Page 4 of Dead in the Water

A flash of nerves hit when the doorbell rang. After buzzing Lily into the building, he left the door open for her and shot back to his bedroom to grab a T-shirt.

“Hi,” she called, wandering into the flat.

“Sorry.” Flynn’s words were distorted by his T-shirt, which he pulled over his head as he walked back from his bedroom. “I only just got out of the shower.”

Smiling lightly, she moved inside, drifting into the living room. “Did you only just get back from work?”

“No.” He grabbed a towel and rubbed it over his wet hair. “But I sat down with my phone and lost an hour of my life scrolling.” He slung the towel over the back of a chair.

“Dinner smells delicious,” she said sarcastically.

Maybe he should have cooked. “I’ll put the oven on now.”

“What are you making?”

“Pizza.”

She lifted an eyebrow. “From scratch?”

“If you call taking the pizza out of the freezer and slinging it in the oven making it from scratch, then yes.”

“I wouldn’t call it that, no.”

Okay, he definitely should have cooked. “You don’t want pizza?”

“Pizza’s fine.” She sank onto the couch with an exasperated sigh. “I just might have got the wrong idea when you said you’re cooking… Are we having a salad with it?”

He grimaced. “Did you want salad?”

“I don’t care.” She slipped her shoes off and put her feet up on the coffee table.

He turned the knobs on the oven, then came to join her on the couch. “It sounds as though youdocare. I would like to point out that you’ve made frozen pizza for me before and I’ve never once complained.”

“I’m not complaining.”

“You should really be glad that I didn’t decide to cook a proper meal. I can’t imagine you’re keen for another bout of food poisoning.”

“Pizza’s fine,” she said, her voice clipped. “How was your day?”

He hesitated, debating whether to go along with the change of subject. “As dull as ever,” he said. “How about you? Did the rain put your customers off again?”

“Yeah. The whole day was quiet. Jessica was bored stiff. She kept finding things to clean until I sent her home early. On the plus side, the shop is sparkling.”

“How’s it working out with her?”

“Good.” Lily sank back into the couch cushions. “She’s great.”

While he went to put the pizzas in the oven, she chatted about the few customers she’d had and cheerfully regaled him with a story about a woman complaining loudly about the terrible coffee at the ice cream shop.

By the time he set the pizzas on the coffee table, she seemed much more relaxed.

“Have you seen anything of Glynis yet?” he asked through a mouthful of pepperoni. “Is she up and about again after her poisoning?”

“I haven’t seen her since I visited her last week, so I guess she’s still not up to her morning walks. I spoke to her on the phone a few days ago and she says she’s okay, except for being frustrated that she isn’t recovering faster.”

“I don’t know why you don’t just speak to Maria,” Flynn said, shaking his head. “I’m not sure how all this waiting and wondering isn’t driving you crazy. Why not just confront her and ask if she owns the ice cream shop? And if she knew your parents.”

“I want to catch her alone.” Lily paused with a slice of pizza before her lips. “Which is difficult while Glynis is still housebound. As soon as she’s out and about again, I can go over and speak to Maria.”

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