Page 39 of Flowers Go Flying in Crumbleton

‘I know,’ said Milly.

‘Well – I’ve got his number,’ said Caroline with a little shrug.

‘You do?’ said Milly, her eyes going wide as she did her best to resist making grabby hands across the desk.

‘Of course,’ said Caroline. ‘I got it from the Dolphin and Anchor earlier so that I could call him about the article.’

‘Can I…?’ said Milly.

‘Nope,’ said Caroline, smiling at her benignly. ‘I can’t go giving out contact information for my sources willy-nilly, Milly! Imagine if that got out. I’m a professional, after all.’ She grinned and then took a theatrical sip of wine.

‘But—’ started Milly.

‘Of course, I could call him for you,’ she said. ‘Maybe give him your phone number?’

Milly stared at her for a long moment. ‘Won’t that make me look a bit… desperate?’

‘Aren’t you a bit desperate?’ said Caroline.

‘Oi!’ squeaked Milly.

‘About him, I mean,’ said Caroline. ‘Not in general.’

‘I don’t know, Car,’ said Milly. ‘It could backfire…’

‘What, like getting stuck in the middle of Crumbleton marshes and having to get rescued?’ said Caroline. ‘That kind of backfiring, you mean?’

Milly cocked her head. ‘Okay – fair point. I’m sold. Do it!’

‘Ooh, fun!’ said Caroline, grabbing a post-it note from the wall and pulling the phone towards her.

CHAPTER 16

MURRAY

Murray still had an idiotic grin plastered across his face as he tied the boat securely back to the side of the trawler, and then heaved himself aboard. Gone was the headache. Gone was the intense desire to sleep for a week. Milly Rowlands really was some kind of miracle cure for a bash on the head.

Strolling across the deck, Murray sucked in a deep breath of evening air, then turned to stare out at the marshes, golden and gleaming under the lowering sun. The birdsong sounded sweeter than usual, and he had a horrible feeling… a wonderful feeling… was he falling…?

The sound of the Sat Phone rent the air, breaking the spell. Murray groaned. That was going to be Josh again, wasn’t it? The idiot really didn’t get the message easily. If you ignored most people long enough, they simply went away, but Josh was tenacious.

Rolling his eyes, he strode for the cabin. He knew better than to ignore the call. If it was Josh, he’d just keep ringing every five minutes for all eternity – or until Murray answered. He couldn’t be dealing with that tonight. He wanted to revel in the incredible, unexpected, wonderful day he’d just had.

Milly had kissed him – again.

‘What?’ he said, yanking the phone out of its cradle and pressing it against his ear.

‘Don’t say what like that, Murray Eddington!’

Murray flinched. It was a woman’s voice. Stern and no-nonsense. It simultaneously made him think of his mum and the scary dinner lady he’d had at primary school.

‘Erm… sorry… hello?’ he said, trying to place who it was.

‘Hi!’ said the voice again, and this time, there was a bubble of laughter behind it. ‘It’s Caroline Cook from the Crumbleton Times and Echo.’

Of course it was!

‘Oh… right,’ said Murray, slumping slightly. At least it wasn’t Josh, but Caroline wasn’t much better. He didn’t fancy getting grilled about the humiliation of Saturday. ‘Sorry I didn’t call you back. I—’

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