She was acutely aware that while Duncan had unwittingly ignited a passion within her, she brought little to the party. True, she had traveled a lot, she’d had no shortage of adventures, some which were best kept to herself, but all she could do with these was to tell them as stories and amusing anecdotes, like Augustus used to do with her. She had nothing tangible to offer, no skills to captivate a man like Duncan.
For his part, he didn’t seem unhappy to be spending so much time with her, far from it; he arrived early each morning and often didn’t leave until well into the evening. On more than one occasion, they had ended the day having dinner together. Yet at the end of the night, he would only kiss her cheek chastely. She was beginning to lose hope.
On Saturday afternoon, they were back out in the garden. It was freezing cold, and they were both muffled up in big coats. The sky was a strange camel color, which cast an eerie light over everything. The forecast promised a heavy frost with the possibility of snow.
The weekend had brought a flurry of wood donations, and they were busily arranging them on the growing pyre. Star had successfully wedged an old headboard into a gap when Duncan gave a yelp and jumped away from the stack as though he’d been burned.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
He was clutching his left hand with his right. His eyes were huge. “S-splinter,” he stammered. “Big one.”
“Here, let me see.” She went to him and eased his hand away from his chest.
She didn’t want to alarm him, but it was the biggest splinter she had ever seen in her life and it was embedded deep into the fleshy part at the base of his thumb.
“It’s bad, isn’t it?” he said, his head turned determinedly away. He had begun to take very deep breaths and seemed a little unsteady on his feet.
“No.” She tried to inject some jolly nonchalance into her voice as she eyed the giant splinter. “It’s no big deal. We will have to get it out, though.”
At this, Duncan began to sway, and she noticed a sheen of sweat on his forehead. He was a tall man and had a long way to fall if he passed out. She didn’t fancy her chances of getting him up to the flat, or at this point even back into the shop.
“I’ve gone hot,” he said. “Really hot.” He didn’t sound like himself at all.
“I tell you what,” she coaxed, “why don’t we sit you down over here.” She led him away from the pyre and over to a mossy bench by the garden wall. Duncan allowed himself to be guided and helped to sit. “Maybe pop your head between your knees for a couple of minutes while I go and get the first aid kit.”
He did as he was told. “I feel sick,” he groaned from between his legs. His splinter hand rested limply on the bench.
“I know you do, it’s okay. You’ve had a nasty shock and it’s made you feel a bit faint, that’s all. You’re going to be fine. I’m going to fix you right up.”
“I feel stupid. I’m sorry,” he managed between deep breaths.
“Don’t apologize. This is a perfectly natural reaction to finding a foreign body in your body.”
Duncan moaned in response. She rubbed his back.
“You’re okay,” she cooed. “Everything is going to be fine. Will you be all right if I nip up to the flat to get supplies?”
He gave a strangled “Yeah.” Followed by, “I’m just going to keep breathing.”
“Always best to,” she said, and walked casually away until she was sure he couldn’t see her, and then she broke into a sprint.
In the flat she grabbed a bowl of water, a pair of tweezers, some antiseptic, and the biggest plasters she could find. Then she changed her mind and ditched the plasters for some gauze and a bandage. That mother splinter was going to leave a hole.
She raced back downstairs to find Duncan exactly as she had left him.
“I’m back,” she said quietly.
“My ears are whistling.”
“Righty-ho. Now, do you want me to tell you what I’m doing, or shall I just do it?”
He made a retching sound but recovered himself. “Probably better to just do it,” he whimpered.
“Hold very still, okay?”
“Very still,” he echoed, his head wedged firmly between his legs.
Star took his hand and he groaned.
“Very still.”
“Still,” he whispered.
She picked up the tweezers and gently secured them over the end of the splinter. She didn’t want to leave any wood behind, which could cause infection later, so she had to do this slowly.
Very gently she began to ease the splinter out. He whimpered and she made soothing noises and continued to tease the wood shard out of his hand. It took a while, but at last the end of the splinter relinquished its hold and came free. She looked carefully into the wound and at the splinter itself, but there was nothing left behind. She let out a sigh of relief.
“All done,” she said soothingly.
“Really?”
He raised his head. He looked first at the splinter she held proudly between the tweezers and then at his palm. A glob of thick red blood pushed out of the hole, and he immediately fainted.
“Whoa!” She had just enough time to drop the tweezers as he flopped in a lazy forward roll off the bench onto the grass. Luckily his puffer jacket softened his fall. She managed to stop him from hitting his head and deftly rolled him into the recovery position. She pulled off her coat and laid it over him. This wasn’t her first roller coaster with a fainter; when you’d been to as many festivals as Star had, you saw a lot of minor medical incidents.
She set about washing and dressing the wound. By the time Duncan began to come around, she was securing the clean white bandage and all traces of blood had been removed.
He groaned and rubbed his head. “What happened?” he asked, his voice muffled with confusion.
“You fainted. But you’re all right now.”
“Oh no, how embarrassing,” he moaned.
“Don’t be silly. It could happen to anyone.”
He went to get up.
“Easy does it,” she said gently, helping him up to sitting. “Sit for a while. I’ll make you a nice cup of sweet tea to get your blood sugar back up.”
He sat with his back against the wall, and Star sat down next to him, their knees touching.
“I’m wearing your coat,” he said.
“I didn’t want you to catch cold.”
He looked down at his bandaged hand. “You fixed me.”
“It’s no big deal.” She smiled. “It’ll smart for a few days, but the splinter came out clean. I can come to the pub and change your dressing for you in the morning before you go to your sister’s for Sunday lunch.”
“You’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever met.”
“You might be delirious; I only got a splinter out.” She laughed. But before she could say another word, Duncan leaned over and kissed her, long and sweet. His lips were as soft as she’d imagined, and when he deepened the kiss, Star wondered if she might faint. When they parted, she was indeed light-headed.
“I’ve wanted to do that since the day I met you,” he said quietly.
“Why didn’t you?”