Free Kiss It Better by Jenny Schwartz

appointment?’
    It was bossy and nice. Too much, when you added in how good he looked and felt. ‘Yes.’ She pulled back. Sometimes life presented you with might-have-beens.
    If she hadn’t been a mess, so depressed and exhausted, perhaps there could have been more than passing kindness between them.
    ‘Bye. Have a safe trip home.’
    She walked out of JayBay and it felt as if she were saying goodbye to a whole lot more than a stranger, no matter how sexy and kind. The factory would no longer be in the family. She was saying goodbye to a large part of her life.
    ‘One month,’ she said. Then she had to build a new life.

Chapter Four
    Cassie had all the kitchen windows open, the music pumping and was half-dancing as she stirred together a blueberry-and-white-chocolate muffin mix. The month of enforced rest had been exactly what the doctor — two doctors! — ordered. Plus her blood tests had been fine, just low on iron. She’d put on weight, losing the gaunt look of strain. Her skin was healthy, her eyes clear and she had energy.
    ‘Watch out world, I’m back.’ Not that she’d be returning to Africa. It wasn’t fair to over-stretched health teams to compromise their efficiency with the risk of her burning out again. That and she knew for her own survival, she needed to move on.
    Amazing how weeks of proper sleep enabled a woman to think clearly again. Aunt Gabby had dropped over her herbal tea mix to help with that, and Cassie had finally admitted that she needed help and taken it. One week had retrained her body and mind to shut down and rest. Bliss.
    She spooned the mix into muffin tins. The phone rang and she put down the bowl and licked gooey yumminess off her fingers. ‘Hello?’
    ‘Cassie, it’s Trish.’ She was the local paper’s chief reporter, retired from the national news circuit to a sea-change existence. ‘Your cousin Leighton has been talking to people.’
    Leighton had left Jardin Bay the same day as Theo, and Cassie had hoped he’d gone — not for good, but for long enough to change. From Trish’s tone, she knew Leighton hadn’t changed at all. ‘What sort of people?’
    ‘Media types.’
    Cassie winced as she slid the tray of muffins into the oven. As much as she loved Trish, the media could be ruthless. JayBay had benefited from kind treatment so far, but Tall Poppy Syndrome meant that it could switch to the opposite any time. And there was plenty of incentive in the price Theo had paid Mick for JayBay. Envy was a powerful motivator.
    Trish was still talking, crisp and clear despite the early hour. ‘A guy I used to work with phoned me from one of the big TV news programs. He was fact checking and thought he could get some off-the-record background from me. Brace, girl. Leighton has gone to the media with a hell of a tale.’
    ‘If this is the rubbish that Dad sacked him for protesting the sale of JayBay…’
    ‘The boy’s smarter than that. No, this time he didn’t attack the business. I reckon he calculated that now that Brigid Care owns JayBay, they would take legal action against any accusations of wrongdoing.’
    ‘Theo would,’ Cassie agreed.
    ‘Yeah. It was obvious that one took no prisoners. So Leighton attacked Theo personally.’
    ‘What? Is he insane?’
    ‘He’s your cousin.’ Trish was leaving the judgement up to Cassie. ‘Reason I’m calling you with a heads up is Leighton intends to use you to knife Theo. Like I said, brace. You’re going to get some media attention.’
    ‘Trish, you’re not making sense.’
    ‘I’m breaking it to you gently.’
    ‘Now that’s just scary.’
    ‘All right. Leighton’s story is that he’s your champion. Theo Morrigan arrived in Jardin Bay, saw that you were beaten down by your time in Africa and took advantage to steal your inheritance, JayBay, out from under you.’
    ‘Theo paid Dad millions. And JayBay was Dad’s anyway. I never — wait.’ She took a deep breath, leaning back against the counter, eyes on