Page 49 of The Sunken Truth

“It must be a relief that she wasn’t having an affair with your dad. Sad how things turned out for her and your uncle though.”

“Yeah.”

“What are you thinking?” Flynn asked.

“I think she didn’t tell me everything.” She pressed her lips together when she realised what she’d said.

“Why?”

She opened her mouth, then clamped it shut, not sure how to explain. Or mostly if she should explain. She could trust Flynn, though. If there was anyone in the world she could tell everything to, it was him.

“Lily?” he prompted when she remained silent for too long.

“Sorry.” She set off up the beach, all thoughts of spilling her guts dissolving in an instant. “I don’t know what I’m thinking. I probably need some time for it all to sink in.”

“That makes sense.”

As a thought occurred to her, Lily stopped dead. “She didn’t ask how he died.”

“Excuse me?”

“Maria didn’t ask how Uncle Derek died. Or when. Why wouldn’t she ask that?”

“Had you mentioned it before?”

“Maybe.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “I might have mentioned my uncle dying but I’ve never given her any details. You’d think she’d be interested in that, wouldn’t you?”

“I suppose.”

“The only reason she wouldn’t ask is if she already knew… but how could she have known? She said she was in touch with him after we moved back to the UK, but she’d have to know someone he knew to find out he was dead.” She paused, her mind whirring. “That’s weird, isn’t it?”

“A little. Maybe. I don’t know.”

Lily growled in frustration as she crossed the promenade.

“What are you doing this evening?” Flynn asked.

“Making ice cream.” Just the thought of it calmed her. While she mixed ingredients, she could chew over the events of the day and hopefully get things straight in her mind. “How did it go with Kurt, by the way? Did you track him down?”

“No. He wasn’t answering his door. Even though his landlady was convinced he was at home.”

“Weird.”

“Yeah. I’ll try again tomorrow.”

Chapter Twenty-One

It had beena long-standing joke that it was Lily who set a faster pace for their morning runs. At any hint of tiredness from Flynn, she’d tease him mercilessly about his inability to keep up.

This morning it was Lily who struggled to keep pace, and she wondered whether he’d been holding back on her for all these months. She prided herself on her fitness, but maybe he’d been humouring her the entire time. Now, after only a mile, her lungs burned and her muscles complained.

When she slowed and then stopped, it took Flynn a while to notice.

Finally, he looked back for her and she walked to catch up while he waited further along the path.

“You okay?” he called out.

“You were sprinting,” she told him, irritation rife in her voice.