Page 88 of A Poisonous Plot

“Yeah. I felt fine.”

“There we go then. We’ll go ahead with the opening.”

“I suppose so,” Lily mumbled.

“First, you need a nap.”

“I don’t have time to sleep. I have stuff to do.”

“Like what?”

“Like move the ice cream from the freezers into the display case, and write the menu on the blackboard, put out napkins and make sure the place is neat and tidy.”

“If you give me your list of flavours for the menu I can do all of that.”

Emotions clogged Lily’s throat as she shook her head.

“It’s not up for discussion,” Ted told her. “Go and rest. I’ll make sure the place is ready for your first customers.”

“I need to call Seren. She was going to come and help…”

“I’ll call her. Please just go and lie down.”

“Just for half an hour,” she agreed. “My brain probably won’t slow down enough for me to sleep, anyway. Not with so much to do.”

It turned out she was wrong on that front. She was asleep almost as soon as she lay down, and she slept solidly until she felt a gentle pressure on her shoulder.

“Wake up, sleepyhead,” a soft voice said.

She blinked a few times until Seren came into focus.

“Sorry to wake you, but we need you downstairs soon.”

“What time is it?” Lily asked blearily.

“Quarter to two. You have time for a quick shower.”

“Oh, my gosh!” Lily was alert in an instant. “I should have been up ages ago. I have things to do…”

“Ted and I did it. Kit helped too.”

“You’re amazing. Thank you so much.”

“No problem. I heard you stayed at the hospital with Flynn all night.” Her eyes flashed with mirth.

“I was worried and didn’t want to leave him alone,” Lily said, swinging her legs off the bed.

“Are you and he a thing now?”

“No, we’re just friends. We talked about our kiss and…” She dragged her fingers through her hair. “We’re just friends.”

“You don’t seem too happy about that.”

“It’s good,” she said. “It’s really good.”

Seren nodded, apparently content to leave the subject alone for now. “How is he?”

“He seemed okay this morning.” Lily grabbed her phone from the bedside table. “I haven’t heard anything since then. I guess he’s asleep.”

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