Betty grinned widely.
“Anything else you want me to tell him?” she said.
“Yep,” Kirsty said as she stamped warmth back into her toes. “Tell him that cowards run and hide. Tell him that there’s unfinished business here and I expect him to finish it.”
“I’ll do that, lass,” Betty said.
“And you can also tell him that I’m seriously cheesed off with him,” she added for good measure.
“You know,” Betty said thoughtfully, “when you get rid of all the outward stuff, you and me are a lot alike.”
That almost made Kirsty start laughing again.
“I don’t see it myself,” she said.
“Well,” Betty said mischievously. “We both like a good fight. We both don’t have a clue when we’re beaten. And we’re both pretty stubborn.”
Kirsty smiled with surprise.
“I guess you could say that,” Kirsty said. She thought about it for a minute. “But I’m not evil,” she said as an afterthought.
“There is that,” Betty agreed before she tottered back over the road to Lake’s shop.
“I thought I’d find you here,” Caroline said.
Even though it was New Year’s Eve and technically a day off work, Caroline was still dressed for her job. She marched primly over to where Kirsty was sitting beside the loch. Kirsty was huddled under a blanket while sipping tea from a flask she’d brought with her. She offered it to Caroline, who shook her head.
“I couldn’t stand the noise any more,” she told her friend. “It’s like living in a cage of budgies. I never realised how much those women talk until I was forced to live my mother’s life.”
Caroline produced a plastic bag from her handbag and placed it on the log next to Kirsty before she sat down. Then Kirsty had to wait while Caroline adjusted her grey woollen coat, which she wore over her grey woollen suit. It occurred to Kirsty that her friend was practising for being a spinster. A classic one from the 1950s. Next there would be cats and crocheted tea cosies. Actually, now that she thought about it, she couldn’t see anything at all wrong with that life. Maybe she’d join Caroline and they could embrace it together. Because it didn’t look like her love life was going anywhere. There was still no sign of Lake.
“I have news,” Caroline said.
She beamed at Kirsty.
“You secretly took out insurance on my shop and I can rebuild?”
“No.” Her face fell.
Kirsty squeezed her hand, regretting her flippant words.
“Okay, what’s the news?” she said.
“Well,” Caroline said, her eyes sparkling again, “my phone has been ringing off the hook.”
There was a pause. Kirsty was confused.
“That’s the news?”
Caroline frowned at her.
“No. The news is that there are magazines, and shops and models all interested in your new lingerie line.”
Kirsty sat up straight. She suddenly didn’t care that her bum was beginning to freeze on the old log.
“I don’t have a lingerie line,” she said. “Everything went up in smoke. My work, my sketches, my ideas. Everything.”
“Not everything.” Caroline motioned to the ugly fur coat.