Page 21 of Dead in the Water

“Yeah.” Flynn stretched his neck. “I didn’t know how badly I wanted to stay until I found out I couldn’t. Now it feels like a massive blow. Suddenly, I’m dreading leaving.”

“Is there no other way for you to stay?”

Flynn huffed out a humourless laugh. “I suppose I could ask for a job at the pub. There’s no way I can stay here as a police officer, and I really can’t imagine doing anything else.”

“Maybe Lily would move to London.”

He shook his head. “The ice cream shop is thriving. She’s settled.”

“So you just stood her up for your date?”

“Yes,” he said with a sigh. “Which I feel terrible about. She was already having a bad day.” He dropped his head to his hands and dragged his fingers through his hair. “I can’t bring myself to start something with her, knowing that I’ll be leaving soon. Leaving is going to be hard enough as it is.”

“What about a long-distance relationship?”

“I’ve thought about that, but I don’t think it’s realistic.”

Jago nodded. “You probably need to have this conversation with Lily.”

“I know. I just couldn’t face it today.”

He’d need to speak to her soon, though. He couldn’t imagine their friendship remaining intact if he wasn’t honest with her.

And her friendship was one thing he never wanted to risk.

Chapter Eleven

For the firsttime since she’d opened the ice cream shop, Lily woke feeling unmotivated. Usually, she was raring to go and excited about the day, but today she felt groggy. She knew it was down to her cancelled plans with Flynn, and that fact annoyed her.

She shouldn’t take it personally. He’d had to work, but no doubt he’d call in the shop later and they’d make new plans. For all she knew, they’d be on their picnic this evening and she’d kick herself for overthinking everything.

Fresh air and a morning walk would probably perk her up.

Going to the harbour hadn’t been her conscious intention, but she supposed it made sense that she’d end up there.

It was eerie to think Joseph had died there. His life snuffed out, just like that. A chill crept up her spine, and she dragged the zip of her hoodie further up, despite knowing it wasn’t the temperature that caused her to shiver.

“Morning!”

She turned at the cheerful voice and smiled at Rhys, who loomed over her. The teenager seemed to grow taller every time she saw him – which was pretty regularly now that his girlfriendworked for Lily. She never saw him alone, though, and they rarely exchanged more than a polite greeting.

“How are you?” she asked.

“I’m good.” His eyes sparkled as he grinned. “Work has been busy.”

“Ted mentioned there’s been more interest in the boat tours.”

He nodded emphatically. “Holidaymakers love it. It’s weird because all we do is take them along and do what we’d be doing anyway, but they love learning about the lobster pots. And they’re so fascinated by the wildlife. I guess I forget that this isn’t normal for most people.” He gestured towards the water. “I think having some reviews has helped to get more interest, but a lot of it is word of mouth, which is really cool.”

“You do a great job of advertising it.” That had been left to him since he was way better at it than Ted, his stepdad. “I’m really glad it’s working out well.” The tourist trips had been her idea. It had always been clear to her it was something people would be interested in, but seeing their business expand gave her a buzz.

“It was a good idea,” he said with a playful twitch of his eyebrows.

He seemed so much more mature than when Lily had first met him a couple of months ago. Which made sense since he’d left school since then and had started working for a living.

“I forgot my phone on the boat this morning,” he said, tipping his head towards the jetty. “I was just heading back to grab it. What are you doing wandering out here? Don’t you have a shop to deal with?”

“I do,” she said, amused by his playful tone. “I felt like some fresh air before opening time. It’s a little morbid that I ended up here.”

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