Page 100 of Short Stack 3

“We’d have been the best spree criminals the world has ever seen,” I say seriously.

He smiles. “There is no one with whom I would like better to plan a criminal enterprise. But shall we go back to the hotel instead? I need a bath.”

“You certainly do,” I say with far too much emphasis, making him burst into laughter.

When I look out of the car, I jerk. “Your mum and dad are here.” I turn back to him. He doesn’t seem surprised. “Did you know?”

He nods. “Sal and Ivy are coming tomorrow too.”

I grin at him. “You pull out all the best stops, Tom Wright.”

His face goes soft. “I did that the Christmas I found you, babe.”

That deserves a kiss, and I fall into it. I’m dimly aware of the police radio going and the laughter of our friends and Tom’s parents. We’ll get out and see them in a minute, but for now, I have all that I want and need in my arms.

Mags and Laurie

Beautifully Unexpected

It’s a Family Affair

I can never have enough Mags and Laurie, so it’s always a joy to write them again. The events of this short story happen after Laurie has his operation and are referenced by him in the epilogue.

Chapter 1

Surrey

Laurie

I come out of the en-suite bathroom with my toothbrush in my mouth. Mags is already in bed, resting against the headboard and reading a book. The sheet is pulled up to his waist, and the white cotton shows off the golden tan he got from a couple of weeks we spent in Corfu last month.

“I like your glasses,” I say through my mouthful of foam.

“I cannot understand a word you say,” he replies airily without looking up. “Maybe you should keep the toothbrush in your mouth for eternity and do the world a favour.”

I traipse back into the bathroom, spit out the foam, and dry my mouth. We’re in the country spending the weekend with Mags’s father and stepmother so he can introduce me to them for the first time.

They live in a grand old Georgian house where, whenever I turn a corner, I half expect to find young ladies in regency dress doing watercolours and gossiping.

Our guest room is beautiful, with high ceilings and a huge, sashed window. It’s decorated in soothing tones of mint andlemon, which is a welcome oasis of calm compared to the rest of the house, where it’s apparent that Mags’s stepmother never met a William Morris pattern she didn’t like.

I detour to the open window and look out. It’s very quiet. The house sits on a couple of acres of land, so the only sounds are the rustle of the trees in the breeze and, in the distance, the lonely hoot of an owl. The harvest moon washes the fields around the house a silvery grey like they’ve had a magical spell put upon them, and I mentally frame the sight as if taking a snapshot so I can paint it later.

“Did you take your eye drops?” Mags’s charmingly accented voice comes from behind me.

I turn and wink at him. “Yes, Daddy.”

“I think I would make an admirable daddy. I am strong, handsome, intelligent, compassionate, and caring.”

“You’ve overegged that pudding so much it’s virtually an omelette.”

“And also capable of dealing with the most aggravating of personalities.”

I climb into bed, inhaling the scent of lemon on the sheets, and settle into the pillows, lying on my side so I can watch him. Only a slight twitch of his mouth shows he’s aware of my observation and that it amuses him. No one else would notice that twitch, but I do. I spend a lot of time looking at this new possession of mine. My Mags. He’s endlessly interesting.

“So?” I finally say. “What do you think?”

He turns a page. “About what? The current banking system, the state of world politics, or the decline of the bee population?”

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