Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Freya
F reya’s classes were over for another school day, and she needed to get away straight after the bell to get to the lavender farm on the other side of the island. Except there was one student who was dragging his heels leaving the classroom.
“Kenny? Everything okay?” she asked.
“Yes, Miss,” he replied with so much gloom it squeezed Freya’s heart.
His dad, Ralph, worked long hours at Turner Hall. Ralph’s mum had left the island after their divorce. Ralph’s ex-wife came back to Copper Island periodically, but other than that time, it was just Ralph and his dad.
“You don’t sound like everything is okay.”
“Is Mr Turner coming back to evening class again?”
“I’m not sure, Kenny. Is there something you want to talk with him about?”
Kenny didn’t answer, looking at the walls and studying the periodic table like it was the most fascinating thing in the world.
“Well, if you see him, tell him I still have that problem,” he said.
Freya was left open-mouthed as he grabbed his bag from the table and ran through the gap in the tables like a pinball. He flew through the open door. When she couldn’t hear the thunder of his feet on the linoleum floor, she pulled out her mobile from her pocket in her dress.
Freya: I need to talk to you.
Luke: Now?
Freya: Do you have time?
The phone rang in her hand, making her jump. She hit answer and lifted it to her ear.
“What’s up, Peaches?”
“How well do you know Ralph’s son, Kenny?”
“I’ve met him a couple of times. The first time was when I got off the boat and came home for good and the second time was while adding tram lines to the shirts you made me iron.”
She chuckled at his correct assessment of his ironing efforts. Pottery he could make, iron a shirt he could not. But it was the, back for good, that stole the breath in her lungs for a moment. He’d never called Copper Island, home, not ever.
“I have a message for you. Kenny says he still has that problem. What’s he talking about?”
“Those little shitheads that were there in the ironing class. I caught them shoving him about when I strolled through High Street. Can’t stand anyone being picked on, so I had a chat with them. Didn’t see any of them until that class.”
“Did you know he’s Ralph’s son? ”
“Yeah. Where is he now?”
“I don’t know. Should I be worried?”
“How did he look?”
“He looked miserable.”
“Anything physical, bruises, problems moving about?”
“Nope. He shot out of my classroom like his arse was on fire.”
“All right. Maybe I’ll come and see Miss Riley after school tomorrow. See if she’ll let me carry her bag home.”
“Luke,” she said and chuckled. “You don’t have to do that.”
“It will be the perfect cover. We’re friends. Your fiancé is away, so I’m making sure you get home safely.”
“There is no crime on Copper Island, Luke.”
“Doesn’t matter. This is about Kenny.”
“True. Look, I’ve got to get a move on. I need to get to Lavender Farm to pick up my lavender pots.”
“How are you getting there? That’s on the other side of the island.”
“I have exclusive use of the buggy I used to share with Heidi.”
“I’ll meet you there. Help you get the pots into your house.”
“That’s not necessary. I’ll be fine.”
“I’ll meet you there, Peaches.”
Freya brought the phone away from her ear to check they were connected. They were not.
“So bossy,” she muttered as she slid the phone back into the pocket of her dress.
She looked around the classroom. Tidied away a couple of stray textbooks. She closed and locked her desk drawer and then swiped up her slouchy handbag. Before she left her classroom, Freya picked up her jacket, slipped her arms in and shrugged it on.
If she didn’t have a giant rock on her finger, the lining wouldn’t have caught, but when her hand came free, she smiled at the sparkle the diamond gave her as she gazed at it. Then she sighed because it was all fake, and she wasn’t engaged. She couldn’t even muster up a fake fiancé.
Halfway to Lavendar Farm, the buggy bumped over the last slope, and she skidded to a stop inches from Luke. She was not paying attention to what was in front of her, but more to her left, looking out over the cliff and across the water. She turned at the last second to see him.
“Bloody hell, Luke, I could have run you over. What the hell are you doing in the middle of the dirt path?”
He was grinning, standing feet apart with his hands in his pockets. It wasn’t often she saw Luke in proper trousers. He looked smoking hot with his buttoned-up shirt and tie loosened at the collar. He’d rolled up his sleeves and looked like he’d done it quickly because there was nothing neat about it. A long dark smear was up his right forearm.
“You are a menace in that vehicle,” Luke said.
“Hardly. It won’t go more than twenty miles an hour.”
“You can still do damage. Move over and let me drive.”
“Where’s your ride?”
“It went sailing over the cliff about five minutes ago.”
“It did not,” she shouted, looking left and right.
Luke burst out laughing.
“You’re right, it didn’t, but it has broken down half a mile away. I took a look, but I really don’t know why it stopped.”
“You put petrol in, right?”
He gave her a surprised glance. “I’m supposed to fill it with petrol?”
“Luke,” she snapped, not knowing if he was teasing .
“Well, fuck,” he said, raking his fingers through his hair, his head turning in the direction of the sea. “Maybe it just ran out of fuel.”
His head whipped back to her, and he winked.
That wink warmed her insides. He’d never winked at her before. She’d never seen him wink at anyone else.
It was sexy. Very sexy.
“Get in. I’ll give you a ride.”
Then she got a face-splitting grin.
Was he flirting with a knowing grin?
“I’m driving,” he said, trying to shove her over with his hip.
“My vehicle, my rules. I’m driving. Get in, or you can walk.”
“If I walk, I’m walking back to Sabrina Lodge.”
“I never asked you to come,” she replied.
“Come on, Peaches, let’s get going. They won’t be open for much longer.”
He was right, and she was all out of energy arguing pointless conversations after being with the kids all day.
“Fine, but only because kids are exhausting, and you’re the biggest kid of them all.”
He shone his satisfied grin her way and still shoved her over with his hip. She shuffled along to the other side of the bench seat and folded her arms over her chest. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and hauled her back to sit flush with him. When he was happy she was close enough, he dropped his arm to rest on the back of the seat and drove one-handed the rest of the way to the lavender farm.
Luke parked up, and they got out of the vehicle. Freya swiped up her handbag and lifted it to put it crossways over her body. Luke fell into step with her and threw his arm around her neck .
“You know you’re being super weird, right?” Freya said, looking at the hand she could see to her left and then back to his profile.
“Weird, how?”
“You said you didn’t want to touch a woman that belonged to another man.”
“That’s right, I did say that.”
“And here you are with me plastered to your side with your arm around my shoulders.”
“That’s also correct. But I’ve always done that. I reckon whoever this guy is, he needs to get used to the fact I’ve known you forever. We have an unbreakable bond, including hugging, head kisses and arms around each other. Not to mention the occasional piggyback when you’re drunk. Although he can carry your arse home if you get drunk.”
That was the sweetest thing he’d ever said. She’d felt everything he’d said, but she had never heard it from him. She’d hoped they’d had an unbreakable bond. He didn’t talk much about anything, especially in the last seven years since his dad had died right in front of him. Freya wasn’t sure what she was expecting. She knew men were different from women. She would’ve cried and talked Heidi’s head off if it had been her that watched her dad die, but men were different. She’d tried to talk to him, but he was too closed off. She accepted it, trusted that they were still the best of friends and hoped one day he would be okay with talking about that day.
“I don’t get drunk these days. Heidi is too loved up to go to the pub. It’s all changed now she’s besotted with her husband. Not that I begrudge her happiness and her to-die-for cottage.”
“You like her cottage? ”
“I love her cottage. It’s off-the-charts sensational. Archer and Erica’s cottage is awesome too. I know the shells are all the same for the cottages. But Erica and Heidi’s places are so different you don’t realise the layout is the same. To die for, honestly, Luke.”
She gazed up at him smiling, and he had lost all his humour.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I never knew you liked the cottages.”
“Well, I like Archer’s and Jason’s. I’ve never seen yours because you are so ill-mannered you haven’t invited me around. When’s Daisy coming home? Maybe I can get her to go to Friday night drinks, and then I can check out her cottage and see what it’s like.”
“But you have hated the Turner houses for as long as I’ve known you. Which is since we were kids.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever said I’ve hated the Turner houses. They’re magnificent. Turner Hall is so grand I’d be too afraid to stay very long for fear of knocking over something expensive or saying the wrong thing to Bailey. Edward Hall is just as grand in its clinical whiteness. I’ve already told you I’d do just about anything to have a cottage like Archer or Jason’s places.”
“Wow. I must have convinced myself you’d hate it there. It’s why I haven’t invited you around for dinner.”
“Well, now you know. I’ll expect my invitation in the post,” Freya said, smiling as she nudged him with her hip.
“We’re here,” he said, pulling open the greenhouse door and letting her enter before him.