Page 54 of Stolen Kiss

Mrs Diamond wasn’t a Mrs when he came in and bought the ring, she was a Miss but rumour had it her long time best friend was her wife but no one was willing to confirm or deny and no one was willing to ask her outright. One day she was Miss Diamond and the next she was Mrs Diamond and no one asked. She was in her late sixties and grew up with his dad and Mr McKenzie. They all kept his dad’s memories alive with the stories of their youth.

“I’m not one to gossip Mrs Diamond.”

“Of course not, and I didn’t mean to pry.”

Jason was trying to make a joke but her face turned serious like she didn’t want to be gossiped about but she was doing it herself.

“I’m only teasing, Mrs Diamond.”

She relaxed at his words and gave him a smile that saidare you going to answer.

“I was wondering if the purchase I made was still here? I never got around to picking it up.”

Mrs Diamond’s cheeks reddened and her eyes got glassy.

“We are not gossiping, Mrs Diamond.”

“No Jason, absolutely. But yes, it’s in the safe. Do you want it?”

“I don’t know yet. Can you keep it for me for a little longer?”

“Yes, absolutely I will and I won’t say a word.”

“Thank you and it was good to see you.”

He was about to turn to leave when she blurted, “I wish his grave was in the main cemetery, Jason. I would’ve liked to have laid flowers this month.”

He stared at her wide-eyed, trying to hold back his emotion. “You still can if you want. Let me know when and I’ll take you there.”

They both stared at each other willing the other not to cry. He took it for granted he could pay his respects but forgot that his dad had friends on the island even if Jason didn’t.

“Oh Jason, that would be wonderful and I know Mr McKenzie would want to come too.”

“Arrange a date and time, and I’ll be sure to take you there personally.”

“What about Miss Turner, will she mind?”

“He was my dad and if there are people who want to go and spend time at his grave, then it has nothing to do with my aunt.”

His words came out sharper than he intended. Mrs Diamond took a step back and laid a hand on her chest. She wasn’t scared. There was another emotion in her eyes, almost like she was proud.

“I’ll get right onto it. How can I contact you?”

Jason wrote down his mobile number on a pad of notepaper next to her till. She gave him her business card, and he said goodbye and left before he pulled up a chair and demanded she tell him all the stories she knew about his dad.

He missed him so much and would have loved to talk through his dilemma about Heidi. Jason wished Heidi would’ve known him. He hadn’t met her parents back then, and she hadn’t met his dad.

They never talked about his mother. Heidi tried once, but he lost his temper and she never asked again. He couldn’t think about his mother abandoning all of them he was still too angry.

His final stop was the doctor’s surgery in the hope to see Heidi.

Ducking his head as he walked through the door to the surgery and down the long hall painted yellow he then came to a large open room with chairs around the perimeter. The surgery was an old house donated by the Turner family around the time of the first world war ended and the wounded came back to the island needing far more assistance than anyone expected. Jason’s great grandfather immediately donated the biggest house. Since then the back had been extended to have a small gyno centre and a rehab centre-both physical and mental therapy. Jason remembered his grandfather saying that the returning soldiers wounds might have healed up but their heads needed longer.

“Hey Jason, who are you here to see?” Jason turned his upper body to the voice and smiled when he saw Freya.

Like she didn’t know. “I was hoping to see Heidi, is she here?”

“Yeah, I popped in to give her the buggy keys she wants to use it this afternoon. Go on through that door. There is no one else in the break room.”

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