mouth at one corner. “And you?” She must have realised that this would appear a strange question to ask a near-stranger, because her mouth thinned. However, Kivi decided to style it out.
“Yes, very well also. I was just telling Mr Ridgley that I accidentally left Toto out until the small hours. Fell asleep on the sofa watching a movie – next thing I knew, it was twelve-thirty and the poor mite was still outside!”
“It was a warm night,” Saskia said. “I shouldn’t think the poor mite minded.” She held eye contact with Kivi, as if daring her to slip up.
“I shouldn’t think so,” agreed Mr Ridgley, who seemed oblivious to the conversation’s undercurrents as he buttered his slice of toast. “He was jumping about and wagging his tail like nobody’s business.”
“Probably chasing bunnies,” Kivi remarked dryly, raising an eyebrow at Saskia.
She had to hand it to her – her poise was unflappable.
The ‘bunny’ thing wasn’t entirely untrue, since her back garden was frequently visited by all sorts of wildlife all year round, but she’d really dropped it in there to make Saskia squirm.
Over the course of the night, she’d used the phrase ‘fucking like bunnies’ to describe the two of them, and it had sent Saskia into a fit of adrenaline-filled giggles.
But Saskia didn’t even flinch, and the eye contact didn’t drop – at least until another guest distracted Kivi with a request for decaf coffee.
Saskia took this opportunity to slip into her seat, and she was happily sipping tea and eating a croissant when Kivi next entered the dining room.
But, of course, she manufactured things so that she was the last person in the dining room after breakfast concluded, and wordlessly began helping Kivi clear things away.
Now that it was just the two of them, the unease began to take hold.
For once, Kivi really didn’t know what to say.
She’d woken up alone at five o’clock, Saskia presumably having crept out shortly after Round Two.
Kivi couldn’t blame her for wanting to avoid the morning-after awkwardness, or having witnesses for the ‘walk of shame’.
But they hadn’t managed to avoid the former, for it was rearing its head between them now, and the soft jazz that Kivi always played at mealtimes for ambience was doing nothing to abate it.
“Computer, off,” she commanded to make it stop, and Saskia flinched, nearly dropping the plates she was holding.
The next time their paths crossed in the kitchen, Kivi shut the door, took the mug that Saskia was holding out of her hand, then picked her right up.
Then she placed her down so that Saskia was sitting with her rear on the kitchen counter and an expression of pure shock on her face.
“Jesus,” she gasped.
“Didn’t expect me to be so strong?” Kivi smirked.
“No,” Saskia swallowed.
“Didn’t expect me to be into feng shui, didn’t expect me to be strong… what else have you been miscalculating about me? The number of orgasms I can give a woman in one night? Because I think I disproved that too.”
“Christ,” Saskia barked a laugh, covering her eyes with her hands. “Don’t remind me. I’m surprised I can still walk this morning.”
“Oh, so we are talking about it, then? We’re not going for the ‘I-have-drawn-a-veil-over-last-night’ approach?”
“Up to you,” Saskia said, still with her hands over her eyes. “I have absolutely no idea what to do in this situation.”
“You’ve never had a one-night stand, then?”
“No, I have.” Saskia looked at her reproachfully. “I’ve just never had to face them over coffee and croissants the next morning, with a random stranger talking to them about their dog at the same time.”
“Well, then you haven’t lived,” Kivi grinned, feeling a surge of confidence. She leaned forward, so that her face was inches from Saskia’s, and the woman’s knees dug into her midriff. “What do you say to a repeat performance?”
“Didn’t we establish that last night?” Saskia chuckled. “Didn’t we establish that it was more than a one-night stand?”
“Well, we were pretty high on adrenaline. If you’ve changed your mind, I’ll understand.”
“No! Not in the slightest. I just… you’re sure you’re okay with keeping it on the downlow for now? I have my career to consider as well. Being freelance… if the homophobes find out… they could easily tank my career.”
“They couldn’t, could they?” Kivi frowned, and took half a step back. “They wouldn’t be so… openly homophobic.”
“They wouldn’t,” Saskia confirmed, and Kivi was just opening her mouth to question further when she continued.
“They’d just stop choosing me. They’d go for someone else.
They’d tell me that my work wasn’t up to scratch, and so they’re looking elsewhere for next time.
My work will dry up, and where will that leave me? ”
“You could work in the bakery,” Kivi said, trying to bring a little levity to the situation.
Saskia looked so downcast suddenly that she was gripped by panic.
Would she decide that her career wasn’t worth sacrificing?
Would Saskia decide right here and now that the risk wasn’t worth taking?
“You said that John was due to retire. Job vacancy right there.”
“Oh, well, my problems are all solved then,” Saskia said dryly, but with a smile that showed she’d caught on to Kivi’s change of subject. “Can you really see me wearing a red tabard and handing people their ciabatta rolls?”
“Well, the red might not be ideal, with your hair,” Kivi said thoughtfully, touching the auburn crop and marvelling at how her hand didn’t burn. “But I have a feeling you’d be good at anything.”
“Anything, huh?” Saskia raised an eyebrow, and suddenly the conversation turned back to innuendos. Kivi found herself smirking.
“Anything. As we found out last night.”
“You ain’t seen nothing yet.”
Kivi inched closer, but just as their lips were about to meet…
“Why have you got the door shut?”
Eva’s voice was loud as she burst in. Kivi and Saskia sprang apart like two repelled magnets. This proved more successful for Kivi than Saskia, who hit her head on the wall behind her.
“Ow,” Saskia yelped, then stifled it with a hand over her mouth while she shored up her dignity. Kivi, meanwhile, stared at Eva with what she was sure was an expression of pure fury.
Eva, for her part, seemed not to have noticed, hanging up her coat and continuing to jabber on as she went. “Burning scones again, are we? Good idea to shut the door, but if you’re not confident in your ability to-”
She turned around and stopped short when she saw Saskia sitting on the counter, and Kivi’s expression. Her gaze went from Saskia to Kivi and back again, and Kivi watched as the cogs turned in her head.
“Oh my God!” She leapt for the door, slamming it shut before turning back to them. “You two! You two are-”
“Yes, we are,” Kivi snapped. “Tell the world, Evs.”
“Sorry,” Eva said, putting her own hand over her mouth in an obvious attempt to lower her volume. “I’m just so excited! This is the closest you’ve come to love since we moved here!”
“Love is a bold word to use,” Saskia said, at the same time as Kivi said, “Moving a bit fast, aren’t you?”
“Sorry, sorry,” Eva waved her hands at them. “But – oh my God, I’m just so excited!”
“Well, keep a lid on it,” Kivi said. “We’re excited too, but we’re keeping it on the downlow.”
“And taking it slow,” Saskia said, her face just about back to its normal colour.
“And not asking for anyone’s opinions.” Kivi gave her sister a look. Don’t scare her off.
“May I offer just one? One little… um, suggestion?” Eva said in a small voice. It was so unlike her usual confident tone that it made Kivi pause, and exchange a glance with Saskia.
“Fine.” The word left her on the tail of a sigh.
Eva leaned in, beckoning the two of them close, as if she were gearing herself up to reveal a huge secret.
“Don’t have sex on the kitchen counters.”
After a beat, in which she and Saskia just stared at her sister as if she’d imparted the secrets to the universe, Eva cracked a smile.
Saskia placed her hands over her face again, but her shoulders began to shake.
One corner of Kivi’s mouth lifted, then the other, and soon she was laughing along with the other two. Her sister and her… lover.
Her lover.
After all these years, what a mind-blowing statement.