Page 88 of Electric Kiss

“It’s more than you deserve. But I will not spend another moment of my life with resentment in my heart. You did what you did, and we can’t reverse that. We can only make it better. Watching my children tiptoe around this place is heartbreaking. This is their legacy. It’s about time they enjoyed it while they are young. I want their children to run around this place with no fear in their minds. It’s the very least I can do for them.”

“Understood,” Cynthia said with conviction.

Imelda went to turn away and then turned back. “And another thing?”

“Yes?” Cynthia said a little too brightly.

“Put their names on the damn gravestones. We all know who is buried there.”

Cynthia’s head dropped, her chin touching her chest. Imelda heard the quiet sob before the woman turned and walked away. When she was halfway across the lawn, Imelda was swarmed with bodies around her that had walked out from her kitchen door. Daisy hugged her from behind, and Archer slung an arm around her shoulders. They must have gone through Daisy’s home and let themselves in through her front door.

“You kicked ass, Mum,” Luke said.

His arms were folded like Jason’s stance as they watchedthe elderly woman keep a swift pace as she walked back to Turner Hall.

“I think we’re all free. I hope you’re ready to take over Turner Hall. At least there are eight of you to take the burden. It was too much for Freddie,” Imelda said.

She burst into tears, her legs buckling, but Archer caught her and gently put her on the sofa. Erica bundled Isobel onto her lap, and the gurgling baby chuckled and patted her grandmother’s cheek.

“I am so excited to see my grandchildren grow up,” Imelda said, looking at them all one by one. “It’s going to be bedlam, but I’m going to love every moment.”

“Can I please get married next week?” Luke said.

“No,” came the chorus of replies.

His pout started a ripple of laughter.

“I’ll get the kettle on,” Freya said and headed back inside.

Heidi followed, as did everyone else apart from Archer.

He sat down next to his mum and tickled his daughter.

“Are you okay, Mum?”

“Yeah,” she said, sniffing back tears. “You all call me Mum, and that’s enough for me.”

Archer wrapped his arm around her shoulders and brought her in for a hug.

“And Granny,” he said.

Chapter 31

Twenty years ago

Cynthia

Cynthia stretched out on the sun lounger under the large navy sun umbrella. She watched Jonathan swim laps up and down their private swimming pool, admiring his broad back as he performed a front crawl. It had been years since the pool at Turner Hall had been filled. It reminded her too much of Jonathan and their son Benny messing about in the pool. She smiled at the memory of before Benny was born, and they were skinny dip at midnight while the staff were asleep.

They had been coming back to the villa on Lake Como for a long time. Their son Benny had made Italy his home, enjoying his thirties as a single man. He brought women back to the villa when she’d been there. Now that her father wasn’t as spritely as he once was, she could spend more time at the villa with Jonathan and Benny. She was thankful she’d been gifted the home years before from the previous owners. It was her home now with Jonathan and Benny. With no link to the Turner family.

More importantly, she had no link to her father or her brother, Freddie.

He wouldn’t speak to her, hadn’t for years. Freddie blamed her for his wife leaving him. She didn’t make Imelda leave. The woman couldn’t handle being a Turner. Her father was in his nineties, still sharp but not very mobile. Cynthia was a woman in her seventies and didn’t hurry about as fast as she used to, but she was still fit.

“Phone call,” Jennifer called out from the open French doors of the villa.

“For me?” Cynthia asked.

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