CHAPTER 4

Sunlight streamed through the open windows, in her haste to get to bed last night, Skye had forgotten to close the drapes. Although the room her cousins had prepared for her was small it was meticulously organized. Both Suki and Jess knew about her problem and it was their suggestion that she came and spent the summer with them. Skye couldn’t help but appreciate the consideration that had gone into preparing the room for her; the symmetry of the bed aligned to the wall, the two paintings on the wall hanging in exact mirrored spots on opposite walls. Looking out the window Skye saw it was a sunny morning in the Hamptons and Skye felt a rush of relief for not being in the city before the memory of last night squashed her brief happiness. She thought of the man with the dark hair and deep blue eyes who had not only managed to relax her but even enticed her into a midnight swim in the Atlantic. Regret sudden and fierce washed over her at running away.

Absentmindedly she ran her fingers over her lips and wondered what it would’ve been like if he had kissed her. Although he seemed serious and reserved she was almost certain his kiss would’ve been passionate and thorough.

She thought of how differently the night could’ve ended. She could’ve stayed and kissed him and before things went too far she could’ve given him her number and told him she’d be looking forward to his call.

Deep down she knew exactly why she had ran. The whole party had been too much for her. She had spent most of the night until the moment she had met Garret close to a panic attack. The noise and chaos of the party had grated on her ever since she had arrived with her cousins. The loud music and raucous crowd did nothing to lessen her anxiety. For the millionth time in her life, she wished she could’ve been normal. Wished she didn’t suffer from the debilitating anxiety and OCD she had been fighting ever since she was young. Her parents had often told her she was full of nonsense and spoiled, never realizing how much her shortcomings had affected her day to day life. She had never attended the regular high school parties. She didn’t even attend her own prom.

She avoided crowds and any form of chaos that could send her into a panic. Skye never shopped over weekends finding the disarray of shops uncomfortable when hundreds of people were milling about. The subway had become completely off limits, because whenever a train was delayed by a few seconds Skye would need to calm herself by counting to ten numerous times until it eventually arrived. The past few years Skye had done everything she thought possible to cope with her anxiety and OCD. She had tried hypnotism, acupuncture, therapy, and when none of that had helped she had gone to see a psychiatrist who had prescribed her anti-anxiety drugs.

The drugs had helped, in the beginning it felt to Skye like she had a new lease on life. It wasn’t until she was on holiday and had forgotten to fulfil her prescription that she was forced to go without the medication for a few days. Suddenly Skye realized the only reason the anti-anxiety medication had worked was because it turned the whole world on low. It was as if Skye had been living in a toned down version of real life for six months. She had never refilled the prescription; she didn’t go back to the psychiatrist either.

She thought of Garret and how someone as successful as him would see her as a complete failure, a weakling. For heaven’s sake she couldn’t even face an unorganized cutlery drawer without counting to ten. She had dated some over the years but every time the men had found out about her OCD and anxiety their reactions normally drove them apart. Either they would tell her to chill or as the last guy had put it; he didn’t have time to cope with a freak’s fetishes. The memory of his words still stung like he said it yesterday although it had been more than a year ago.

Skye had always been a fun-loving person; she had started to deduce that it was because she so often struggled to relax that whenever she did she needed to grasp it with both hands. So why didn’t she last night?

Pulling back the covers Skye walked over to en suite bathroom and splashed her face with water. As her eyes met in the mirror the truth crashed through her. She was afraid that if she kissed Garret she would’ve like it. She already liked him. And what would happen if he found out about her shortcomings? Would he also call her a freak or brush it aside and tell her to relax? The fear of his reaction had been what had held her back.

Thinking back to her decision about coming to the Hamptons Skye remembered the promise she had made herself on the drive out here. She wouldn’t find a job she found stressful. She would accept her shortcomings and learn to live with them, not overcome them. If she met a man, she would tell him upfront about her problems. That way if they wanted to run, they could run before her heart became involved.

Brushing her teeth, Skye thought back to how Garret’s hands had felt on her hips, how he had surprised her with his outlook on life. He had been the first man that had sensed when she became uncomfortable and offered her an out by taking her for a walk on the beach.

After rinsing her mouth Skye looked herself in the eye and made herself a promise. If she ever met another man who made her feel like Garret had, she would tell him about her OCD and anxiety issues and then she wouldn’t run away if he tried to kiss her again, she might even kiss him first.

Skye had just stepped out of the shower when there was an insistent knock at her door.

“You up yet? Get dressed we’re taking you out for breakfast.” Suki’s voice sounded upbeat.

“You two go on ahead; I’ll just fix myself something here.” Skye said as she started to towel dry her hair. She didn’t feel like going out this morning. She wanted to spend the day nursing her regret over running away from Garret.

“Non negotiable! We’re buying.” Before Skye could answer Suki burst into the room with a wide smile already dressed in a light cotton dress and sparkly sandals. Her bright red hair cascaded over her shoulders in wild curls. Her blue eyes were sparkling with excitement. She surveyed Skye’s state of undress and smiled wickedly. “Either you’re down in five or we’ll take you as you are.”

“Suki...” Skye pleaded before Suki held up a hand.

“Five minutes Skye or the whole South Hampton is going to see what a dish you are in a towel.”

Sighing as the door closed behind Suki, Skye selected a light green dress and threw it over her head without bothering with a bra. One advantage of having small breasts was Skye could afford to go bra-less when she chose. She tied her wet chestnut hair in a knot on her head and ignored the few tendrils that slipped loose framing her face. Grabbing her sunglasses and purse, she headed down stairs to meet her cousins. Suki and Jess were both waiting by the front door already with their purses.

“You ready?” Jess asked excitedly. Wearing a white short and blue tank top she looked fresh and years younger than she was. The fact that she wore her hair a few inches longer than a buzz cut made her look even younger, it was only her sensuous curves that assured you she was female, that and her luscious mouth.

Unless Skye had missed something important both her cousins seemed excited about something and she didn’t have a clue about what.

“Yes?” She said hesitantly with brows raised.

“Great let’s go!” Suki said as she swung open the door and headed to the car.

“Okay what did I miss?” Skye asked. They were sitting on the deck of a small restaurant at the beach. Their order for pancakes and coffee had just been taken and both her cousins were still smiling from ear to ear.

“Nothing.” Suki said glancing at Jess. Jess nodded once. “All right, I can’t hold it anymore.”

“Hold what?” Skye glanced from Suki to Jess who smiled before bursting out with the words.

“We want you to join The Petal & Kettle!”

“What? Why?” Skye asked surprised. She had always loved visiting The Petal & Kettle when she visited but couldn’t understand why her cousins would like her to join them. There florist was unique, not only did they offer speciality and seasonal flowers but they had expanded a year ago to also sell high quality coffee beans and coffee machines. At the time they had explained to Skye that when you were a florist you mostly catered for the ill, the dying or the in love. With coffee they would cater for everyone, only confirming Skye’s suspicions that Suki had a head for business.

“Because we need someone to help with reception and the books. Because we need someone to create order in our life and although it would all but kill you the first few weeks, once you’ve given The Petal & Kettle order you’d be in charge of keeping us in line when it comes to organizing, etc.” Suki explained in depth.

“And because we’d love to have you as part of the team. We need someone and we’re hesitant to hire someone we don’t know. We know and love you.” Jess cut in with pleading eyes.

“But I’m not even sure I’m staying.” Skye shrugged.

“Honey how can you know if you’d like living in the Hamptons if you’re going to be on holiday for three months? Anyone would enjoy that. What you need is to see if you would enjoy living and working in the Hamptons.” Suki gently smiled as she closed her hand over Skye’s.

“Suki I agree with you, it would be better if I worked while I’m here although I don’t want you creating a job for me, I can find one myself.”

“Honey we’re not creating anything, we need someone at this stage. Look how over worked we are.” Both Suki and Jess pulled tired faces which had Skye laughing.

“Besides summer is coming up and it’s our busiest time, imagine how much more we could sell if we actually knew where everything was.” Jess joked knowing Skye had already decided to do it. She just needed a little prod to say yes.

“Come on Skye, what are you going to do at home all day? Arrange our cupboards and organize the cutlery?” When Skye’s eyebrows rose and her mouth gaped in a shocked expression Suki continued. “You think we don’t notice that you arrange our whole lives when you visit? This way you’ll at least be getting paid for it.”

Skye bit her lip and considered. She had never realized how big a part organizing played in her life. Maybe Suki and Jess were right, she would see it as a challenge and hopefully it would keep her mind off Garret, at least for the first few weeks.

“Fine, I’ll do it. Thank you both.” She smiled at her cousins across the table. “But there is one condition. If it doesn’t work for any of us we say so, no hard feelings.”

“Done.” Suki and Jess said at the same time.

“3 Pancakes, extra syrup, extra bacon?” Their teenager waiter set down the plates in front of them and nearly jumped when all three girls started laughing.

“How can we not agree on everything?” Suki asked as she took the first bite of her pancake.