Page 45 of Death on the Rocks (Lily Larkin Mysteries #1)

Chapter Forty-Five

On her last morning on the island, Lily packed her things, then had breakfast with a shell-shocked Alanna. It turned out Mrs Miller could make an excellent fry up when she wasn’t on a mission to incite negative reviews.

Mr Miller offered to drive Lily to the ferry, but she was happy to walk across the island one last time.

She also had a stop or two to make on her way.

Her desire to speak to PC Grainger one last time was only natural, she told herself as she walked.

It occurred to her it would mean saying another goodbye, and the thought of it brought a heaviness to her chest.

As someone who’d spent most of her childhood moving from one place to another, it felt odd to be suddenly having such a hard time saying goodbye to people.

At least until she realised that her upbringing hadn’t even given her the opportunity to say farewell whenever they moved to the next place.

Suddenly, that didn’t seem like a bad strategy.

She could go straight to the ferry and not bother saying goodbye to PC Grainger.

That was what she was thinking about at the exact moment that she spotted him walking towards her.

Her smile came automatically, and she felt suddenly idiotic for thinking that she might just slip away without seeing him again.

“Good morning, PC Grainger,” she said brightly.

“Flynn,” he said, grinning. “Good morning to you, too. I was just on my way to find you.”

Warmth pooled in her stomach as they stopped in front of each other. In a pair of blue jeans and a black T-shirt, he looked way more casual than the other times she’d seen him.

“Sorry,” she said, realising she was staring. “This is the first time I’ve seen you out of uniform. Up close anyway. It’s a little disconcerting.”

“For me too.” His smile slipped away and Lily had the distinct feeling she’d said the wrong thing.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Yeah. I just like my uniform and…” He gave a quick shake of the head and his lips pulled into an unconvincing smile. “The sergeant rewarded my efforts yesterday with some time off.”

“You got suspended?” she said, her voice coming out louder than expected.

“No. Not officially. I got a week’s holiday. Except I’m not allowed to leave the islands.”

Lily frowned, annoyed on his behalf. “I think you should get a promotion. Or a medal maybe.”

“A medal?” He laughed at that, then glanced at her suitcase. “You’re early for the ferry.”

“I know.” Her lips twisted to one side. “I thought I’d grab a coffee before I leave. And I’d also intended to call into the station to see you.”

“Yeah?”

Feeling suddenly self-conscious, her gaze fell briefly to her shoes. “I wanted to thank you for yesterday.”

“Just doing my job,” he said with a shrug.

“Yeah,” she agreed. “But I think there was more to it than that. Your boss had told you to do nothing. And honestly, I don’t think everyone would have believed me.

” She smiled lightly. “Even I thought I might be going crazy at some point, but in the end, you believed me.” She shifted her weight, thinking how good it had felt when he’d arrived on the ferry to back her up. “Thank you.”

The vulnerability in her words hung between them, and the sudden silence seemed to stretch on.

“Can I join you for that coffee?” he asked eventually.

“Only if you’re paying,” she said, her words tinged with teasing that changed the atmosphere in an instant.

“I reckon I can stretch to that.”

“Were you coming to find me for something specific?” she asked as he took her case for her. Since he had a week off work, she assumed he wasn’t coming for an official reason.

“I thought I’d give you a police escort off the island.” A dimple puckered his cheek as he smiled. “Make sure we get rid of you.”

She snorted a laugh. “Because you’re worried about me stealing your job? I reckon I’m the best detective this island has ever seen.”

“You might be right.” He beamed before his features turned serious. “I do feel a little guilty. You did all the work and I’ll get all the credit. Not from my boss, obviously, but I felt like a minor celebrity in the pub last night.”

“To be fair, you made the arrest, and I think you did that quite adequately.”

“ Quite adequately? ” He slid his gaze to her. “Careful with the compliments. You’ll make me blush.”

“You don’t seem like the blushing type,” she said, smiling at him but feeling that heaviness in her chest again.

Her time on the Isles of Scilly had gone by far too fast. “You were impressive, though, yesterday. That whole bluffing thing was genius. I don’t know how you stayed so calm and confident the whole time. ”

“There was at least one moment when I didn’t dare look at you because I was sure I’d start laughing.”

“Me too!” Lily chuckled. “When you said something about a murder investigation and Flora asked if you were serious… all I could think was––”

“ Deadly, ” they both said at once, then grinned at each other and burst into laughter.

They were still laughing when Lily’s phone buzzed in her pocket. She retrieved it, then shook her head at the screen. “Unknown number. No chance.”

PC Grainger gave her a sidelong glance. “I’m surprised. I didn’t think you could cope with leaving a mystery unsolved.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m okay with not knowing which company is trying to sell me something today.”

They continued in silence for a moment and Lily racked her brain for something to fill it. She enjoyed chatting with Flynn and wanted to take the opportunity to do so while she still could. Apparently, her brain and mouth had lost the connection.

“Sorry you didn’t get much of a holiday,” he said eventually.

“As weird as it sounds, I actually enjoyed myself.”

“Not quite what you planned, though.” He gave her one of his playful looks. “Or so I hope.”

“No,” she said. “Not what I planned at all.”

“What was your plan?” he asked with a curious twitch of his eyebrow. “Why did you choose Scilly as a holiday destination?”

She slowed her pace as they bypassed the harbour and made for the promenade by Porthcressa Beach.

“I’d been here when I was a kid,” she told him, not wanting to get into the details. “I wanted to see what had changed.”

“I’ll go out on a limb and say not much. ”

“Actually, I think the introduction of the murder mystery holiday is a new concept.”

He laughed gently. “I’m not actually sure we should joke about that.”

“Police humour, right? It’s a coping mechanism.”

“Yeah, but you’re just a civilian.”

“Thanks!”

At the cafe on the promenade, he held the door for her. It seemed to be a popular spot and the window displays showed off beautiful handmade pottery. Inside, shelves displayed more bespoke pottery, and the air was thick with the sweet scent of freshly baked biscuits.

A familiar face smiled at them from a table just inside the door. “Hi,” Kit said warmly.

“Hi,” Lily replied.

“Feel like joining me?”

When he tipped his head at the chairs beside him, Lily ignored the sinking feeling at the thought that her time alone with PC Grainger was now at an end.

“Thanks.” She took a seat while Flynn went to get them coffees. When he returned, it was with a plate of cookies, too.

“You’ll have to come back again sometime,” Kit said. “Preferably when the weather is better. You didn’t get to see much, did you?”

She shook her head. “I didn’t see any of the other islands.”

PC Grainger dunked a chocolate chip cookie through the foam of his coffee and took a large bite. “It’s a strange thing when you’re too busy tracking a killer to do any sightseeing.”

“It’s been a surreal week,” she said.

“Do you think you will come back?” Kit asked.

“I don’t know.” Her instinct was to say no. Realistically, she didn’t think she’d return. Maybe that was because, in all her travels, she’d rarely returned to the same place once she’d left.

The difference now was that she felt an overwhelming longing to return. It had only been a week, but there was something about this island, and the people she’d met, that made her want to come back.

A loud knock on the window broke her thoughts and had her head snapping up. The scrunched-up face at the glass was familiar, but it took a moment for her brain to catch up and remind her how she knew him. By that time, he was already inside and looming over her.

“I tried calling you.” Mr Greaves looked every bit the solicitor with his immaculate suit and a folder resting in the crook of his arm.

“I don’t answer if I don’t know the number.”

“Kind of pointless to give me your number then, really,” he huffed, looking slightly out of breath. “Anyway, I need to speak to you about the ice cream shop…”