Page 83 of Electric Kiss

“In the warehouse. We found it when we were clearing it out.”

“That makes me laugh. She turned this house upside down looking for it but wouldn’t tell us why.”

“It had birth and death certificates and a concoction that we now know was poison.”

“Luke, when did they die?” Imelda asked.

“Um, a year ago, I think, maybe eighteen months.”

“It was two years ago,” Imelda said. “She had to get her ducks in a row for her plan to work.”

“What plan?” Daisy asked.

“The rig you worked on was a Turner rig. When Freddie died, I was told that Jonathan still wouldn’t marry her or come to the island with Benny. She carried on meeting them. Now that she had the entire inheritance after her father died a year later, the trips were more extravagant. Jonathan had retired from teaching and didn’t want to live on Copper Island. Cynthia bought a villa on Lake Como. Apparently, it held a special place in their hearts, and that was where they were when the accident happened that killed Jonathan and Benny.”

“How do you know this?” Archer asked.

“I have my sources,” Imelda said, winking at her eldest son.

“So she shut down a rig to get us to come home?” Daisy asked, putting the pieces together.

“My guess is that no matter what she thinks or does, everything is about continuing the Turner name and keeping control over Copper Island. If she lives as long as her grandfather, she needs to make sure she lives out her days in the luxury she is used to. Cynthia couldn’t run this island for too much longer. She wouldn’t have the body and mind to do it.”

“That makes sense. The island went drastically downhill when her father died. That would have been about six years ago,” Nate said.

“Freddie never told her a word about how to run the island. Her father and grandfather had no plans for her to inherit, but with Freddie dead and Cynthia still living, thewill dictated the estate went sideways along the family tree and not down.”

“I’m not sure how I feel about all this,” Jason said.

“Best not to think about it. You’ll burn a hole in your stomach. Make the best of what you have now. Don’t dwell on what might have been because you can’t control that. You can control what you have now,” Nate said.

“Those are wise words,” Erica said, bouncing a fussing Isobel.

“I read a lot of books,” he replied.

“Have you seen the library here?” Imelda asked.

Nate shook his head.

“Come on, let’s go and explore. Bailey gave me his keys,” Imelda said, raising a bunch of keys and jangled them.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Daisy

Erica, Heidi, and Freya splintered off with Isobel and went back to Jason’s cottage, leaving Daisy with her mum and brothers and Nate. Maggie said she would take Melly home after promises of visits from Imelda.

“Where are we going?” Daisy asked as they trotted down the main staircase and across the marble foyer.

“Do you remember skidding across this floor in your socks?” Imelda asked Archer and Jason. “Luke, you were too young and kept falling over, and Daisy, you hadn’t been born yet. Your grandfather would get so angry. He was a firm believer in children not appearing in his company until they were at least ten years old.”

Archer laughed. “Yeah, I have great memories of messing about when he wasn’t home. Then that one time, he was in his study and came out bellowing at us.”

“Oh yes, I remember that. I have never run so fast in mylife,” Jason said, chuckling. “I’m laughing now, but I was shitting myself he’d catch up with us.”

“We just scattered,” Archer said. “Dad took Luke and ran out the front door.”

“I ran after them, laughing as we jumped down the steps and then down the pathway,” Imelda said, slinging an arm around Archer’s waist.

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