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“Absolutely, you should be very proud of her.” As she spoke, she gazed at Morgan. “She’s an amazing doctor and wonderful woman. I’m lucky to have her here.”

“Of course, we’ve never doubted that at all.” There was a pause before Mrs Kelly added, “Just don’t hurt her, she’s not used to this kind of thing.”

“I’m not planning on that, much the opposite actually. I’ll pass her back to you.”

She handed the phone back to Morgan.

“Hi, Mum…” As Morgan continued to speak, Alex leaned forward and kissed her shoulder, moving her hair out of the way to kiss the sinews of her neck. “I need to go now, Mum… Hm hm, I’ll call you in a few days, okay. Yep, okay…bye.” Morgan disconnected the call and spun around. “That was mean.”

“What?” Alex feigned innocence. “I don’t know what you’re talking…” Her words were cut short when Morgan pressed their lips together.

Pulling away, Morgan smiled at Alex. “That was a nice thing you said.”

“I didn’t say anything that wasn’t true.” Alex fell back, pulling Morgan with her. They wrapped their limbs around one another and rolled until they were on their side, facing one another.

“Maybe not, but still, it’s nice to hear someone say it.”

Alex tenderly pushed away a tendril of hair that threatened to fall over Morgan’s eyes. “Do your parents not tell you they’re proud of you?”

“Sometimes, I suppose they do, in their own way.” Morgan fell backwards and sighed. “I am a capable woman; I don’t need anyone else’s validation anymore,” she said, her neck turning so she could face Alex. “But I like it that I have yours.”

“Oh, you definitely have mine. And I’m sorry about Francine. She got the sharp end of my tongue.”

“As long as it’s only ever the sharp end…” Morgan grinned. “Can we just stay like this?”

Alex caressed her face with a gentle palm. “I’d love to, but York beckons, and we need to vacate the rooms.”

“Onwards then.”

Chapter Fifty-Three

York

It was still frosty to say the least.

Francine sat back in her seat, head buried in her phone once more. Morgan turned enough that she could sprawl across the seat and slide her legs over Alex’s lap and enjoy the teasing fingertips that swirled around her knee and inner thigh, rhythmically and unnoticed, as Alex continued to stare out of the window on their way to York.

Mack sat up front with Mike, his team going on ahead.

Neither reacted when Francine’s phone rang. She answered it quickly with a brusque, “Hello…Yes, this is she.”

Morgan rolled her eyes and put her face back into the magazine she was reading, using the opportunity to widen the space between her knees and subconsciously encourage further teasing higher up her thigh.

“Okay, are you sure?” Francine said, straightening up in her seat. “No, that’s good. Yes, thank you for letting me know. Yes, I will pass that on. Okay. Goodbye.”

Now, she had their attention as both Alex and Morgan turned towards her. Alex’s fingers stilled instantly just as Morgan’s legs clamped together, trapping her hand.

“That was Detective Siba,” Francine said. “Apparently, the firecrackers and the note were the work of one of the choirboys who did it to get back at the choir master for berating him. He wanted to embarrass the school.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” Alex said, squeezing Morgan’s thigh.

“He said to say that the boy has completely owned up and apologises for scaring anyone.”

“Right, so can we put all this behind us and stop talking about cancelling shows. We’re over the hump now and—”

“I have a question,” Morgan said, holding her hand up.

Alex and Francine looked at her and waited.