“Definitely.” Lily fought to keep her emotions under control. “When will you leave?”
“We were thinking maybe the end of September.”
“That’s only six weeks away,” Lily pointed out.
“Yes. Things really quieten down around here. There’ll still be some holidaymakers around in autumn, but I don’t actually think you’ll need me. If you want me to stay longer, I can talk to Rhys.”
Lily inhaled deeply. She definitely wanted Jessica to stay longer. In fact, she didn’t want her to go at all.
“Sorry,” Jessica said. “Did I choose a bad time to bring this up?”
“It’s fine,” Lily said, blinking back tears. “You just make your plans and let me know when you’ll be leaving.”
“I’d really like to work for you again next year, if you’ll have me back.”
Lily nodded vigorously. “Whenever you want your job back, just let me know.”
“Thank you.” She wrapped Lily in a hug that almost made her lose control of her emotions altogether.
From the corner of her eye, Lily caught sight of Flynn walking up to the door.Perfect timing.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” she said, managing to smile at Jessica as she headed for the door.
Stopping Flynn with a hand on his arm, she turned him around and set off to the beach.
“Are you okay?” he asked with a puzzled expression.
“Not really,” she replied.
He was leaving, and Jessica was leaving, and she definitely wasn’t okay. She couldn’t say that, though.
Instead, she’d stick to the problem which seemed more manageable.
“Maria definitely lied to me,” she said on a ragged exhale.
Chapter Four
Even if hehadn’t glanced at his watch, it was obvious Lily didn’t have Flynn’s full attention as she filled him in on the memories which had come back to her when the smoke alarm had gone off that morning.
“Do you need to go?” she asked before long.
“No. Sorry. Carry on…” When she failed to continue, he gestured to the sand and they took a seat. “Things are pretty hectic,” he said, “so I can’t stay long, but tell me about it… you really think you were staying here when there was the fire at the shop?”
“Yes. I’m sure of it.”
“Why would Maria lie about that?”
“I don’t know, but previously she was blasé about the fire. As soon as I brought it up, she dismissed it as not being a big deal, but it was a big enough deal for there to be a newspaper article about it. I don’t believe she just forgot I was here. She lied to my face.”
“Are you going to ask her about it?”
She trailed her fingers through the sand and shrugged. “I really enjoyed speaking with her about Uncle Derek. It felt as though I had a connection to him.” A lump formed in her throat. “It’s not as though Maria is related to me, but she knew me when I was a kid. She feels like my only connection to my childhood, and to my family.”
“You’re worried you’ll mess things up if you ask too many questions?”
“Yes. But that doesn’t make a lot of sense. If she’s lying to me, then it’s not a great relationship anyway.”
“Maybe she has a good reason to keep it from you.”
