Page 124 of So Wild

“She doesn’t have the space,” Sam reminded her. “The regulations say the tattoo has to be at least thirty centimeters in height and width and she just got that huge fuck-off peacock on her back.”

Nicole blanched. “Oh god, I forgot about the peacock! This is adisaster.”

“Who’s Tabby?” Edith interrupted.

“Our baby sister,” Sam said. She tried to think of who else was available but her heart was racing and she still felt on the verge of collapse. All she could think was that if her dad was there, he would help her, but that wasn’t in the least bit possible.

“What about you?” Nicole demanded of Noah. “You get the tattoo.”

“No space.”

“But you’re huge! You’ve got to have some space on you!”

Noah’s mouth quirked up. “Want to check?”

Nicole turned a violent shade of red. “Fine, be rude. Let Sam’s career go down like the titanic. See if I care.”

“Nix, he doesn’t have the space. I know he doesn’t. Instead of grilling Noah, why don’t you help me think of someone who could help?”

“Sorry,” Nicole said, and she pressed her fingertips into her temples and closed her eyes, as though trying to draw a fresh model to them by telepathy.

“I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news, ladies,” Edith trilled. “But if you don’t get someone in the next half-hour, I’m almost certain you’ll have to forfeit your slot.”

“Shit!” Nicole said. “Shit! Shit!”

Sam knew Edith was only saying this to pump up the drama for the cameras, but she couldn’t be lying. There were consent forms to fill in and a limited amount of sketch time. She could plan the best tattoo in the world but if she didn’t have a body to tattoo on, it wouldn’t count for squat. She stared down at her watch, helplessness welling up inside her like a tide.

“I’m going to have to bail,” she told Nicole. “There’s just not enough time.”

Her twin stamped her foot on the floor. “No! You’ve worked so hard and you’ve come so far.I’llget the tattoo.”

Sam stared at her, a golf ball rising in her throat. “You’d do that for me?”

“Yes,” Nicole said, indignantly. “Just give me one on the back. Something feminine and not too big.”

For a crazy moment, Sam entertained the idea. She pictured winning with a gorgeous tattoo adorned on her gorgeous twin, as unique a selling point as a person could get. Then, once again, reality set in. Nicole only had one tattoo—the one their dad had given them when they were eighteen. She didn’t want any more ink and it would be deeply uncool of her to take advantage of her twin’s offer and give her a tattoo she didn’t want. Sam hugged her sister tight then let go. “I appreciate the offer, but you can’t.”

“Yes, I can!”

“No. I love you, but no. It would go against my personal policy, anyway. I’m not having my work lasered off.”

“I wouldn’t laser it!”

“No, but you’d want to, which is just as bad.” Sam smiled, feeling an odd serenity in her acceptance. “You know what dad would say right now? That it’s just not the right time. We can ask around, see if anyone’s willing to volunteer, but if we don’t have anyone by the time the themes are announced, I’ll just forfeit my spot.”

Nicole’s lower lip popped out. “But what about the prize money and the title and saving the business?”

“We will save the business,” Sam said. “I’ll make back the money to rebuild the shed and I’ll take over the social media stuff from Tabby. I won’t stop until Silver Daughters is the biggest, best tattoo studio in Victoria, but today’s so clearly not my day. I’ll just step down and life will go on.”

“Life will go on?” Nicole tugged at the ends of her hair, her face the picture of anguish. “You sound like Tabby. We don’t need another Tabby.”

Sam laughed, amazed by how calm she felt. “Maybe we do. She’s got a point, why do we have to fight so hard to make things work all the time? Maybe we can just let go and see what happens? Even if we fail, we’ll still be okay.”

“You’re not gonna fail,” Noah said suddenly.

Everyone turned to look at him and Edith gestured to the cameramen to bring Noah into the shot.

“What do you mean ‘you’re not gonna fail?’” Nicole demanded. “Have you found a place for Sam to tattoo?”

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