Page 2 of Dead in the Water

Lily beamed. “I’d argue with you on that one, but I suspect you’re only being polite.”

“You don’t like your own coffee?”

“No, but I love the coffee at the cafe a few doors down. If you want good coffee, you should go there.”

“I’m not convinced about your marketing tactics,” he said, then licked at his ice cream.

“This is an ice cream shop,” she said flatly. “I want to be known for the great ice cream, not for the coffee. I didn’t offer coffee at all when I first opened, but people kept asking, so I gave in.”

“It seems you’re missing a trick by not offering both good coffee and good ice cream.”

Lily shrugged. “I don’t want to put myself in competition with other small businesses. The island isn’t big enough for that.Especially since I really like the woman who owns the cafe. Now I get to go to her place and have a decent coffee as a treat. It wouldn’t be the same if I had access to great coffee all the time.”

“You make some good points.” He wiped a smudge of ice cream from his moustache. “The ice cream is definitely good enough to keep people coming back, so you have no worries there.”

“Thanks,” Lily said, glancing out at the rain, which was still coming down hard. “I hope the weather picks up for you tomorrow. The islands are spectacular when the sun comes out.”

“I think they’re pretty lovely anyway,” he said, offering her another smile before returning to his friends.

At a noise from the back room, Lily went to check what Jessica was up to. She was still getting used to having an employee, and it wasn’t the first time she’d forgotten Jessica was there.

She’d met the confident teenager a month or so earlier when her boyfriend had gone missing and Lily had helped to track him down. Having just finished secondary school, Jessica had been looking for a summer job and enquired about working at the ice cream shop a few days after Lily had opened.

At sixteen, she was full of energy, and had been quick to learn the ropes. Having an extra pair of hands was great when the weather had been decent, but the two days of solid rain had kept customers away, leaving them scrabbling for ways to kill the time.

“What have you found to do now?” Lily asked, amused to find Jessica crouched in front of the new cabinets with a bucket of soapy water and a cloth. All the food which had been in the cabinets was laid out on the countertop.

“Just giving the cupboards a clean,” she said, reaching to the back with her cloth. “Do you need me out the front?”

“No.” Lily leaned against the counter. “Considering the cupboards were only installed a few weeks ago, I’m not sure they’re in need of a deep clean.”

“Sorry.” She sat back on her heels. “I couldn’t think of anything else to clean and time goes slowly when there’s nothing to do.”

“You could just go home early,” Lily suggested. “There really isn’t much point in us both being here when it’s so quiet. I appreciate all your cleaning efforts, though.”

Idly, Jessica ran her cloth over the cabinet door. “I was also thinking I’m fine alone here if you ever need to leave early. I’m sure I’d be fine to lock up if you wanted.”

“Thanks. It’s great that you feel so confident. I’ll probably take you up on it at some point.”

“Tonight would be fine. If that would be helpful.”

Lily tilted her head. “Why do I feel like you’re trying to get rid of me? Were you planning on inviting your friends over for a party or something?”

Jessica blew a raspberry as she laughed. “That’s a great idea and I’ll keep it in mind for the future, but I was actually thinking you might want extra time to get ready for your date this evening.”

Lily did a slow blink. “Mywhat?”

“Your date.” Jessica sucked in a sharp breath. “Oh my goodness. Was it supposed to be a secret? I promise I wasn’t eavesdropping. I was standing right next to you when you arranged it, so I assumed you knew I could hear.”

“If you were standing next to me, could you please remind me of the details because I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Your date with PC Grainger,” she said, a flicker of concern in her eyes.

“Oh, that!” Lily snorted a laugh. “That’s not a date.”

“Really? He said he was cooking for you. It sounded like a date.”

“Did it?” Lily’s mind flashed up an image of the time they’d kissed on the beach a few weeks back. Something her brain liked to remind her of regularly.

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