Unspoken: The Lynburn Legacy Read Free

Angela,” Kami said. “We can dwell on the past or we can move into the future!”
    “I can hide your body in these piles of boxes. Nobody will ever find it.” Angela made a gesture of dismissal at the new kid. “Do you mind?”
    He looked at Kami, who gave him a winning smile. This was how it went after Angela dismissed a guy:
then
he would take a look at Kami. Which didn’t always work out for Kami. Angela was the one with the exotic beauty, which was unfair considering that Kami was the one with the Japanese grandmother. Kami’s hair was black but shot with brown, not the raven’s-wing black of Angela’s hair. Kami’s features were subtly different from her schoolmates’, and her skin was pale gold, but she was betrayed by a nose dusted with freckles. Exotic beauties did not sport freckles.
    The Lynburn smiled back at her. Kami liked his smile almost as much as she liked his camera.
    “Seriously,” said Angela. “Go away now.”
    There was only so much rudeness anyone could be expected to take. Kami seized Angela’s arm and pulled herfrom the sofa. “Would you excuse us for just one moment?” she said to the Lynburn. “My colleague and I need to confer in our office.” With that, she hauled Angela into the empty stationery cupboard and shut the door behind them.
    In the darkness, Angela asked, “Why am I in a cupboard?”
    “There are only two important things for us to discuss right now,” Kami said. “The first is that to be a success, our newspaper requires a photographer.”
    “What’s the other thing?”
    “He’d be excellent decoration for our headquarters,” Kami said. “You have to admit, he’s very good-looking, and I need a photographer, so can I keep him, please, oh, please?”
    Angela sighed. In the cupboard, the sigh was like a gust of wind. “Kami, you know I hate guys being around all the time. They won’t stop staring and bothering me and giving me the sad, sad eyes like a puppy dog until I just want to kick them. Like a puppy dog.”
    “So you have some puppy issues,” Kami observed.
    The cupboard door swung suddenly open.
    The new boy stood framed by the bright light of the office. “Sorry to interrupt,” he said. “But I can hear everything you’re saying.”
    “Ah,” said Kami.
    “Don’t worry,” he said. “I can take a hint. Especially if the hint is along the lines of—” He did a good imitation of Angela’s dismissive gesture. “Go away now.”
    Angela looked fondly reminiscent. “We’ve had some good times together, haven’t we? I’ll always remember them. After you go away.”
    The boy’s brow wrinkled slightly. “Also, you might not have noticed, but this is a cupboard.”
    “I admit our private office is of modest dimensions,” Kami told him. “But that’s the way we like it. Just because we’re the editors doesn’t mean we need special privileges. We’re not snobs.” She climbed out of the cupboard, and the new guy offered his hand. She didn’t need it, but she took it all the same.
    He smiled again. “My name’s Ash Lynburn.”
    Kami beamed at him. “I thought so. We don’t get many new people in town. Tell me all about yourself, and let me get a pen so I can write it down. Did I mention that you’re hired?”
    “Kami’s always like this,” said Angela.
    Even though Kami knew Angela was saying it with love, she was saying it in front of someone Kami wanted to impress. She hesitated, then reached out to Jared in her mind, and uncertainty washed away in the wave of reassurance she got back. “True,” Kami said cheerfully. “I am a born reporter. But you know, the old family moving back into the manor house—everyone who comes into my mother’s place is talking about it.” She looked at Ash. “My mum’s place is Claire’s,” she said. “Bakery in the morning, restaurant in the evening. Best food in Sorry-in-the-Vale. We’ll take you there when we have weekend staff meetings.”
    “I’ll look forward to it,” Ash