Page 98 of The Lost Heiress
Saoirse shook her head. “For once, no.”
Saoirse’s breathing slowly steadied, and she hiccupped her way back to a semblance of calm. It was such a relief not to be poked or prodded with questions, to just be cared for. She felt raw, her head too big for her body, like it couldn’t possibly be connected to the rest of her at all.
“That’s better,” Tessa said when she was done.
Saoirse glanced at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes were red rimmed and watery, but other than that, she looked normal.
“What a fucking disaster of a night,” Saoirse said.
Tessa shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said. “I mean, if some girl isn’t absolutely losing it in the bathroom, is it even a party?”
Saoirse caught Tessa’s gaze in the mirror and laughed so hard she snorted.
“Ow,” Saoirse said, touching her nose.
“What do you say we grab some cake and go watch the fireworks?” Tessa asked.
“Fireworks?” Saoirse said, a panicked thought suddenly percolating in her mind. “It’s midnight?”
“Thereabouts,” Tessa said, checking her watch.
“I have to go,” Saoirse said, darting toward the door. “There’s somewhere I need to be.”
“What, is your carriage going to turn into a pumpkin or something?” Tessa called after her, but Saoirse didn’t answer.
Saoirse speed-walked down the hallway, past the entrance to the ballroom, telling herself not to run, not to attract attention. A woman she didn’t know, who was very much inebriated, exuberantly wished her a happy birthday as she passed, raising her glass high into the air and sending champagne sloshing over the sides and onto the wood floorboards. Saoirse only nodded at her.
She was flat-out running after she turned the corner, down another hallway, this one much quieter than the one outside the ballroom. She started up the staircase, taking the stairs two at a time, and then took a sharp left down the next hall to the library. She was going so fast she almost ran right into him.
“You came!” she said excitedly, throwing her arms around him.
“Of course I came,” Salvador said. “Did you ever doubt I would?”
He was wearing a suit and tie. She had never seen him so dressed up before. He looked handsome.
“I don’t know,” she said into his chest, smelling the familiar spicy scent of him, like cloves and bergamot. It was a comforting smell. “Everything tonight has been such a disaster.”
“What happened?” he asked, stroking her hair.
“Nothing,” she said. “I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want to think about it. I just want to forget it ever happened. Can we do that?”
“It’s your birthday,” he said. “We can do whatever you want.”
“Good,” Saoirse said. “Well, I want to go watch the fireworks.”
She led him by the hand out the back into the dark. People were gathering on the balcony, but there was almost no one in the yard or in the garden. Saoirse and Salvador took the rickety old staircase on the cliffside down to the beach. They made their way down slowly, carefully, as the steps were slick with the recent rain.
“Do you think it will storm later?” Salvador asked, looking up at the sky dubiously.
“It wouldn’t dare rain on my birthday,” Saoirse said. “Again.”
When they reached the bottom, Saoirse took her shoes off so she could feel the sand between her toes. They were the only ones on the beach. Probably the daunting look of the staircase and the earlier rain had put everyone off it, but she didn’t care. It was better this way, just the two of them. She lifted up the hem of her dress and stepped into the water lapping at the shoreline. The cold salt water felt good against her skin. Salvador followed suit, kicking off his dress shoes and rolling up the hem of one pant leg and then the other to follow her.
When the fireworks started, they stood on the beach, looking up at the sky. Saoirse leaned into Salvador, and he wrapped his arms around her.
This is perfect,Saoirse thought.Everything is perfect now.
In between the breaking of the waves along the shore and the loud crack of the fireworks erupting overhead, Saoirse heard the creaking of the stairs behind them. She turned her head. There was a figure there, stepping down onto the beach. At first, Saoirse thought it might be one of her party guests coming down to enjoy the fireworks, but who would venture down here by themselves in the dark? Besides, they weren’t looking up at the sky, admiring the show. They were staring right at her and Salvador.
