Page 89 of Dead in the Water

Flynn grimaced, worried he was about to give her a reason to stop speaking to him again. “I went to see her,” he confessed.

“You didwhat?”

He held up his hands defensively. “After Glynis told me you’d spoken to Maria, I was worried about you. Since you weren’t talking to me, I thought I’d speak to Maria instead.”

“Flynn!” She glared at him and he couldn’t tell if she was annoyed or just surprised.

“I probably shouldn’t have,” he continued. “I’m sorry, but…” He trailed off, not even sure what to say.

“You thought she was lying?” Lily asked eventually.

“Yeah.” He thought back on the conversation. “She sounded so guarded. I think she’s hiding something.”

Lily blew out a breath. “I’ve been trying to convince myself that I need to leave it all alone.”

“You can if you want. Maybe I’m wrong anyway. She might have been telling the truth.” He attempted a smile. “Are you annoyed that I spoke to her?”

She shook her head. “No. But there’s not really anything more I can do. If Maria won’t talk, I can’t force her.”

“No,” he agreed.

“I also keep thinking about my uncle. He had his faults, but he always wanted the best for me. I came first in his eyes. So if there were things he kept from me, he did so with the bestof intentions. He was keeping me safe. So maybe in this case, ignorance is bliss.”

“That’s not your usual attitude,” he said with a small smile.

“I know, but maybe it should be. I have the ice cream shop, and I’m part of a wonderful community. Things are pretty good.”

“That’s true. It was amazing to see all those boats today.”

“Yeah.” She let out a contented sigh. “I want to be grateful for everything I have. Even if I never find answers about my past, I found a home here. That’s a nice feeling.”

He nodded. Oddly enough, he felt the same about the islands.

He was relieved when Lily moved the conversation to a safer topic – quizzing him about what had happened with Vic at the station that afternoon. She peppered him with questions as he explained how Vic had walked them through the events of the evening – how he’d drugged the others on the boat and had gone out to wait for Joseph. After an argument about the sale of the boat, he’d waited until Joseph was on the steps before hitting him over the head with a brick.

It wasn’t a cheerful conversation, but it should have been an effective distraction.

Annoyingly, even as they rehashed the events of the previous days, he couldn’t shift the quiet feeling of dread at the thought of leaving in less than two months.

Chapter Forty

Seven weeks was lessthan fifty days. No time at all really.

Lily felt sick every time she thought about Flynn leaving. Considering she hadn’t known him very long, it was strange that she struggled to imagine her life without him in it. As much as she wanted to bury her head in the sand, she also wanted to prepare herself for his leaving.

Not that she had any clue how to do that. They’d cleared the air at least, but it might have been easier if he’d just told her he didn’t feel the same way about her. She supposed all she could do was make the most of having him around while he was still there.

The bell rang as she was setting up the shop the following morning and she inhaled a calming breath. Surely, if she ignored the way her stomach fluttered at the sight of him it would eventually go away.

Bracing for the physical reaction to him, she wasn’t sure if it was relief or disappointment when it wasn’t Flynn arriving.

Mostly what she felt was surprised.

“Sorry to disturb you,” Russell said, lugging his suitcase over the threshold and abandoning it just inside the door.

“No problem.” She deposited the tub of ice cream into the display case and smiled at him. “How are you?”

“Great question,” he said. “I have no idea how to answer it.”

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