Page 76 of Stolen Kiss

Chapter Twenty-Five

Jason

Back in his natural habitat, Jason flicked through his personal recipe book deciding on menu choices to feature as wedding options for future events. With so many different food allergies and intolerances, he had his work cut out to please everyone. He’d already dropped Heidi off at her house to continue her hangover.

Daisy, Luke and Archer filed in with Erica bringing up the rear carrying a bag. She lifted it up and plonked it on the stainless steel counter.

“Ready for the pow wow?” Luke asked.

“As I’ll ever be,” Jason replied.

Erica pulled out five travel mugs and handed them out. Then they all looked expectantly at Jason.

“Oh, I see. I’m the chef therefore there are biscuits?”

“You baked cookies?” Daisy asked, with long strides to the dry stores. She came back out hugging a large plastic box with a lid. “He made cookies,” she confirmed.

“Break them out,” Luke said. “I need the sugar.”

“So, where are we at with Aunt Cynthia?” Daisy asked, looking through the box, choosing carefully.

“Bailey says she is staying in her rooms for the foreseeable future. Jennifer says she’s hell on wheels and Maggie is rolling her eyes. Ralph won’t even come into the house. Apparently he got a telling off because the grass was too long. His reply that it’s November and he shouldn’t be cutting the grass was not welcome.”

“And how will her hiding affect what we want to achieve here?” Jason said.

“Hopefully nothing unless she starts playing games with shipments and staffing.”

“Sorry I’m late,” Stan said as he burst in through the back door of Edward Hall kitchens.

Archer looked to Jason who shrugged. They then looked to Luke and Daisy who was still looking at the box of cookies but not taking one.

When Luke shrugged too, they stared at Daisy, momentarily ignoring an out of breath Stan.

Archer cleared his throat. “One, pick a fucking cookie and two did you invite Stan?”

She snatched up a biscuit and then closed the lid looking over at Stan with his hands on his hips.

“Yeah, he called earlier to say there was a problem. I thought it would be best we tackle all problems at the same time.”

Erica giggled at her thinking. Jason sighed as most people tackled one problem at a time. Daisy? She went headlong into everything at the same time.

“You want some coffee and cookies?” Daisy asked.

“Is there scotch in either of them?” Stan replied.

“No, why?” Jason asked.

Stan put his hand in his trouser pocket and pulled out a tool. He dropped it on the metal counter causing a clang to echoaround the kitchen. The Turners were sitting in a row on the stainless steel work bench except Jason who hadn’t moved from his menu selecting station.

“You need a new spanner?” Archer asked. “McKenzie can help you with that.”

“No, well it seemed like a humourous ice breaker when I originally thought about it, but then when Daisy answered the phone and she said Luke was here too, I thought it might not go down well. Because the four of you aren’t supposed to be back together until late Spring. If you’re all here together then you already have a problem. I’d bought it and I have no idea what a spanner might be for in real life. It was supposed to be a metaphorical reference.”

Jason didn’t think he’d heard Stan speak to many words in the same conversation.

“Why the spanner?” Daisy asked frowning.

“It’s supposed to be me throwing a spanner in the works,” Stan said.

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