Page 37 of The Sunken Truth (Lily Larkin Mysteries #5)

Chapter Thirty-Seven

With the beautiful weather, they had to walk all the way to the end of Porthcressa Beach to get a spot completely to themselves. They didn’t speak as they got comfortable and tucked into their dinner. Lily felt a warm glow that had nothing to do with the sunshine.

The thought that she could lean over and kiss Flynn at any moment made it difficult to contain her smile every time she glanced at him.

When he finished with his fish, he stretched a leg out so it rested against hers. He cast her a sidelong glance. The way his brow creased made her heart squeeze. Whatever he was gearing up to tell her was obviously hard for him to talk about.

“I didn’t grow up with my dad around,” he said, leaning back and propping himself on an elbow.

“He’d turn up every now and again, but it wasn’t regularly or often.

” He paused and plucked a chip from the paper between them.

“I always looked forward to his visits, but with hindsight, I don’t know why.

It wasn’t usually fun, and he was never warm with me or even kind.

Mostly, he’d point out my faults and how I could do better.

He was critical, so I was always trying to get his approval.

When I was about ten, I decided if I became a police officer, he’d definitely be impressed. ”

Lily balled up the chip paper and set it aside.

“In my teenage years, I started to see him for what he really was. I might have been a disappointment to him, but he disappointed me too.”

“But you still wanted to be a police officer?”

“Yeah. I think in my subconscious I was still looking for his approval, but I also really wanted to join the police.”

“What happened when you joined? Were you working with him?”

“Not directly. He told me it would be better if I didn’t let people know we were related. So people could never think there was any nepotism or anything. I have my mum’s surname, so it was pretty easy.”

Lily nodded, pained by the strain in his features as he watched the sandpipers hopping along at the water’s edge.

“I’m assuming there was some incident that annoyed him?” Lily said. “That’s why you ended up here?”

“Yeah.” He reached for her hand, trailing his thumb across her palm and sending a shiver rippling through her.

“I was out with a bunch of colleagues one night and I met this woman. We got chatting, and it turned out that her dad is the Deputy Commissioner in the MET. It’s really high up, so I mentioned that he would know my dad. ”

He took a breath before continuing. “I remember how confused she looked because her dad and my dad were good friends. She’d met my dad and his family lots of times.

They’d had dinners at each other’s houses while she was growing up.

” He swallowed hard. “But she had no idea he had another son. Her dad, who was best friends with my dad, had no clue I existed.”

Lily couldn’t help but grimace. “What did you do? ”

“Hailey, the commissioner’s daughter, was intrigued by the whole thing.

She wasn’t a big fan of my dad, and she wasn’t on the best terms with her dad either, so she was happy to help me devise a way to get back at my dad.

I was furious.” He hesitated. “Not even just angry – I was hurt, and it was like all the years of not being good enough for him had built up into this ball of rage.”

“I’m not surprised.”

He smiled sadly. “The commissioner was planning a party for his 60 th birthday. Hailey invited me along as her date. We went out for drinks beforehand and turned up when the party was in full swing – both drunk.”

Lily winced as she waited for the rest of the story.

“In front of a crowd, Hailey introduced me as her boyfriend. I shook her dad’s hand and announced that I thought he’d already met my dad.

” He caught Lily’s eye and smiled properly.

“You should have seen my dad’s face. I’m surprised he didn’t just deny any connection to me, but put on the spot in front of his peers, he had to admit that he had a son who he’d never mentioned before. ”

“Wow.” Lily said.

“It was satisfying for about five seconds,” he said with a sigh. “Then my dad announced that I’d always been a troublemaker and told me to get out. I happily obliged, which left him free to tell whatever story he wanted.”

“Which was what? How could he possibly make himself look good in that situation?”

“He said he only recently found out about my existence. That I was already grown up when I made contact and that I’d clearly had a terrible upbringing. He told them a bunch of lies about what an awful woman my mum is.”

“But you told them differently?”

Flynn caressed her fingers. “No. I kept my head down. And then about a week later I was told there was a posting on the Isles of Scilly that I should take.”

“Is that how it works in the police? They can just transfer you wherever they want?”

“No. It’s not how it works, but I knew that if I didn’t go along with it, it would only be a matter of time before my dad found a way to get me out of the police entirely.”

“That’s not fair,” she protested.

“No, but he’s in a position of power and people respect him. He could find a way for me to lose my job.” He shifted his weight. “I also realised that I’d never get his approval and I’d be better off if I stopped trying.”

“I think you’re right,” Lily said. “I know he’s your dad, but you’re better off without him.”

“I know that logically.” He frowned and looked out to sea. “But I still spent the last few days trying to impress him.”

“You were trying to impress the superintendent so you could convince him to let you stay longer,” Lily said. “That’s different.”

He shook his head and looked at her intently. “I was trying to impress my dad. And it feels pathetic. I don’t know why I can’t seem to stop caring what he thinks.”

“It’s biological, I guess.” She shuffled closer. “You’re close to your mum, right?”

“Yes.” His eyes sparkled. “She’s great. I might be in a bit of trouble with her though.”

“Why?”

“Because I didn’t tell her about any of this recent stuff with my dad.”

“But she knows you got transferred?”

“Yeah. I lied and said it was just a few weeks to cover for someone. I made out it was a routine thing. And then I just kept saying it’s been extended. ”

“How come?”

“Partly, because I knew she’d be upset on my behalf. Dad’s put her through enough as it is so I wasn’t keen to tell her. Also, because I knew she’d insist on visiting if she knew it was a six-month posting.”

“You didn’t want her to visit?”

“Not when I first moved here. I was convinced I was going to have a terrible time. Plus, if she visited, there was more chance she’d figure out the real reason I was here.

Now, I wish I’d had the chance to show her around.

And I miss her. It’s the longest I’ve gone without seeing her.

I’ll explain everything to her when I get back. I hate having secrets from her.”

“You can bring her over another time,” Lily suggested.

“That’s a good idea.”

“How did she and your dad get together, anyway?”

“It was just a fling. Mum got pregnant, Dad told her to get rid of it, and she refused.” He pushed Lily’s hair from her face.

“The annoying thing is that he was just decent enough that he couldn’t ignore my existence completely.

Things would have been better if he’d never acknowledged me and I hadn’t known him at all. But here we are.”

Lily sighed. “Before, you said you didn’t want to tell me about all this because it reflected badly on you, but I don’t see how.”

“My own dad being against me doesn’t exactly say anything good about me, does it?”

“I don’t think it says anything about you at all,” she remarked. “Apart from that you’re amazingly resilient, to deal with all that and still be a relatively normal person.”

His lips pulled into a grin. “ Relatively? ”

“I don’t want to flatter you too much.”

His smiled died away. “I didn’t handle it particularly well in the end. Getting drunk and making a scene in front of so many people who can influence my career wasn’t my greatest moment.”

“That’s where the rumours came from about you sleeping with some officer’s daughter?” she asked. “It was the commissioner’s daughter. But that was fake…”

He scratched behind his ear as he winced.

“You did sleep with her?”

“We were both single,” he said defensively. “In the scheme of things I don’t think that was really a big deal.”

“So the commissioner didn’t really have an issue with you?”

Again, he winced. “I had a bit of a reputation for being a player… so I suppose I wouldn’t have been anyone’s first choice for their daughter.

I guess it was an easy way for her to annoy her dad.

But my transfer over here was all my dad’s idea, as far as I can tell.

Though I guess it was easy to convince the commissioner it was a good idea.

Especially with Dad spinning all his lies about me. ”

Lily stayed silent for a moment. “What are you going to do? Will you still ask him about staying?”

He nodded. “As much as I hate to ask anything of him, I’ll swallow my pride and talk to him about it. I hope the thought of having me permanently removed from his life will be appealing to him.”

“I’m so sorry,” she said. “Part of me wants to advise you to just tell him where to go, or never speak to him again… but if there’s a chance you could stay…”

He leaned in and kissed her softly.

“It would be worth it,” he whispered against her lips.