Page 66 of Stolen Kiss

“It wasn’t my idea, I was the messenger,” she said in a quieter voice.

“Don’t you blame the dead, they’re not here to defend themselves. I’m not surprised my mother ran away,” Jason said in a low voice.

He looked up to check she heard and then left the morning room. Archer followed without saying a word and Bailey was waiting to open the door.

Jason took a glance and was astonished to see Bailey’s ashen face. He didn’t know either.

Too wound up to go anywhere near the kitchen, he threw open the front door and set off at a run. He had to expel his energy. Archer didn’t follow him as he sprinted across the lawns to the path that led down to the beach. By the time he got there, his heart and soul was filled with so much regret he fell to his knees in the wet sand, sobbing.

“So much wasted time,” he said to the ocean.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Heidi

Spending the day with a mega star wasn’t what she expected. When Erica Taylor turned up on her doorstep, she expecteddarling you have to try this, then have a small dollop of five hundred pound cream dabbed on her forehead.

Instead she got a shy, friendly and talkative down-to-earth woman who shared her thoughts willingly. By the end of the day, Heidi desperately wanted her as a friend and prayed Freya liked her as much as she did.

They primped and primed their skin, eaten scones and jam and watched quiz shows for most of the afternoon. Erica chose to have a bath while Heidi used the downstairs shower room.

Heidi’s eyes widened when Erica pulled out her outfit for the evening earlier that afternoon. She really was going to spend the day with her. Erica asked if she wanted to talk about the previous night but Heidi was adamant she wanted to talk to Jason first.

At half six, they piled into her buggy with their bags in the back. Erica had talked her into packing an overnight bag, just incase. That way Heidi could stay if it felt right and then head to work in the morning rather than getting up earlier to come home to change. Heidi didn’t want to tempt fate but was overruled. They bounced along the path up to Turner Hall and then turned right past Edward Hall and then onto the cottages.

There was only a path that led to all the front doors so she had to leave the buggy at the entrance by Archer and Erica’s cottage.

“Bring your bag,” Erica said hoisting out hers.

“I think I’ll leave it here, I don’t want to be presumptuous.”

“Okay,” Erica said with a soft smile.

Heidi carried the now empty basket. Erica had insisted she kept everything she’d brought and there was no arguing. The luxuriousness of the potions and creams were everything Heidi couldn’t afford on her nursing salary.

Following behind, nervous as hell, Heidi dragged her feet until they reached the front door. Erica unlocked it, stepped inside and called out to Archer.

“Out the back,” came the reply.

Erica dumped her bag and took the basket from Heidi.

For a moment Heidi was terrified that she had nothing to carry, feeling like she had no purpose being there, but then she looked around. The cottage was stunning in creams and browns. The warm welcome encouraged her to step further into the house.

“You have a beautiful home, Erica.”

“I can’t take a lot of credit, but I made a couple of changes here and there.”

Heidi rubbernecked her way past the dining room, living room and then stopped dead in the kitchen. Jason was leaning against the counter, his hip to the edge with his hands in his pockets. Archer was on the threshold to the outside area that wasilluminated in soft oranges and yellows. It was dark, and they had lanterns lit along the wall and hanging from the canopy.

Her eyes snapped back to Jason.

“I’ll leave you two alone for a moment,” Erica said and walked straight into Archer’s open arms. He gave her a quick peck on the lips and with an arm around the shoulder led her outside to the seating area and closed the door.

“Hey,” Heidi said, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Hi” he replied, his eyes creasing as he smiled.

There was a long silence between them as she stared at his handsome face with a red mark on his cheek. She zeroed in on it and stepped forward until she was right in front of him. Always the nurse.

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