Page 48 of Lipstick Kiss

“That’s why I’m here. The stuff from the house will come next week.”

“It’s about time. Is Daisy okay with that?”

“Daisy organised the shipping.”

“Figured you’d delegate,” Archer said.

“She’s good at that shit,” Luke said.

“Luke,” Erica admonished. “The baby will learn your dirty swear words before they’re born.”

“That baby will learn to swear words quicker than you can count to ten. We’re oil riggers. No escaping dirty swears Mrs Hollywood,” Luke warned.

Erica grinned at him. She pulled her shirt down over her bare bump and covered her belly button with her thumb.

“If his or her first words are shit, I’m blaming you,” Erica replied.

Luke rocked back on his heels. “If that’s his or her first words, then I’ll take the hit and be a super proud uncle.”

Archer sighed heavily at the direction o the conversation. “When will the stuff arrive?”

“Next week, Daisy has it all arranged. Then, it will magically appear like it walked itself here.”

“Any closer to working out who is buried under the unmarked stones?” Jason asked.

“Kinda yes, kinda no. Will wait for a few more answers first. I’m off florin hunting with Freya, and we might come across other Turner secrets buried in the rocks.”

“All the secrets we need to know are in that study. I bet she has a secret door to a hidden room where all the Turner scandals are hidden away,” Jason said.

“Nah, all the Turner secrets are hidden in her rooms. That’s why we’re not allowed in there,” Archer said.

“Probably. Anyway, how is it going with Freya? Resolved the mystery over the engagement ring?” Erica asked.

“I gotta go,” Luke said, stuffing his face with a pastry.

He didn’t want to answer any questions about Freya until he knew her feelings. There was no chance of a kiss thenight she was marking books in his empty kitchen because she fell asleep on the floor with a book open on her lap. He felt bad about the conditions he put her through, even with feeding her. So he took her home and gave her a head kiss like he usually did.

He could hear Jason’s cackle and Archer calling him a pussy. Then he heard Erica chastise him. Laughter broke out and faded as he jogged to the kitchens and, hopefully, Freya.

Coming to the open doorway, he squinted into the dark kitchen from the bright summer’s day. He couldn’t see anyone for a few seconds, and then his eyes adjusted. Freya sat at the kitchen table on the bench with her hands around a Turner sibling mug. She was grinning at something Maggie was saying. Maggie was at the stove chattering away, waving a spatula in the air as she spoke. Luke found it remarkable that every generation of Maggie’s family had stood in that kitchen, and the same for Bailey’s family. Ralph’s father and grandfather had taken care of the grounds. But the irony wasn’t lost on him that he also had come back to continue the Turner family line, even though it was Archer’s role to produce an heir. Walking through the family tree with Freya brought to light the starkness that he and his siblings were the only row on the family tree to still live.

“Hi, Maggie,” Luke said, walking into the kitchen when Bailey clocked him, standing in the corner with a tiny tea cup.

“Luke,” she cried out. “Come here and give this old lady a hug.”

Luke grinned at her and wrapped her in a tight hug. “You’re far from old Maggie.”

“Tell my bones that,” she said and chuckled, cupping hischeek to pat once. “Take a seat next to Freya, and I’ll get you some breakfast.”

“Is there any coffee on the go?”

“No, but there is tea in the pot. Freya got you a mug ready,” Maggie said.

“Did you now?” Luke said to Freya.

He plonked himself on the bench next to her, hooked an arm around her neck and kissed her head.

“Morning,” he said.

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