Page 92 of Lipstick Kiss

The boat had docked earlier than planned.

Her paranoia escalated with each passing year she hadn’t done her father’s bidding.

She had one job. Get rid of Imelda, but she couldn’t go any further than play a few tricks to make her miserable. If only Imelda didn’t spend so much time with her parents, Cynthia’s plan would work enough to appease her father, but he was getting impatient.

Cynthia only had a handful of hours before boarding the boat back to Copper Island. The temptation to break into a run caused her to stumble over the uneven ground. Managing to right herself, she carried on to the taxi rank and jumped in the first available car.

“Sally’s Guest House, please,” Cynthia said to the driver.

She turned in the back seat to look out the window to see if anyone was watching the car. The taxi she was in was the only one at the rank. Cynthia had watched too many movies where someone jumped in the cab behind and instructed the driver to follow her car.

“Are you okay?” the driver asked, looking at her in the rearview mirror.

“Yes. Thank you. I was checking that the boat wouldn’t set sail straight away. I need to be back on the ship before it sails.

“Plenty of time. I can come back and collect you if you want?”

“Yes, that would be great, thank you. I can pay you for both fares when I get out, and we can arrange a time.”

The driver nodded to her, and she risked another glance behind her. There wasn’t another car on that stretch of road.

She arrived at Sally’s Guest House and paid the driver, letting him know when she needed him to return. Once he had driven away and was nowhere in sight, Cynthia turned her back on the guest house. She walked along the quiet road overlooking the sea for a quarter of a mile until she saw two people sitting on a bench. That was when Cynthia ran. Holding onto her crossbody handbag, she called out and sprinted towards them.

Jonathan looked around first, swiftly followed by Benny, her eleven-year-old son.

“Mummy,” Benny called out and ran towards her.

Cynthia crouched, with one knee in the grass and her arms open wide. She welcomed the hug her son gave her. Benny fell to his knees, wrapped his skinny arms around her neck, and held on tight as she rose to stand. He was taller than her already, taking after Jonathan. They looked so alike.

“You’re getting so tall,” Cynthia said.

“I’m the tallest in my class.”

“And the smartest,” Jonathan said, approaching.

Cynthia looked up at Jonathan and grinned. “Hello, my love,” she said and accepted his kiss.

“Hello, Darling.”

“I don’t have long until I have to go back. Imelda is about to give birth, so staying longer this time will raise too much suspicion.”

“That’s okay. We’ll have the holiday together, and that’s only a few months away.”

“I can’t wait.”

The three walked arm in arm down the steep slope to the pebbly beach. Benny raced off to examine the rock pools while Cynthia and Jonathan sauntered behind. She wished she could bring them to Copper Island. Benny would love it there.

“We can marry now. Surely this is the time?” Cynthia said as she kept her eyes on Benny. “Our son is growing up so fast, and he would have a great life on Copper Island. Imelda and Freddie are about to have their fourth child.”

“Cyn, we’ve talked about this. So long as your father is alive, I am not allowed back on Copper Island, and you promised me you wouldn’t take Benny away from me. He has a good life at the boarding school. No one suspects you’re his mother. We came up with a solid story. So long as no one snoops looking for the birth certificate, we’re fine.”

“My father is seventy-three,” she said, slapping her hands to her sides in frustration.

Jonathan took her hands and entwined their fingers.

“Does your father approve?”

“My father will never approve,” Cynthia grumbled.

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