Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
Freya
“ Y ou’re not breaking up with me, Luke Turner!” Freya bellowed as she marched down the quayside as dusk was settling.
She saw Luke leaning against the wall, his arse resting against the stones and his ankles crossed. He turned his head towards her and gave her a dazzling grin. She faltered in her hasty steps and covered tripping up with a hop and a skip. Luke burst out laughing, but when she narrowed her eyes and scowled, he pressed the back of his hand to his mouth and swallowed his laughter.
“Hey, Peaches,” he said.
Freya came to a stop a few feet away and put her hands on her hips. She had a letter in her right hand and clutched it firmly.
“Don’t you hey me,” she said.
“You’re the one who has avoided me for a week, not the other way around. You are super stealthy when you don’t want to be found. I thought this island was tiny until you disappeared.”
“You made it very clear you didn’t want me anymore, but I am here to tell you breaking up with me is not on the table. So get it right out of your head.”
“It’s good you feel that way because I didn’t want to break up with you. I wanted you to break up with me.”
“What? Why? You are the most exasperating man I have ever known,” Freya said.
She turned her back to walk away. She got three steps away, let out a muffled scream, and put her hands on her head. She would never break up with him. She would never end their relationship. It had taken her a week to write the perfect letter to tell him, and then she got a message from Heidi to come to the quayside. Determined to see her speech through, she turned back around.
Then she looked down.
“Oh no, no, no,” she said, waggling her finger from side to side. “I’m still mad at you. You can’t do this now,” Freya said.
Luke was on one knee, holding a black leather ring box open. She thought the ring was stunning and itched to put it on. It seemed larger than the one she lost.
“Freya Riley, I want more than anything for you to be my wife.”
“Yes,” she said.
“Please let me finish,” Luke pleaded quietly.
Luke waited for her confirmation. She nodded and lifted the envelope, and pressed it against her mouth.
“Does that mean the letter will have two lipstick kisses now?” he asked with a nervous laugh.
“Is that it? Is that all you have to say? Can I say yes now? ”
“No, Peaches. You have to understand that I love you,” he said, then cleared his throat.
“I love you too,” she whispered behind the letter.
Luke’s face softened, and he smiled his dazzling smile.
“You have to understand that you’re going to be marrying a Turner, and one day a quarter of this island and everything on it will be ours. What comes with that is a lot of hate, animosity and history that the Turners should not be proud of. They ruled with a rod of iron and not in a nice way. They bullied, cajoled and dominated what happened on this tiny scrap of land. I opened the tin that was found in the warehouse, Freya.”
She gasped and widened her eyes. Luke’s face was crestfallen and the saddest she’d ever seen him.
“That part can wait. But you’re not just marrying me. You’re taking on getting this island dragged into the modern world, and with that comes equality, tolerance, and acceptance. It will be hard work, but I hope I can make you happy that the Mr Morris’ of this island won’t penetrate too deeply.”
“I’ll be by your side, Luke, every step of the way. I’ll support you and your brothers, their wives, Daisy, and whoever she pulls into the fold. I promise to hold your hand.”
“Okay, Freya Riley, will you marry me?” Luke grinned and held the ring box higher.
“Yes,” she shouted, throwing her arms in the air.
Somewhere off in the distance, she heard a woman shout yes back. Freya didn’t look to see where or who it had come from. She was on her knees in front of Luke, peering down at the colossal ring. She wanted her hands free for the moment he slipped it on, but she still had the letter and no pockets in her dress. Freya looked to her right, saw a loose rock in the quayside wall, and pulled it out. She shoved the letter in and pushed the stone back in place.
“Won’t that get damp? I won’t be able to read it,” Luke said.
“You don’t need to read that letter anymore.”
“Did you call me bad names in it?”
“Focus, Turner. The ring,” she said, dancing on her knees.
Luke took the ring from the box and tossed the box behind him, he slipped the ring on her finger, and it fit perfectly.
“Oh, Luke, it looks gorgeous and expensive.”
“It is. I’d be grateful if you could try not to lose this one. I don’t want to return to Cynthia if I can help it.”
“You need to kiss me now,” she whispered.
Luke took her by surprise by wrapping an arm around her back and lifting her bridal style. He stood still for a moment and stared at her like he couldn’t believe she was there.
“I’m not going anywhere, Luke,” she said, stroking his cheek.
“Okay,” he replied and then kissed her deeply.
Then he carried her to the buggy waiting for them at the end of the quayside. He placed her on the front bench seat and then returned to get the ring box. Once he was settled, he turned on the ignition.
“Let’s go to Sabrina, and you can judge where I’ve put all the furniture.”
“Luke?”
“Right next to you,” he replied as he drove them up the path.
“I want a big wedding,” she said .
“I know a wedding planner who can help,” he said, giving her a side look.
“I want to get married at Edward Hall.”
“The wedding planner is exclusive to Edward Hall, Peaches.”
“I know what dress I want,” she said.
“Erica will make your bridal dreams come true if you need a top designer.”
“I have a folder, Luke. I know exactly what I want.”
Luke pulled the buggy over to the side under a canopy of trees. He turned off the engine and shifted away from the steering wheel while at the same time hauling her over his lap, so she straddled him.
“Freya?”
“Yeah? I’m right here, sitting on your erection.”
“Babe,” he said and hissed when she ground against him.
“Honey,” she replied.
“You take that folder to Stan. You take Erica and Heidi with you. If you wait until Daisy is back, take her too. Have whatever the fuck you want for the wedding day. It will be a small price to pay for dragging you into Turner history. Are we clear?”
“Yeah, the thing is, I have two folders.”
“Okay?”
“One where my dad was paying, and you wouldn’t be my husband. Then the other where you were going to be my husband.”
“What am I missing here?”
“Is there a budget?”
“Fuck no, have what you want. I’ll steal a few more rings if I have to. Or go diving for the florins.”
“Okay,” Freya said .
“Why are we having this conversation?”
“Because Archer and Jason got married quickly and quietly. There was barely any time to get Heidi ready, but I want the whole thing, the whole experience. I want my mum to be the mother of the bride and wear a fancy hat. It sounds so superficial, but I’ve wanted to marry you for so long.”
“Now I want to marry you tomorrow,” Luke said. “Not to cheat you out of a wedding, but because I think I fell a little bit more in love with you.”
Freya sagged against him at his words.
“You’ll need to wait, and we’re abstaining,” Freya said.
“The fuck we are. You can have the wedding of your scrapbook dreams, but I am not giving up worshipping this body.”
To show he meant it, he slipped his hand under the hem of her dress and found the edge of her panties. He pushed them to the side and slipped his fingers inside her. When his thumb joined, she was moaning and clutching at his shoulders.
“You want to give this up?”
“No, I was joking, I promise.”
“Ride my fingers, Peaches. Show me how much you love it.”
Freya was already wet from his proposal. It didn’t take her long to get her orgasm and for Luke to drive like crazy back to Sabrina Lodge to strip her bare.