Chapter Forty-Seven
Saskia
Cass and Heather registered her presence before it seemed to connect in Kivi’s brain.
“Saskia, you made it!” Cass smiled, while Heather rushed towards her for a hug.
But although her arms wrapped around the woman on autopilot, and her mouth returned Cass’s greeting, her eyes and the rest of her brain were trained on Kivi.
Judging by the exhaustion on her face, and the rabbit-in-headlights look in her eyes, her surprise appearance wasn’t quite the day-maker she had intended it to be.
“Whoa there,” Heather said, and Saskia ran forward to catch Kivi as she swayed.
Her knees buckled, so Saskia lowered her gently to the floor.
There, Kivi stared up at her as if unsure quite what she was seeing.
“Can you get her some water?” she asked Heather, without taking her eyes off her girlfriend.
With the water in Kivi’s hand and Saskia kneeling down to crouch by her side, it struck her that this was a perfect reflection of that time she’d collapsed on the stairs, all those months ago.
There, Kivi had come to her rescue, scooped her up and inadvertently set off the chain of events that had made her acknowledge her eating disorder.
An eating disorder that was, hopefully, all but behind her now.
Even the specialist she’d sought out said that it was ‘well-managed’.
She couldn’t wait to tell Kivi that bit of news.
She’d have to wait a bit longer, though, because Kivi was starting to come out of her torpor. It had only been a couple of minutes, but Saskia knew from her own collapses that time seemed to bend when you were partly conscious, so she took her hands and whispered reassuringly.
“Hey. You’re okay. You’re safe. You just had a little dizzy spell, so we brought you down here. You’ll feel better in a minute.”
“Saskia,” Kivi breathed, and moved her leg restlessly. “You’re on my foot.”
“Sorry,” Saskia said, and shifted.
“What’s your perfume?”
“My- my perfume?” Saskia’s brow furrowed. What did that have to do with anything? But Kivi was looking at her expectantly, so what else could she do but oblige? “Rêve D'Infini. Lalique.”
“I’ve missed it,” Kivi said, and finally there was a flicker of her usual self in her eyes. Saskia decided to run with it.
“And me? Have you missed me?”
Right then, Cass and Heather returned. Saskia hadn’t even noticed they’d gone.
“Sorry about that,” Heather said. “John wanted to get in here for his boxes, so we had to stall him. You all right, Kivi? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” The two women surrounded her, looking down with concerned expressions that Saskia was sure was mirrored on her own face.
“Not a ghost,” Kivi said, sounding like she was coming back a bit more. She took another sip of water. “Just someone I’ve missed very, very much.” Now she looked at Saskia, and gave her a crooked smile. “Help me off this floor so I can kiss you.”
Cass and Heather chuckled, and stepped back so that Saskia could loop her fingers through Kivi’s and haul her up.
She was wary of Kivi falling again, so she supported her, propping her against the countertop so that their mouths could crash together in a kiss so desperate, so hungry, it was as if it was their first time all over again.
When they finally broke away, the two brides were gone again, and all the noise and chatter from the guests in the dining room had ceased. It was just her and Kivi.
“We have a lot to catch up on,” Saskia said, brushing the tip of her nose against Kivi’s.
“We do,” Kivi murmured. Then – Saskia could see it in her eyes – a horrible thought must have struck her. “Wait – how long do we have? When do you have to leave?”
“Never,” Saskia said immediately.
“Wha-? Never?”
“My stuff’s in the car,” Saskia said sheepishly.
This was where the situation could go either way.
“I had a mass clear-out so that it would fit. Didn’t think I’d be done so quickly, but…
I came up to surprise you. I intended to arrive in time for the wedding, but got stuck in traffic.
Crept into the annex while you were busy in here.
I know it’s not brilliant timing, but… I couldn’t stand to wait a single day longer. ”
“You’re – you’re here to stay?” Kivi’s eyes bugged out.
“Yep,” Saskia said, and then her mouth ran away from her.
“I’m sorry it’s such bad timing. I was just trying to surprise you.
I know things haven’t been great between us and that’s my fault – and if you don’t want me to move in with you then that’s absolutely fine – I’ll find somewhere else if it comes to it – I just-”
Kivi silenced her by placing a firm kiss on her lips.
“Shut up,” she said firmly but not unkindly.
“Of course I want you to move in with me. I was just shocked, that’s all.
And it’s been a long few days, and I’m exhausted, and – I’m never doing another wedding again.
” She laughed. “Way too much work on top of running the guest house, even with your assistance. I couldn’t have done it without you, you know. ”
“I couldn’t have done many things without you,” Saskia confessed.
She gathered Kivi’s hands together, and pressed them to her own chest. “I went to the doctor. A private eating disorder specialist, since I thought I’d best make good use of the money British Living gave me for my articles.
They told me I have orthorexia and Purging Disorder.
Gave me some ways to manage it if it rears its head again, and I’m having fortnightly sessions with a therapist to pick apart the cognition behind it.
But we agreed – right now, I have it under control. It’s well-managed. Thanks to you.”
“No.” Kivi squeezed Saskia’s hands. “That was you. I just supported you – you did the real work.”
“Okay,” Saskia acquiesced, “but you gave me the strength to face it for what it was. An eating disorder, as opposed to just one of my little foibles. I now feel like I control it, rather than it controlling me. Do you see what I mean?”
“I do. And it’s music to my ears to hear you say that.” Kivi’s eyes filled with tears. “My God, I’m so glad.” She dropped Saskia’s hands to wipe her own eyes.
“With that in mind…” Saskia swallowed, before continuing. “Would you come out to dinner with me? Tonight? I’ve booked a table at some upmarket Italian place near Truro. Petra recommended it.”
“Pugliesi’s?” Kivi’s face lit up. “I’ve never been there, but I’ve heard very good things. What time’s the table booked for?”
“Six-thirty.” Saskia looked up at the clock. “Which gives us three hours to clean up, get our glad rags on and get there.”
“I don’t think that’ll take three hours,” Kivi said, then smiled.
She shuffled forward, inch by inch, until she was pressed obnoxiously close to Saskia’s side.
Then she planted a kiss on the side of her neck, and whispered in her ear, “How on Earth are we going to pass the rest of that time? Hmm? Any ideas?”
“I might be able to think of something,” Saskia managed, all the blood in her body rushing south.
“I thought you might,” Kivi agreed, and gave her one more kiss on the neck before pulling away. “Let’s get moving.”
. . .
They barely made it to the restaurant in time.
Just like when they had parted, neither of them had wanted to leave the bed, clinging to each other like limpets.
It was only the rumbling of Kivi’s stomach – and her excitement at trying the fancy restaurant – that had gotten them up.
And even then, they’d nearly tripped at the first hurdle.
Kivi had emerged from the bathroom in a dress that, by her own admission, she’d unearthed from the back of her wardrobe.
That didn’t matter. The deep purple sheath dress fitted her in all the right places, accented by a gold chain around her waist, and she had teamed it with a pair of black ankle boots that shouldn’t have worked, but somehow did.
Saskia had watched her, captivated by the way the fading light enriched the amethyst-coloured fabric and glinted off her jewellery, until she realised that Kivi was staring at her too.
She had strayed from both her classic emerald green and her classic peplum, and gone for the ‘little black dress’ she had acquired with Kivi in mind.
Not that there was anything particularly little about it.
The neckline – well, to say ‘plunging’ would be an understatement.
It was cut almost too low to be decent, particularly on Saskia’s small chest, the two sides meeting in a V-shape just above her navel.
From the bottom, a slit ran from her ankle all the way up her right leg, just stopping at the crucial place.
Kivi’s eyes followed it all the way down to her stiletto-clad foot, and then back up to her face.
Saskia cocked an eyebrow, and was rewarded by Kivi’s breath audibly hitching.
“Shall we?” Saskia extended her hand, sensing that Kivi was struck dumb and thus she needed to make the move.
“Mm-hmm,” Kivi managed, and stepped forward to take it. At the warmth of her touch, even though they’d been doing nothing but touching for the last hour and a half, Saskia felt a tingle down her spine. This woman was hers. She couldn’t believe that she was the only person who got to do this now.