Page 46 of A Poisonous Plot

Beside him, Trystan rolled his eyes. “I’m not sure you should complain, considering you spent the last two years dragging your brothers into your various renovation projects. Also, if Flynn helps Jago, that’s less work for us to do.”

“That’s true.” Kit grinned. “Carry on, it’s great fun!”

“Thanks for the warning,” Flynn said. “I’ll take my chances. He has beer, right?”

“Yeah,” Kit replied. “But he doesn’t let you drink until you’ve worked for it. He’s very mean.”

Trystan gave his brother a friendly shove.

“Actually, he’s not mean at all.” Kit’s eyes sparkled with amusement. “What I meant to say was that he has tons of beer and shares it willingly. You’ll have a brilliant time!”

Flynn chuckled and lifted a hand in farewell as he left them. A few minutes later he was standing at the gate of what he thought was Jago’s property. There was no signage, but he wassure he was at the right place. His gaze went to the house, then shifted to the bottom of the field where a large barn was located. Hammering started up, drawing his eye to a couple of people working on a wooden deck at the side of the barn.

He shouted a greeting, and the woman waved him over. Tramping through the slightly overgrown grass, he fought to remember the name of Jago’s girlfriend. He was fairly sure it was Sylvie, but still found it an effort to keep track of all the members of the Treneary family.

“Hi,” Sylvie said, grabbing his hand as soon as he reached them and depositing a handful of nails onto his palm. “It’s so good to see you. You don’t mind taking over, do you? He’s not at all bossy. In fact, he’s an absolute delight to work on DIY projects with.”

Jago was on his hands and knees, hammering wooden boards into place, but straightened up, resting on his heels. “I only suggested that you could have the nails ready for me, so I don’t have to ask every single time.” He flashed Sylvie an affectionate mock-scowl.

“I’m going to make a start on dinner,” she said and strode away.

“Hi,” Jago said to Flynn. “You don’t mind, do you?” He tipped his head at the nails in his hand. “I only have five more boards to do, then I’ll give you a tour and we can have a beer.”

“It’s fine, just don’t shout at me. You seem to have a reputation as something of a slave driver.”

“You passed Trystan and Kit, I take it?”

Flynn nodded and handed over a nail.

“It’s not so much that I’m grumpy about DIY…” He paused and gave the nail a few good whacks to drive it in. “It’s that my family members are all a bit incompetent.”

Flynn took a step and picked up the next plank for Jago.

“See!” Jago said. “Pass me a plank and then pass me some nails. It’s not that complicated, but with them I have to politely ask them to pass me things every time.”

“Politely?” Flynn asked.

“No.” Jago wedged the board into place. “I wasn’t polite at all in the end. And then they grumble, as though I’m the problem.”

It didn’t take much time at all until all the planks were in place. Jago stood and stretched, surveying his handiwork, before setting off to give Flynn a tour of his brewery in the converted barn. There was more than a hint of pride in Jago’s voice as he outlined his plans.

The brewery had only been up and running for eighteen months, but he was already supplying most of the pubs and restaurants on the islands with his speciality brews, and would soon open the place up for tours and tastings. They’d have a little shop with merchandise too, and Flynn felt a jolt of envy as he listened to Jago talk so passionately about it all.

He’d never had any particular interest in being an entrepreneur, but if he were going to have his own business, it was exactly the sort of thing that would interest him.

After fifteen minutes of hearing all about it, they ambled towards the house, each with a bottle of beer in their hands.

“How’s everything with you?” Jago asked.

“Fine.” He slowed as they approached the patio at the back of the house and took a swig of his beer. “Something weird happened yesterday.”

That was why he’d visited Jago – because he wanted someone to chat everything through with. It felt a little awkward to bring it up, but Jago knew Lily, and knew the relationship between the two of them.

“What happened?” he asked. “A work thing?”

“No.”

Sylvie interrupted them, stepping out of the back door. “Do you want to stay for dinner?” she asked Flynn. “I’m making fajitas.”

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