Page 77 of Electric Kiss

“I’ll see what I can do, but no promises. Those numbers don’t crunch by themselves. We may want to look at the mainland. We don’t have a good rep,” Daisy replied, hopping up onto the stainless steel bench. Everyone took their places, and for once, Daisy had someone to her right. She looked up and saw Nate cuddling Isobel.

“You look good holding a baby,” she whispered.

“We can start immediately,” he whispered back and kissed her cheek.

Freya sat to her left and passed her the cupcake box. “They’re to die for. I think he puts cocaine in them. They are so addictive.”

“I’ve missed these too,” Daisy said.

“I told you they’d come around, honey,” Freya whispered.

“Yeah, I know. I just didn’t see how it would happen. But then Warren’s lies didn’t help.”

“I fired him,” Erica said further up the row.

“What?” Daisy said and leaned forward.

“Yep, no one hurts my family and gets to benefit from me. He’s out, and so is the firm. So, um, I’m kinda looking for an accountant,” Erica said and gave Daisy an eek face.

“Anyone else need me to fix their problems?” she called out and laughed.

The row laughed and dug into their cupcakes. They passed Isobel up the row to Erica, who nursed her while they chatted. Jason looked at the interior door to the kitchen. They could hear footsteps. Then a rattle on thedoorknob before it swung open. They all leaned forward. There were no staff due in, and they were all there.

“If it’s Stan and his fucking spanners, I’m running out the other door,” Luke said.

They didn’t have to wait long when a woman walked through the open door carrying two archive boxes.

“Oh my God, Mum,” Daisy said.

She jumped off the metal bench and ran to her mum. She wrapped her arms around her waist and buried her face in her neck.

“It’s so good to see you. How did you manage to avoid being seen?”

“I don’t care about being seen. I’ve been doing some thinking, and Cynthia Turner doesn’t get to bully me any more. I missed Archer and Jason’s wedding. I had to sneak in to see yours. I want to be there for Luke and Freya’s wedding day. So I’m here,” she declared.

Daisy looked back to her brothers and their partners. None of them showed anger, but they were pensive, to say the least. Isobel let out a string of unintelligible words and wriggled in Erica’s lap.

“You want to meet Granny?” Erica whispered into Isobel’s hair.

Isobel let out a noise and wriggled again.

“I think that’s a yes,” Archer said, picking up his daughter.

He walked to Imelda, leaned in and kissed his mother’s cheek. “Meet your granddaughter,” he said quietly.

Daisy clamped her hand over her mouth to stop the wail begging to come out.

“She’s beautiful,” Imelda said.

“You won’t get any argument from me. What’s in the boxes?”

“They’re from your dad, in case Cynthia made your life difficult after he died and you came back to run the place. From what Daisy has been telling me, I think now’s the time I told you all the truth.”

“How long are you staying?” Daisy asked.

“As long as I’m welcome. I have brought my own food, though,” Imelda quipped.

The rest of the group laughed, but Daisy’s eyes widened. “That’s not funny, Mum.”

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