Stolen Kiss (The Turners of Copper Island #2)

Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Jason

J ason needed to get out of the kitchen and let off some steam after seeing Heidi. He’d been bubbling with anger for two straight days, so much so that Archer was giving him a wide birth. Heidi looked so good and smelled exactly how he remembered. She smelled of happy memories and happier times.

The last decade wasn’t all bad for Jason. He’d travelled the world with Archer, Luke and Daisy, making memories of his own. Working three weeks on and three weeks off left little time to explore a relationship, and that suited him fine. He pined for a couple of years while he worked and then raised his shield of armour for the rest.

Jason had planned never to see Heidi but now that he had seen her, touched her, smelled her and, with a cheeky platonic kiss, tasted her lip gloss, he was gone all over again.

His surf board was in his old room and to get to his old room he had to go to Turner Hall. Going to Turner Hall meant seeing Cynthia Turner. There was no mistaking he would speak to her. She was surprisingly agile for someone in their eightieth year. He had to ask her about a piece of land anyway for Erica.

He didn’t know why exactly, but Cynthia wasn’t as mean to him as he was the others. When he was a kid, he’d asked her why and she immediately turned her mean side on him for months on end.

Pointing out she had a soft spot for someone wasn’t the way to Cynthia’s heart.

If she had one at all.

Still, years later, Cynthia gravitated to him more than the others and he hadn’t decided if he liked it. Before he started up in the kitchen for the day, he wanted to go out and surf. There was no way of telling how many days he’d get before Autumn really kicked in and the shores on Copper Island became too unsafe to surf.

At Turner Hall, he took the stairs, two at a time, and strode down the corridor to his old room. The door knob was always loose, and he had to rattle it to click the lock open.

“Why are you making all that noise?”

Jason dropped his head and pressed his forehead against the wooden door.

“I wasn’t that loud, Auntie,” he said.

She was baiting him. He could reciprocate.

“It’s Aunt Cynthia to you and your siblings,” she said in her haughty voice.

“Still holding a grudge, I see,” he muttered and turned to give her his best smile.

“What are you mumbling, Jason Turner?”

“Nothing, Aunt Cynthia. I’m picking up my surf board.”

“Haven’t you moved your belongings out yet?”

“Trying to oust me? Is my coming and going too noisy for you?”

“You’re all so quick to move into the cottages. I’m surprised to see any of you.”

“Why do you think we moved in there and not here?”

As soon as he asked the question, he felt guilty. She couldn’t help the way she was, but his aunt pressed his buttons.

She didn’t reply and turned away. Another notch on the guilt meter.

“I’m sorry. It’s just that you didn’t tell us about the wedding business and made Archer get married so we could return and earn a living. I don’t know why you make us jump through hoops?”

“I’m not making you do anything.”

“But if there is something we want you add heavy conditions.”

“No I do not.” Her indignant pose she’d mastered over the years came out. Straight-backed, chin up looking down her nose.

“Okay, I want to get a piece of land to build a small warehouse. Is there anything you can give me?”

It was a low move but if his aunt was so adamant she wasn’t mean he would exploit it. If the glare was anything to go by, she knew he was taking advantage.

“I’ll see what I can do. Bailey will let you know.”

“Thanks Auntie,” he said and grinned.

She gave him a pinched smile and walked away.

Jason sighed and went in search of his beloved surf board hoping it hadn’t ended up on the bonfire.

He didn’t waste any time wandering down memory lane in his old room. He seemed to come into the room every few days over the last few months to pick up bits and pieces, but never staying long.

With his board tucked under his arm, he left Turner Hall, marched past Edward Hall and made his way to the back of Archer’s cottage. Archer was on his own, lounging in the shade on the sofas.

“I’m going to have a chat with Keith, see if he’ll tell me why he cut ties,” Jason said, leaning his board against the low wall by the patio area.

“Are you going to hit him with that board or ride it?” Archer replied.

“Funny. I thought going for a surf might break the ice a bit.”

“Good luck. Do you want me to come with you?”

“Nah, whatever his beef is, it’s best if he tells me directly.”

“Well, don’t punch him. Aunt Cynthia will have a fit.”

“I’ll try my best,” Jason said. “Oh, she’s going to find a piece of land for Erica. Bailey will let us know where it is.”

“Wow, you really are her favourite. Thanks, brother.”

“We haven’t got it yet and we’ll have to make sure it isn’t quick sand.”

Archer laughed as Jason chuckled when he moved away and headed to Little Lagoon, which Keith’s surf shack was located.

Jason left for the rigs when he was twenty-two, but before that he went to college to study at nineteen. Every chance he got, he came back to the island while he studied and so did Heidi. But it wasn’t until he graduated he met Heidi at The Anchor. He was smitten immediately.

They spent hours in the water. Heidi preferred gig racing where Jason preferred to surf. Keith never knew. No one knew.

Heidi was older than Jason but not by much, two years, but the way the birthdays fell, she was only in a year above him at school. Still, it would be enough of a scandal for his aunt. Aunt Cynthia maintained he should be older in the relationship, but then she was old-fashioned. So he didn’t tell her.

He didn’t know what kind of reception he’d get from Keith. The night at the quay he was frosty and snippy. They were in the same class throughout school until he left for college. Jason and Heidi were careful to keep their PDA out of Keith’s sight.

The lagoon wasn’t far from the cottages and it seemed to speed by as he walked, reaching the faded blue shack at the summit of the dunes. Someone had wedged the door open. Jason dropped his board heavily into the sand vertically and once it had stayed put, he strode up the bank to the shed.

He rapped on the outside of the shack in warning he was coming to the door and then poked his head inside.

Keith was tapping at a laptop on a wooden bench at the far end of the shack. Racks of wetsuits were hanging up on hooks protruding from the walls. Along the floor were rows of booties to protect the feet on the sharp rocks.

“I won’t be a second,” Keith called out over his shoulder without looking.

“That’s okay mate, it’s been a decade. Five more minutes won’t hurt,” Jason said, hoping for humour.

Keith spun in his seat on wheels and stared at him for a few beats. His mouth stayed in a straight line, but there was a hint of nostalgia in his eyes. It was something. At least Keith would not punch him. Yet.

“I wondered when you’d come by,” he said.

“You got time for a surf?”

“Always have time for a surf. Let me lock up and we can head out,” Keith said.

Things was improving by the second. It begged the question why there was hostility on the quay but more than that. Why did he cut him off all those years ago?

Jason wandered outside and wrapped an arm around his board, looking out to the water. It was a choppy day with decent swells. He heard Keith move a rock and slam the door to the hut and crunch over loose stone to him.

“Let’s take a walk around the bend. There’s a great spot we can wait for waves.”

Keith didn’t wait for an answer and trudged up the hill with his board. Jason followed and caught up with him.

“How’s business?” Jason asked.

“This summer was crazy. I reckon it has a lot to do with your sister-in-law,” he said.

Jason looked at his profile. There was animosity in his tone, but there wasn’t glee either.

“Has Archer’s marriage become a problem for the island?”

“Not so far. I don’t expect there will be. There is a limit to how many people can book a bed-and-breakfast room or a hotel and there are limited flights to Copper Island. I think we hope that when people come to glimpse the movie star, they spend some money while they’re here.”

“So it’s good for business, then?”

“We’ll see.”

Keith picked up his pace along the rocks until they came to a sandy part that then opened up to a beach. Jason knew Copper Island like the back of his hand but the view still took his breath away. White sand, clear waters at the shore and open space as far as he could see. This side of the island had a view that was all water. Not a single small island or rock formation in sight. It was like the Atlantic wanted an uninterrupted way to batter the island in a storm. Very few came to sunbathe on this beach as the wind was too wild. Anyone would burn within ten minutes.

They waded into the water and then lay prone on the board to swim out into the swell. Neither of them spoke while Keith guided them to the spot he wanted. When they got there, both men straddled their boards and bobbed in the water.

“Why did you send me the message?” Jason asked.

“What message?” Keith asked, looking confused but Jason wasn’t buying it.

“The one that said I wasn’t welcome in your house any longer and Heidi never wanted to see me again.”

“It was for the best.” Anger laced his words, and that made Jason truly annoyed.

“Why?”

“Does it matter anymore? It was a fucking long time ago.”

“And it destroyed me. I’d like to know what the fuck I did?”

“Leave it.”

“I will not leave it. What you told me back then has had a massive impact on my life.”

“Then we’re going be arguing a lot of the time you’re here.”

“That’s the rest of my life.”

“Maybe you should think more of a short-term deal. You’ve been gone for so long. What’s here for you?”

Jason was stunned at the response. It then shocked him when Keith stood up on his board, caught a wave that took him to shore and he walked up the sand bank. Jason remained where he was swaying in the water, wondering what the hell happened eleven years ago to make his best friend so hostile.

Thinking better of it to stay in the water, Jason pushed his fingers through his hair and rode a wave to shore. He didn’t take the route back past the shack, his temper wouldn’t cope with Keith dismissing what a monumental effect he had sending the message.

At least he recognised he sent the message, and it was life altering.