Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Daisy
D aisy sat on the stainless steel workbench, swinging her legs deliberately out of sync with Jason, knowing it would drive him mad. She smiled when she saw him try to change speed to keep in time with her, but she changed direction.
“Daisy,” he huffed out.
“Free your mind, brother. You don’t have to be in step with the rest of the world.”
Jason turned his head slowly and looked at her.
“That’s a bit deep for this time of day.”
She let out a short laugh, looked at her brother, and gave him a fond smile.
“Why are you so happy?” Jason asked, narrowing his eyes.
“I’m always happy.”
“Happier, then.”
Daisy shrugged and looked ahead as the side door from the outside opened, and Luke hefted in a stack of ledgers. Archer was at the end of the row with Heidi, Freya and Erica in between them.
“You look like sparrows on a wire,” Luke muttered as he came closer and dumped the ledgers on the workbench across from them. Luke stood behind it like he was a college lecturer about to start his lesson.
“Is it exciting news?” Daisy asked, leaning forward to see what the ledgers were.
“Only you’d be excited about ledgers,” Archer said at the end.
“You better hope I get excited about ledgers. Otherwise, you’ve hired the wrong accountant.”
“True,” Archer said, and the row nodded at the sentiment.
“What news do you have for us? I’m delighted Stan is nowhere to be seen,” Jason said.
It was at that moment the door flew open and banged against the outside wall.
They all waited to see who was coming through, but no one did.
“No surfing today, Daisy, with that wind,” Jason said to her left.
“Shame. I should have gone yesterday when it was calmer.”
“People,” Luke said, striding over to the door and pulling it closed, then clicking the safety feature on the push bar so it still worked, but the door was firmly closed.
“Well, get on with it,” Daisy said.
“Mr Philbott died,” Luke said.
“Oh no,” Freya replied. “I really liked him.”
“Who is Mr Philbott?” Archer asked.
“He was our pottery teacher,” Freya said .
“He also was the island’s stonemason,” Jason added slowly. “What’s in the ledgers?”
Luke grinned. “Every gravestone he made. Every gravestone his father made and back as far as the records were kept. He was old school and refused to use a computer.”
“Okay, so why the dramatic family meeting?” Heidi asked.
“Ohh, shit, all the gravestones he made?” Daisy said.
“Yeah, including the two unmarked gravestones. The thing is, against every gravestone they built and put in place, either at Turner Hall or at the church’s graveyard, it says who is buried in the plot.”
“Shit,” Archer said.
“Yes. The pieces of the puzzle are coming together,” Luke replied.
“Can we have a recap and assume I wasn’t here for six months of this puzzle expedition?” Daisy asked.
“Okay,” Luke said, coming around to Daisy’s side of the table and hopping onto his bench next to the ledgers. “Mrs Philbott said that she had secretly digitised all his records and wondered if we wanted to put these ledgers into the museum so people could look up their ancestors and see where they are buried. There is a separate one for the Turners, and she thought it would be best if we hung onto that one.”
“Why?” Daisy asked, her curiosity piqued.
“Apparently, there’s some sensitive information in there about the Turner family that Mrs Philbott didn’t want to make public. She didn’t give me any more details, but whatever it is, it must be pretty serious.”
Daisy nodded, understanding the need for privacy. She had spent most of her life trying to keep her own family secrets hidden from the world .
“Have you looked?” Daisy asked.
Luke shook his head. “That’s why I called this meeting. The handover was an hour ago. I think we should find out together who is in the unmarked graves.”
Daisy wanted to text Nate and get him to the kitchens, but her brothers didn’t know about him, and Luke would be less than impressed she was seeing her school bully. When Daisy thought too hard about it, she scared herself that she needed to have a bully around her at all times. Her history of growing up in Turner Hall with a bully. How the bullies treated her at school, and then college when she graduated ahead of time and then on the rigs where most of the men thought she was a liability just because she had a vagina.
It wasn’t lost on her she was insanely attracted to the person who gave her hell when she was a teenager.
She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. Daisy was drawn to Nate’s rough edges and his confidence despite her attempts to clear her thoughts of him. Remembering the men she had encountered on the rigs, the ones who thought she was weak because she was a woman. But Daisy was far from weak, and she knew it.
With a deep breath, she opened her mouth to speak, but Archer beat her to it.
“Open it,” he said.
Luke picked up what she assumed was the Turner ledger and thumbed through the pages. It was half the size of the other ledgers and thin. For a family that had a lot of deaths, there didn’t seem to be many pages. When Luke found what he was looking for, he scanned the page with his forefinger and then stabbed the page.
“Well, fucking hell,” he said, giving a humourless laugh.
“Luke,” Daisy snapped.
The others giggled at her impatience .
“All right, calm yourself. I thought Jason was the uptight one,” Luke said.
Jason gave him the finger and then looped his arm around Freya’s shoulder, bringing her in close. Jason’s kiss on her temple reminded Daisy of Nate kissing her temple when she was scared out of her mind.
“We found the tin in the warehouse, and inside were the birth certificates of four children plus some other stuff that makes little sense right now.”
“Like what?” Daisy asked.
“A list of plants and pesticides. I don’t know why she would keep those with her children’s birth certificates,” Luke said.
Daisy went cold all over and gripped the edge of the workbench, stilling her legs.
“You okay?” Jason asked, resting his hand over hers.
“Yep,” she said, repeatedly nodding.
With her other hand, she lifted her phone, held it to her face and then typed out a quick message. She tapped the side button and placed it back on the bench on her right side, where no one was sitting. No matter what they did as siblings, they sat in age order. No one was ever to her right side.
“What’s the link?” Daisy stammered out, desperately trying to hold on to reality before she spaced out.
She could feel it coming.
“Cynthia buried her partner and son under those unmarked gravestones. They died six months before Archer came back to Copper Island. It looks like she buried them here.”
“How did they die?” Erica asked.
Her voice sounded echoey, and all Daisy could focus on was the list of flowers and pesticides. Then she heard a faint hammering like a fist on a door. That’s when she heard a commotion but was too far gone to work out what was happening.
It wasn’t until warm lips touched hers that she came back to the present. She immediately threw her arms around Nate’s neck and held on as he picked her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist, and he cradled her arse.
“Which way to her office?” she heard Nate say.
“What the fuck is going on here? You’re the arsehole who made her life a misery at school.”
That was Luke, she heard shouting at Nate.
“She has forgiven me. Now I’m making amends which is more than I can say for you lot. She’s freaking out, and the furthest any of you are from her is ten feet. Jason, you’re fucking well sitting next to her,” he bellowed.
“How did you know she was freaking out?” Jason countered.
“She sent me an SOS.”
“How did she know you would come?” he bantered back.
“Because I will always come for her,” Nate roared. “You lot are so busy being loved up that you haven’t noticed your goddamn sister could do with support. Now which fucking way to her office?”
“I’ll take you,” Erica said.
Daisy opened her eyes and saw Erica hop off the bench and lead the way. As Daisy passed Luke, Archer, Jason, Heidi and Freya, they all stroked her arm or back. But Daisy didn’t have any energy to respond. She reserved all she had to hang on to Nate.
Nate followed Erica down the hall to Daisy’s office, his heart racing with worry.
“What happened to cause her to send an SOS? Did any of you hurt her? I’m going out of my mind here. Each possibility is more frightening than the last. I can’t bear the thought of anything happening to her.”
Daisy didn’t know who he was talking to, but no one answered.
He had made her feel safe again.
When they finally arrived at her office, he barged in.
“Daisy?” he whispered, his voice barely above a whisper.
At the sound of his voice, Daisy’s eyes shot open, and she looked at him with a mixture of relief and fear.
“Nate,” she said, her voice shaking. “Thank God you came.”
“Is she okay?” Archer asked.
Daisy was now in her office chair. She looked over Nate’s shoulder as he crouched in front of her chair and saw her brothers and the girls standing on the threshold with faces of concern.
“I’ll take care of her. She’ll be fine with me,” Nate said with authority.
“Come and knock on any of our cottages if you need us,” Erica said.
Nate nodded and then focused his attention back on Daisy. His eyes were scanning her face but mainly concentrated on her eyes. She heard her office door click closed.
They were alone.
“You gave my brothers hell,” Daisy said.
“I’m really unimpressed with the Turner boys. They were all up in my face in school because I was an arsehole to you, but now they’re not looking out for you as adults. Fucking hell, Daisy, they were sitting within feet and didn’t notice you silently panicking.”
Daisy stared at him, mesmerised by his conviction, stunned by his vehemence .
“Thank you for coming.”
“I will always come for you, always. I will always take care of you. I promise,” he vowed.
She believed him. She wanted him to as well.
It was at that moment she knew she could love Nate. All she ever wanted was to be taken care of. Not just three weeks on an oil rig or from afar with her mother. She wanted full-time care, love, and passion and believed this man could give it to her.
Daisy couldn’t help but feel a tingle run down her spine as he spoke those words with such sincerity. She knew he meant every single one of them, and it made her heart swell with happiness. For the first time in her life, she felt as if someone truly cared about her.
But as much as she wanted to give into the feeling and let him take care of her, there was still a nagging doubt at the back of her mind. What if he turned out to be just like all the others? What if he tired of her and left like everyone else had?
As if sensing her doubts, he reached out and took her hand, his touch sending shivers through her body.
“I know you’re scared, Daisy,” he said softly. “But I promise you, I will never leave you. I will always be here for you, no matter what.”
She looked at him, her eyes searching his for any sign of deceit. But all she could see was genuine affection.
Daisy couldn’t believe what she was feeling. She had never felt so safe and protected before. The way he looked at her, with such intensity and determination, made her heart race. She knew she wanted this man in her life forever.
As they sat together in her office, Daisy felt her body respond to his touch. His hands were strong yet gentle as he ran his fingers through her hair. She leaned in closer, wanting to feel his lips on hers.
Without a word, he kissed her deeply, his tongue exploring her mouth. Daisy moaned softly, lost in the passion that he was igniting within her. She could feel his desire for her as his hands roamed over her body.
As they pulled away from each other, they were both breathless. Daisy looked into his eyes and knew this was the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. He was the one who would take care of her, protect her, and love her always.
She was sure of it.
“Is it inappropriate that I want to lock that door, close the blinds and have my way with you?” he said, his eyes glittering.
If she was in a better state, she would’ve hopped up onto her desk and pulled him between her legs. But she needed to get a grip on why she kept freaking out.
“I promise we’ll have desk sex at some stage,” she promised.
She was promising more than sex, and his face shone like she’d given him the best present in the world.
Nate wanted her as much as she wanted him.