“Well now, I came over to America for a holiday originally, you know.” Those first days were a blur in her mind, so busy, so much to see of this wonderful country. “I ended up at a hotel in Los Angeles; it was a lovely place and I felt quite at home there while I did the sightseeing tours. When the owner offered me a job, I thought, why not? I could take off anytime I wanted.” She wiped her finger through the jam on the other half of her scone and licked it before saying, “Pity it didn’t work out that way, because next thing you know, I was suddenly his girlfriend and running the place for next to nothing.” She shook her head. “Miserable bastard was using me, well and proper.”
“Tsk, tsk.” Beth patted her on the arm.
“It was my own fault for falling for his charm. Me, an Irish lass, should have known better, I’m thinking, considering we have the gift of the gab. But at least I found out sooner rather than later. I had to get out of town, as you can well imagine, so I bought this place and here I am.” The smell of grass and wildflowers soothed any lingering doubts she had in making the move.
“You’ll find people here are different from the city. We help each other, not take advantage. If you ever need anything, just let me know and I’ll point you in the right direction.”
“Wonderful. I appreciate that myself, you know. I come from a small town in Ireland. Even though LA was exciting, I’d never want to stay there forever. Far too busy for my liking.” She licked her lips and then wiped the back of her hand across her mouth, making sure there was no jam decorating her face.
“I’m so glad you don’t mind me dropping by. Now I really do have to finish my errands, Sassie. Perhaps we can catch up again soon.”
“What a good idea. It was nice to meet you, Beth. I’m glad you stopped by.” Sassie stood and reached out a hand to help Beth to her feet. Together they packed the cane basket, topping it off with the clean tea towel.
On the walk back to the house, they stopped at the corner of the fenced off garden nearest the house. “I want to get this back up to scratch as soon as I can, too. I’d love to cook everything out of my own garden.” Sassie picked at a rose bloom and snapped its stem, touching her fingertips to the soft petal. “This was the right move for me; I can feel it in my bones.” She handed the flower to Beth.
“Well, let me tell you, I’m glad you bought the house. I’ve waited for someone to see the light and take on the job. Big as it may be, I think it’s doable and you’re the girl to do it.” She sniffed the rose and laid it in her basket before walking back inside. “This kitchen would look lovely all done in white with that old black wood stove. I bet it still works well too. You might have to put in a new range hood though.” Beth reached up to run a finger along the edge of the dust-covered, avocado-green appliance. “I think this is just about past its use-by date…”
She cried out as the metal covering slipped right above her face.
Sassie threw herself in front of Beth, knocking the lady out of the way and holding her hand out to push the metal away so that it didn’t land on either of them. They hit the floor in a heap, the breath knocked out of the pair of them. The clang of metal against the wood stove drowned out the cry of pain as metal met with flesh and the metal won.
Stars formed around the edge of Sassie’s vision and pain ripped through her fingers. She struggled off of Beth and rolled over to sit up. “Fecking, fecking hell!”
“Oh no, look what’s happened.” Beth grabbed for her hand, but Sassie lifted it out of the way. She got to her feet; she was too scared to look at it. She would clean it after Beth left. “Don’t go fussing now. I’m sure a bandage will sort me out.”
Beth grabbed the tea towel from the basket and glared at Sassie. “Hold out your hand and stop being a princess. That needs to be looked at; I’d swear to it.”
The look on Beth’s face left her no option. Sassie held out her hand. Now that the initial shock was over, the pain was worse. Tears were very close to spilling over her lashes. She peeked as the blood dripped from the jagged cut on her finger and pooled in the palm of her hand before spilling over the edge of her wrist to plop onto the dirty floor. Beth efficiently wrapped her hand in the clean cloth and pushed her to get up. “I’m taking you into see Emily, and I don’t want to hear any complaints.” With a firm hand on her back, Beth pushed her out to the car parked on the street. Sassie stood on shaky legs as Beth opened the passenger door. Beth helped her in as a truck laden with builder gear pulled up behind them.
Just what she didn’t need. R.P. Cooper seeing her when she wasn’t at her best. Handsome he might be, but she didn’t need his opinion right now. He’d probably tell her he was right and it would be safer to tear down her home. With the pain she was in, Sassie didn’t have it in her to fight him, and she hated feeling anything less than in control.
* * *
“Mom, I’ve been trying to call and you aren’t answering your phone. What’s going on?” Riley charged out of his vehicle as his mother hooked the seat belt over Sassie’s shoulder and clicked it into the