Page 50 of Seasons of Sin

“I know.” She squeezed her eyes shut for a second, wishing the butterflies in her stomach would go away. “The thing is, Rocco, I was going to tell him. I’d fallen in love with him by the time you arrived. I knew I had to sort it all out properly but … have you ever had a time where you just couldn’t see the forest for the trees?”

He frowned. “I don’t know the reference.”

“It’s a saying. It means that everything’s such a mess you can’t quite see how to get out of it. I mean I was married. I had been with my husband for a very long time. It’s not easy to unravel a relationship like that. And I had just met Thaddeus but I felt more for him than I’d ever known possible. He blew my whole conception of life wide open. Until then I’d had no clue it could be like that. I mean it. I thought I loved Jordan … I didn’t. I didn’t have any idea what love was.”

Out of the corner of her eye she saw a hand wave, to catch her attention.

Kate.

Saphire frowned. The other woman was wearing a strange black dress - the kind of thing a grandmother might wear to a funeral - and her blonde hair was frizzing around her face. The first time Saphire had met her, Kate had reminded her of a ballerina. She was very delicate, fair and graceful; she was also completely timid, and in that moment, she looked like a very unfashionable, very terrified kitten.

That would never do.

“Look, none of this matters.” She forced a smile to her face. “Mr Konstanides has moved on, and I have too. Maybe I was just meant to fall for him so that I could get out of my marriage. I don’t know. But I’m working tonight. And this job is the first good thing I’ve done in years. So I’m not going to stuff it up.”

Rocco, usually talkative and opinionated, found it hard to know how to respond to her monologue. “Saphire,” he called after her retreating back.

She turned, her brows lifted enquiringly. He lifted his hand to his face in the universally understood gesture of a telephone. “Phone me. I will take you for lunch.”

She nodded, but Saphire knew she never would. Not in a million years. It would be like cracking open a vault that she’d cemented closed.

“Kate,” she gasped as she locked eyes with the other woman. “This won’t do.” She cast one final gaze over the room and then linked arms with Melania’s assistant. “This way.”

She nudged her to the side room she’d been using as an office for the past week and flicked a light on. It cast a pale glow over everything.

“You can’t wear that.”

Kate frowned. “Why ever not?” Her accent was a mix of east-London and something else. Something foreign.

Saphire shook her head. “Because you look like a … like a … like a particularly sartorially challenged eighty year old, that’s why.”

To her surprise, Kate burst out laughing. “I know. But that’s my inner superhero. I’m a grandma. Truly I am. I don’t know why the heck Mel thought I’d be a good substitute for her.”

Saphire nodded sagely. “Well, she obviously has faith in you, so you’d better start trying to deserve it.”

She scanned the blonde’s figure. “You’re shorter than I am, but otherwise I think we can make something of mine work. Take that off.” She called over her shoulder as she moved to her suitcase in the corner. She’d brought a few changes of clothes with her from her apartment on Mel’s advice.You never know what might happen. Always be prepared!

And so she was. She lifted a cream dress out and held it aloft for Kate’s inspection.

“Um, no,” Kate shook her head. “It’ll make me look like a piece of paper.”

Saphire nodded. “Fair point.”

She lifted the next dress out, a gorgeous green prom dress. “No!” Kate laughed. “God, it’s way too fancy.”

“I’m afraid I only have fancy clothes,” Saphire murmured with a frown.

The final dress was the perfect shade of blue to flatter Kate’s eyes. Though it was low cut, it was long, which Kate approved of.

“Maybe,” she scrunched her nose up thoughtfully. “It could work.”

“Try it on. Quickly,” Saphire urged.

Kate took it and, with hands that weren’t quite steady, pulled it over her head. It fit perfectly, though if anything it was a little loose around the breasts.

“Sorry,” Saphire grinned. “I had it let out there.”

“I can see why!” Kate ran her hands over the fabric. “How does it look?”