Page 33 of Lipstick Kiss

“Right you are. I’ll leave you to it.”

Bailey didn’t wait for a goodbye from Luke and walked away. Luke bent to pick up his coffee, pressed a hip to thewooden post at the end of the wall, and rose to the latticework above the patio area. He held onto his ribs with one arm across his torso and the other hand raised the coffee cup to his mouth. This was done slowly, his way of calming his anxiety whenever his aunt was mentioned. He did not want to see her, but his upbringing and respect for Bailey would get his arse in her morning room to hear what she said.

It was still early, not long after seven. Luke had time for a run, a shower and a stroll to get to Turner Hall. So he did just that.

Arriving at the mouth of the kitchen, he heard Maggie’s deep chuckle. When he entered through the open doorway, he saw both his brothers sitting on the bench seat at the kitchen table. He felt his heart constrict at the show of support.

“I was just reminding Maggie of the time we all trooped into her kitchen with muddy feet ten seconds after she’d finished scrubbing the floor until it was gleaming,” Jason said, shifting up the bench seat.

“Oh man, you were so angry at us. You chased us around the kitchen with a broom,” Luke said.

“And that made the floor even muddier,” Archer said, throwing his head back laughing.

“I got my own back, making you lot wash down the floor,” Maggie replied.

“You did. Never did I enter this kitchen again with muddy feet,” Jason said.

“Fun times,” Luke said, plonking myself down on the bench next to Jason.

“What am I making you boys?” Maggie said, putting her cup of tea down.

“Finish your tea, Maggie. We can wait,” Archer said.

“It’s finished. Give me your orders,” she said, upending the cup to show it was empty.

“Bacon sandwich,” Luke said.

“Yeah, I’ll take one of those,” Archer said.

“Me too,” Jason replied.

“Well, that was easy,” Maggie said and marched off to the walk-in fridge in the small room adjoining the kitchen.

“What are you guys here for?” Luke asked.

“Moral support. We think we know why she’s summoned you, so we thought we would be here for you,” Archer said.

“He didn’t do this for me, I hasten to add, but I think we should stick together,” Jason said.

“Lord knows what will happen when Daisy gets the call,” Archer said.

“She won’t go. No matter how much she loves Maggie and Bailey, she won’t go,” Luke said.

“I wasn’t sure you’d go,” Archer said. “You don’t have to. Bailey will be fine with it.”

“She can’t hurt me any more than she already has. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Jason and Archer stared at him for a few moments, and then Archer spoke.

“What did she do to hurt you?”

“It doesn’t matter. It was a long time ago. It took a long time for me to understand why Mum left us and the island, but maybe she had the best idea. We left, didn’t we?”

“We did, and I am struggling to accept that I did. If I had my time again, I would’ve come back to spend more time with Dad,” Jason said.

“Yeah, me too,” Archer said.

Luke felt like he’d been punched in the stomach. His brothers didn’t know how much those comments hurt. If hehad his time again, he’d try harder to save his dad’s life. Move more quickly, get the defibrillator on him faster. But he wouldn’t get his time back, and it was a fool who wished it.

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