Stolen Kiss (The Turners of Copper Island #2)

Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

Jason

I t was mid week and the first time he’d been able to sit down with Jason and Erica to talk about anything that wasn’t to do with the wedding business. He had one arm chair while Archer and Erica were on the sofa out the back. November was approaching fast which meant the outdoor heater was on and Erica had a blanket over her legs.

“She didn’t break up with me,” Jason said.

“What?” Erica said putting her coffee cup down with a clatter on the coffee table. She sat bolt upright staring wide at Jason.

“Back up, we haven’t seen you for a few days,” Archer said, leaning forward like he was bracing for details he needed to understand and then sort through.

“I took Heidi for a horseback ride along the beach on Sunday, and then we had a picnic.” He left out the sexy parts and scooted right along. “Keith told her I wasn’t hanging around. While I told you two I couldn’t stay if she didn’t want me, I never told anyone else. Keith is causing shit and I don’t know why. The conversation came around to why things ended and she thought I’d ended it.”

“And you didn’t?” Erica said like she wasn’t keeping commentary.

“It turns out neither did she.”

“What?” Archer said. “She tell you that?”

“Yeah. We’re both clueless why Keith lied to both of us and I am so angry that fucked up our happiness. Keith has gone, don’t know where. He didn’t show for Sunday lunch with his family which is a no-no for the Shaws. If you’re on the island, you show up. Heidi’s dad made that crystal clear this afternoon when he was negotiating my potato supply.”

Archer and Erica smiled at the meaning of what Heidi’s dad was telling Jason. He understood Harold Shaw’s message and Jason hoped things went well enough it would be a lifelong invitation.

Erica broke into his thoughts. “Keith told you, right? He said she didn’t want to get involved long term with a Turner.”

“Correct,” Jason replied. He’d sat back, coffee mug resting on his stomach as he processed the possibilities of what went down.

“Wow, that’s a harsh message to get. Your father and grandfather were alive at the time, right?” Erica said.

“Yeah. I know what it’s like being a Turner, ruled by Turners, so I accepted what she was saying. We had an intense three months but I guess she wasn’t in it for the long term.”

“But you were because you bought a ring,” Erica pointed out.

Jason nodded and took a long sip of his coffee. “I had planned the whole thing. Get married at Gretna Green. It wouldn’t be far for us all to get off the rig. We were three weeks on and three off at the time so Heidi and I could get married, celebrate with family and then we could fit in a honeymoon before I went back for my next shift.”

“That sounds so romantic,” Erica said softly.

“I was so shocked when Keith told me I believed him.”

“Have you talked to Keith?”

“I tried to talk to him when I went for a surf and he closed up on me. There was a scene at Sunday lunch at the Shaw’s place a while back but again he seems like he doesn’t want to get involved saying he was just the messenger.”

“What are you going to do now?” Jason’s brother asked.

“I don’t know. To be honest, if Heidi isn’t all in. I’ll do your friend’s wedding then I’ll recruit you a new chef and go abroad. It was hard enough the first time she called it quits, I won’t stay on this postage stamp of an island if she doesn’t want to marry me.”

“But she didn’t want to call it quits, Jason. She wanted you. But I gotta say, you’ve only been seeing her a couple of months,” Archer said.

“I’ve had an entire summer with her. Now she and I are eleven years older. I’m not fucking about if she isn’t all in. I want a wife and a family and I want it with her.”

“Wow, you must have really loved her,” Erica said.

“I still do,” he clipped.

Erica switched sides and joined him on the chair next to him, taking his hand in hers. “You’ll get this straightened out. I promise. If I can help will you please tell me? I’ll go and see her if you want.”

“Thank you, I’m hoping I can get it all figured out. But if I need the cavalry, you’ll be my first call.”

Jason loved his sister-in-law. Was over the moon his brother had found a good woman. He wanted the same.

Erica squeezed his hand and went back to join Archer on the sofa, snuggling back under the blanket, offering half to Archer. He shook his head like it wasn’t manly to have a blanket over his legs. Erica laughed and rested her head on his arm.

Jason left them to it and walked to his cottage to get his jacket. When he walked past Archer and Erica’s place they were both under the blanket wrapped in each other’s arms with their eyes closed.

He wanted that, and he wanted it badly with Heidi.

Jason had a few stops to make in town. Maggie advised she didn’t have the right button to sew onto his shirt. He got a stern talking to like he was back in school. Jason was careless with his clothes as a kid and a teenager, going through shoes and trousers like they were freely available. He’d learned the hard way, nothing was freely available on Copper Island apart from fresh air. Anything they wanted they had to ship in or fly in and it all cost money.

His father was away on the rigs when his grandfather refused to buy him any more trousers. Jason trudged to Maggie for help and she taught him how to sew and mend clothing.

He knew how to fix his shirt but he needed a button. After rifling through Maggie’s button tin which was an old shortbread tin, he signed dramatically and resigned himself to a trip to McKenzie’s Hardware Store.

Jason walked along the path leading from the estate that ended at the quayside that was rarely used. Only the odd tugboat chugged along that part of the small dock and Stan Meyers when he was fishing.

Which was most days.

Stan’s hat could be seen for miles, a bright red bucket hat that was shoved down on his head making him look twenty years older than he was. Jason approached him from behind admiring the view.

“Do you ever catch anything?” Jason asked him when he looked up from his deckchair.

“No. It would probably help if I had some bait on the hook.”

“So, you’re not actually fishing with a rod, chair, tackle box and the obligatory hat.”

“Correct,” Stan said and chuckled.

Jason gave it some thought and decided not to push why. He’d managed thirty-three years of not knowing anyone’s business he wouldn’t start now.

“How’s the preparations going?” Jason asked, not caring for the answer. He had his shit together, it was up to everyone else to get theirs together.

“Too smoothly. I don’t like it.”

“Do things tend to go wrong?” Jason asked, peering down at him, now concerned.

“Always. I’m waiting for it to happen. Can’t anticipate all eventualities but I’m prepared for nothing to arrive and that includes the bride.”

“I like your optimism,” Jason said chuckling.

“I’ve been organising events for a long time and nothing ever goes right. This is a high fluting Hollywood wedding so you can bet your ass, something crazy will go down.”

“But you’ll handle it, right?”

“That’s what you pay me for.”

Grinning, Jason patted Stan on the shoulder and walked away laughing. It was no way to run a business but if Stan was relaxed, then so should he be.

Striding down the uneven path to the high street, he pushed open the door to McKenzie’s and breathed in history. If only the racks could talk. He’d gone with Ralph’s father a couple of times into the hardware story but only because he could ride in the Turner buggy. They were never allowed to travel in the buggy for frivolous reasons.

He looked at a few lattice type wooden boards on the outer perimeter and couldn’t find buttons.

“Can I help you?” A voice came from the back of the store. Jason grinned at the sound of the familiar voice.

“Hi, Mr McKenzie,” Jason said approaching the bench table at the back. It was the closed off area for the till and his secret cupboards that seemed to have everything that wasn’t on the shop floor.

“Jason Turner? I heard you were back but haven’t seen your face, get over here,” Mr McKenzie said.

He was Jason’s dad’s best friend. Mr McKenzie was nearing seventy, just like his dad wouldn’t been. The man in front of him didn’t look his age. With tanned skinned from the outdoors and crinkly eyes, he looked happy and young. Jason again wondered if that was how his father would’ve looked if he were still alive.

“It’s good to see you, son, how have you been keeping? Haven’t seen you in town since you got back.”

“I’m keeping a low profile while I initiate myself back into Copper Island.”

“May take longer than a few months. I also hear you’re taking out Heidi Shaw. It must be ten years since you were here last for more than a couple of days.”

“Eleven.”

“Time flies. Anyway what do you need?”

“Do you sell buttons?”

“Yep, what kind?”

“I have a picture?” Jason didn’t see the point of dragging his shirt into town so snapped a shot a button instead.

“Got a load of them, how many do you need?”

“Just one, can you sell me one? If not I’ll take a packet.”

“One’s fine, son, I’ll grab it and be right back.”

Mr McKenzie flipped the lid on the counter and marched down the centre aisle and then took a right. He was back moments later with the exact button he needed.

They exchanged more memories and then Mr McKenzie refused his money and he left the shop. Because the man knew Jason well, he gave him three buttons just in case. Jason idly thought to buy a packet of pink and blue buttons and then had an excuse to pay for his purchases.

Walking along the street he paused at the shop window of the jewellers. Would it be tempting fate by seeing if his ring was still there? He wanted Heidi and he would fight anyone for her, even her brother if it came down to it. Deciding to find out he pushed open the door and heard the tinkle of the bell sound.

That bell had been there the last time he walked in.

“Is that you, Jason Turner? I heard you were back, but hadn’t clapped eyes on you.”

It was becoming a familiar greeting and irritating. Attending the gig racing should’ve been enough to tell everyone he was back. Hell, he’d been back for months.

“Hi, Mrs Diamond,” he said still smiling at her name.

Her father had owned the shop originally who had acquired it from the Turner family. No one knows how or cares. It was the only jewellery shop on the island if people wanted gems. There were other artisan shops for silver, bronze and other metals. But if you wanted a gem, you came to Diamond’s jewellers.

“You’ve filled out well, Jason,” she said giving him a cheeky smile. “Anyone catch your eye since you’ve returned?”

Mrs Diamond wasn’t a Mrs when he came in and bought the ring, she was a Miss but rumour had it her long time best friend was her wife but no one was willing to confirm or deny and no one was willing to ask her outright. One day she was Miss Diamond and the next she was Mrs Diamond and no one asked. She was in her late sixties and grew up with his dad and Mr McKenzie. They all kept his dad’s memories alive with the stories of their youth.

“I’m not one to gossip Mrs Diamond.”

“Of course not, and I didn’t mean to pry.”

Jason was trying to make a joke but her face turned serious like she didn’t want to be gossiped about but she was doing it herself.

“I’m only teasing, Mrs Diamond.”

She relaxed at his words and gave him a smile that said are you going to answer.

“I was wondering if the purchase I made was still here? I never got around to picking it up.”

Mrs Diamond’s cheeks reddened and her eyes got glassy.

“We are not gossiping, Mrs Diamond.”

“No Jason, absolutely. But yes, it’s in the safe. Do you want it?”

“I don’t know yet. Can you keep it for me for a little longer?”

“Yes, absolutely I will and I won’t say a word.”

“Thank you and it was good to see you.”

He was about to turn to leave when she blurted, “I wish his grave was in the main cemetery, Jason. I would’ve liked to have laid flowers this month.”

He stared at her wide-eyed, trying to hold back his emotion. “You still can if you want. Let me know when and I’ll take you there.”

They both stared at each other willing the other not to cry. He took it for granted he could pay his respects but forgot that his dad had friends on the island even if Jason didn’t.

“Oh Jason, that would be wonderful and I know Mr McKenzie would want to come too.”

“Arrange a date and time, and I’ll be sure to take you there personally.”

“What about Miss Turner, will she mind?”

“He was my dad and if there are people who want to go and spend time at his grave, then it has nothing to do with my aunt.”

His words came out sharper than he intended. Mrs Diamond took a step back and laid a hand on her chest. She wasn’t scared. There was another emotion in her eyes, almost like she was proud.

“I’ll get right onto it. How can I contact you?”

Jason wrote down his mobile number on a pad of notepaper next to her till. She gave him her business card, and he said goodbye and left before he pulled up a chair and demanded she tell him all the stories she knew about his dad.

He missed him so much and would have loved to talk through his dilemma about Heidi. Jason wished Heidi would’ve known him. He hadn’t met her parents back then, and she hadn’t met his dad.

They never talked about his mother. Heidi tried once, but he lost his temper and she never asked again. He couldn’t think about his mother abandoning all of them he was still too angry.

His final stop was the doctor’s surgery in the hope to see Heidi.

Ducking his head as he walked through the door to the surgery and down the long hall painted yellow he then came to a large open room with chairs around the perimeter. The surgery was an old house donated by the Turner family around the time of the first world war ended and the wounded came back to the island needing far more assistance than anyone expected. Jason’s great grandfather immediately donated the biggest house. Since then the back had been extended to have a small gyno centre and a rehab centre-both physical and mental therapy. Jason remembered his grandfather saying that the returning soldiers wounds might have healed up but their heads needed longer.

“Hey Jason, who are you here to see?” Jason turned his upper body to the voice and smiled when he saw Freya.

Like she didn’t know. “I was hoping to see Heidi, is she here?”

“Yeah, I popped in to give her the buggy keys she wants to use it this afternoon. Go on through that door. There is no one else in the break room.”

“Okay, thanks.”

“Has Mr Shaw secured your attendance for Sunday lunch?” she asked, giggling.

“Yes, he has, we had a battle for three and a half minutes and I suspect I was hustled.”

“You’d be right there. What Mr Shaw wants, Mr Shaw gets.”

“I’m starting to figure that out.”

“I gotta go. Kids to teach.”

Freya left him alone, and he entered the break room and saw Heidi hunched over the table. When he rounded the side he saw she had ear buds in and was wolfing down a sandwich, popping the last square into her mouth. She jumped when he came into view and then gave him a brilliant smile around a hard swallow.

“You scare the crap out of me,” she said.

“Can I close this door?”

“Sure,” she said giving him a grin.

He pushed the door shut and then leaned against it. If they were going to be interrupted, he’d want a warning first.

“Come over here,” he said.

Heidi looked shy and then left her seat to walk over to him. She walked right into his space until her chest was almost touching his. She was wearing a clean set of blue trousers and over shirt. A pen was poking out of her breast pocket. He slid an arm around her waist and closed the distance, widening his feet and positioning her between them.

“I thought I’d say hi,” he said and then dipped his head to kiss her mouth.

He toyed with her, nipping her bottom lip and then kissing her neck.

“I like these hellos,” she said.

He was glad she was receptive after the revelation they had both been lied to by her brother.

“I like this one better,” he said, holding the back of her head so he could kiss her deeply. She opened for him and waited for him to slide his tongue inside her mouth. Once he did she pressed deeper against him, pushing her hands under the hem of his t-shirt and jumper to find his bare skin. He had trouble keeping control when she lazily traced the inch above his belt back and forth. Jason was sure it was frowned upon having sex in the break room of a doctor’s surgery but he was willing to put up with the gossip.

“How much of your lunch break have you got left?”

She giggled over his lips, understanding exactly what he was hinting at.

“Five minutes.”

Damn.

“Shame. Can I see you tonight?”

“Are you cooking me dinner? Please say yes.”

“I can do that. What you in the mood for?”

“Anything at all. It doesn’t matter what it is, because I didn’t have to cook it.”

“All right. What time shall I be at your place?”

“Six? I should be home about then.”

“It’s a date, sweetheart,” he said and kissed her again. “I’ll let you get back to work.

“Shame.”

He grinned at her and then kissed her forehead.

She moved out of his arms and took a step back. Jason moved to the side, hoping his erection wasn’t too obvious. She collected the wrappers from her lunch and tossed them into the bin.

“I’ll see you later,” she said, going on tip toes to kiss his lips.

“You will.”

When he watched her go, he idly wondered if he should go back to Mrs Diamond’s place to get the ring.

Shaking his head, he thought it was too soon. He didn’t want to spook her just yet.