Page 1 of Artful Deceit
Chapter One
In the middle of August,summer on the Isles of Scilly came to a screeching halt. For Lily, the disappearance of warm, sunny days was disheartening in more ways than one. First, there was a noticeable drop in the number of customers at the ice cream shop.
It also meant her romantic picnic with Flynn was postponed.
They’d had other dates – dinners, and evenings in the pub – but nothing that matched the idea of sitting on a secluded beach to watch the sunset together.
After a week of waiting for the weather to improve, Flynn arrived at the ice cream shop with his backpack on his shoulder and a picnic blanket slung over his arm.
“Really?” Lily asked, glancing outside. “You think it’s picnic weather?”
“It didn’t rain at all today,” he said, catching her lips in the briefest kiss.
“It’s overcast and chilly,” she said. “And the sand will be damp.”
“Now you’re just making excuses.” He glanced around the shop. “Did you have any customers today?”
“A few. Not many.”
“Was Jessica here?”
“No. I told her to take the day off.” She plucked idly at the fluff on his picnic blanket. “I honestly don’t think it’s picnic weather.”
“Maybe not an outdoor picnic.” His lips twitched into a smile. “I thought we could have an indoor one for now.”
“That sounds better than sitting on a damp beach.”
He kissed her again. “I’m going upstairs to set this up.”
“I’ll tidy up. I shouldn’t be long.”
Half an hour later, she went upstairs to find Flynn had moved the furniture in the living room and set up his picnic blanket in the middle of the room. A plate of sandwiches sat beside a bowl of salad and a quiche.
“Thank you,” she said, accepting a beer from Flynn as he strolled out of the kitchen.
“The weather will probably pick up again soon,” he said, tilting his head. “We’ll have that sunset picnic at some point. I promise.”
She nodded and took a seat at the edge of the blanket.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, sitting beside her and setting a hand on her knee.
“The weather is bothering me,” she said grumpily.
“I know you grew up on the continent, but I thought you’d lived in the UK long enough to be used to it.”
“I am. It’s not just the bad weather though. It’s what it signals. The summer is ending, and everything is changing. I don’t know if I’m going to like winter here.”
He took a long swig of his beer. “You’ll be okay.”
“I know.” She tried not to think about the thing that really bothered her – Flynn’s imminent departure to London in two weeks. “Everything will be all right. The weather is just depressing me.” With a sigh, she switched her attention to the food. “This looks great.”
Flynn filled her in on his day as they ate. While he made an admirable effort to keep the conversation light,the atmosphere wasn’t as relaxed as it could have been. Increasingly, when they were together, Lily couldn’t ditch the sense of desperation she felt over him leaving.
The thought of it made her want to dig her heels in and refuse to let it happen. As though she had any control over it.
When the picnic was cleared away, Lily left Flynn loading the dishwasher and wandered back to the living room, checking for any stray dishes. Finding nothing, she went to the window and stood looking out at Porthcressa Beach.
Clouds covered the moon, and only a few stars were visible in the hazy sky. Light from the buildings along the promenade spilled out to cast shadows along the top of the beach.