Salt Kiss novel · Chapter 7 of 24

Chapter 7: The Empty Club

Brine was dark.

Tuesdays the club closed for a day to scrub the floor and rest the staff.

The old brick warehouse sat black and silent against the river with a single light at the back.

Nolan parked the truck in the loading lane and carried the cooler.

Skye walked in front of him in a plain black dress and flat boots.

Her braid was pinned up now into a crown.

She looked like another woman.

She looked like someone about to walk into court.

The river door opened before they knocked.

Lorna stood in it with her glasses on their chain and her face pinched.

She looked at Skye and said, in a voice cracked down the middle, "Darling."

"Lorna."

"You absolute child."

They held each other hard.

Lorna was crying and furious, and she held Skye's face between her hands and said, "Eleven days.

"Eleven days I locked that door every night and thought the next knock was the police."

"I'm sorry."

"You will be.

"Go on in.

"He's been standing there since four."

She wiped her eyes, looked at Nolan, and added, "Your arm."

"It's fine."

"It's a mess, and I'm bringing the kit."

She went away into the dark, and Nolan carried the cooler through the stockroom into the main hall.

The floor of Brine without its crowd was enormous and still.

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