Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Flynn was almost at Jago’s place when he met Trystan and Kit Treneary walking the other way.
“If you’re on your way to visit our brother,” Kit said. “You should turn back now and save yourself from getting dragged into helping with his DIY projects.”
Beside him, Trystan rolled his eyes. “I’m not sure you should complain, considering you spent the last two years dragging your brothers into your various renovation projects. Also, if Flynn helps Jago, that’s less work for us to do.”
“That’s true.” Kit grinned. “Carry on, it’s great fun!”
“Thanks for the warning,” Flynn said. “I’ll take my chances. He has beer, right?”
“Yeah,” Kit replied. “But he doesn’t let you drink until you’ve worked for it. He’s very mean.”
Trystan gave his brother a friendly shove.
“Actually, he’s not mean at all.” Kit’s eyes sparkled with amusement. “What I meant to say was that he has tons of beer and shares it willingly. You’ll have a brilliant time!”
Flynn chuckled and lifted a hand in farewell as he left them. A few minutes later he was standing at the gate of what he thought was Jago’s property. There was no signage, but he was sure he was at the right place. His gaze went to the house, then shifted to the bottom of the field where a large barn was located. Hammering started up, drawing his eye to a couple of people working on a wooden deck at the side of the barn.
He shouted a greeting, and the woman waved him over. Tramping through the slightly overgrown grass, he fought to remember the name of Jago’s girlfriend. He was fairly sure it was Sylvie, but still found it an effort to keep track of all the members of the Treneary family.
“Hi,” Sylvie said, grabbing his hand as soon as he reached them and depositing a handful of nails onto his palm. “It’s so good to see you. You don’t mind taking over, do you? He’s not at all bossy. In fact, he’s an absolute delight to work on DIY projects with.”
Jago was on his hands and knees, hammering wooden boards into place, but straightened up, resting on his heels. “I only suggested that you could have the nails ready for me, so I don’t have to ask every single time.” He flashed Sylvie an affectionate mock-scowl.
“I’m going to make a start on dinner,” she said and strode away.
“Hi,” Jago said to Flynn. “You don’t mind, do you?” He tipped his head at the nails in his hand. “I only have five more boards to do, then I’ll give you a tour and we can have a beer.”
“It’s fine, just don’t shout at me. You seem to have a reputation as something of a slave driver.”
“You passed Trystan and Kit, I take it?”
Flynn nodded and handed over a nail.
“It’s not so much that I’m grumpy about DIY…” He paused and gave the nail a few good whacks to drive it in. “It’s that my family members are all a bit incompetent.”
Flynn took a step and picked up the next plank for Jago.
“See!” Jago said. “Pass me a plank and then pass me some nails. It’s not that complicated, but with them I have to politely ask them to pass me things every time.”
“Politely?” Flynn asked.
“No.” Jago wedged the board into place. “I wasn’t polite at all in the end. And then they grumble, as though I’m the problem.”
It didn’t take much time at all until all the planks were in place. Jago stood and stretched, surveying his handiwork, before setting off to give Flynn a tour of his brewery in the converted barn. There was more than a hint of pride in Jago’s voice as he outlined his plans.
The brewery had only been up and running for eighteen months, but he was already supplying most of the pubs and restaurants on the islands with his speciality brews, and would soon open the place up for tours and tastings. They’d have a little shop with merchandise too, and Flynn felt a jolt of envy as he listened to Jago talk so passionately about it all.
He’d never had any particular interest in being an entrepreneur, but if he were going to have his own business, it was exactly the sort of thing that would interest him.
After fifteen minutes of hearing all about it, they ambled towards the house, each with a bottle of beer in their hands.
“How’s everything with you?” Jago asked.
“Fine.” He slowed as they approached the patio at the back of the house and took a swig of his beer. “Something weird happened yesterday.”
That was why he’d visited Jago – because he wanted someone to chat everything through with. It felt a little awkward to bring it up, but Jago knew Lily, and knew the relationship between the two of them.
“What happened?” he asked. “A work thing?”
“No.”
Sylvie interrupted them, stepping out of the back door. “Do you want to stay for dinner?” she asked Flynn. “I’m making fajitas.”
“If you’re sure it’s okay, I’d love to.”
She smiled warmly. “It’s fine with us. Shall we eat out here?”
Jago nodded in response. “Do you need any help?”
“It’s all under control. You two chill out. It won’t take long.”
“Thanks,” Jago called when she stepped through the patio door into the kitchen.
“Have you two been together long?” Flynn asked as they took a seat at the long wooden table.
Jago swigged his beer. “Not really. I met her when I came to visit for Trystan’s wedding about eighteen months ago. Sylvie was visiting, looking for Lowen.”
Flynn quirked an eyebrow, knowing there was a story behind that. “He’s her cousin, right?”
“Yes.” Jago’s lips twitched in amusement. “Lowen has a different biological mother to the rest of us. Sylvie is from that side of his family. She’s not my cousin.” He stretched his legs out in front of him. “Anyway, we were both on the island for a visit and…” He shrugged, apparently deciding to keep the story short. “Now, here we are.”
“So you weren’t even living here then?” Flynn asked.
“No. I was living in New York, and had planned to move to London.” His eyes roamed over the stretch of grass that led to the barn at the corner of the property. “Things worked out pretty well.”
Flynn’s thoughts flicked to his life in London and how much of a wrench it had been to move to St Mary’s. For the first few weeks on the island, he’d been so bitter about the whole thing and was sure he’d hate every moment of his time here.
Now, when he thought about London, it was without the longing that he’d felt before. Over the last month or so, his anger had dissipated, and he’d stopped hating his time on the island.
He didn’t love it, but he didn’t hate it either.
“What was the weird thing that happened yesterday?” Jago asked, snapping Flynn from his thoughts.
“I kissed Lily,” he said, deciding there was no point in beating around the bush.
Jago’s lips pulled into a smirk. “That was pretty inevitable, wasn’t it? You two seem very close.”
“We are close, but just as friends.”
“The fact that you kissed her suggests there might be something more than friendship.”
Flynn shrugged. “We were investigating the poisonings, and we had to hide. The kiss was just a cover.”
“Of course,” Jago said, his voice ringing with amusement. “Seems totally plausible. So you’re not attracted to her?”
“I didn’t say that.” He raised an eyebrow. “She’s really cool, and she’s very attractive. In other circumstances, maybe there could be something more between us, but I’ll be leaving the island in a few months. We can only really be friends.”
“Friends who roll around in sand dunes together?” Jago asked, grinning.
Flynn’s eyes widened. “When did I say anything about sand dunes?” He stared at Jago, who continued his incessant grinning. “Did you already know about this?”
“I may have heard something. It’s a small island.”
“You can’t be serious! Who told you?”
“I read about it in our family WhatsApp group.”
Flynn’s eyes felt as though they might exit their sockets. “What?”
Jago laughed. “I believe Lily told Seren who told Kit, and Kit wrote it on the group.”
“Are you serious? Your entire family knows?”
He pursed his lips. “I’m not sure which group he wrote in.”
“How many groups are there?”
“Far too many,” Jago said, drawing his phone from his pocket. His eyes roamed the screen. “It was the one with just my brothers in it. But it doesn’t make much difference. Everyone will have told their significant others.” His features were filled with mirth. “There’s a small chance Mum doesn’t know. Assuming she hasn’t seen any of the family this morning.”
“And this is the sort of stuff you chat about in your WhatsApp groups?”
“Yeah. It’s very sad, I know. But it’s a small island. Not much going on.”
Flynn tipped his head back and stared up at the darkening sky as he laughed. “This place is ridiculous.”
“It really is,” Jago agreed. “What’s more ridiculous is how quickly you get caught up in the small-town gossip.” He took another swig of his beer. “Was it a one-off then? The kiss?”
“I guess so. Like I said, I leave in a few months.”
“You wouldn’t consider staying longer?”
The question took Flynn by surprise. What was more surprising was that he didn’t immediately baulk at the idea. He shook his head. “It’s only a temporary position. I don’t think I could extend even if I wanted to.”
“Do you want to?”
“No,” he said, but he didn’t sound convincing even to himself. “I have my flat in London and my job, my friends. I’m looking forward to getting back to it.”
“A fling then?”
He screwed his face up. “What?”
“Would you have a fling with Lily?”
“No.” He shook his head. “She’s my friend.”
“You keep saying that,” Jago pointed out, amusement clear in his features.
“Yeah, but I mean, she’s really my friend. How would I go from being friends with her to something else?”
Jago frowned. “Kissing her in the sand dunes seems like a pretty good first step. How were things afterwards?”
“I carried on as normal. I didn’t want things to be awkward.”
“Bad move,” Jago said. “Things are supposed to be awkward while you transition out of friendship.”
“It turns out things are awkward, anyway. But I just told you I can only be friends with her.”
“You’re giving me mixed signals, so I imagine she’s very confused. But if you’re friends and you’re attracted to her, I don’t see why you wouldn’t go for it.”
“Because I’d like to stay friends with her.”
“When I said have a fling, I didn’t mean like a one-night stand. I just meant keep things casual and then see how things are when it gets closer to you leaving.”
“It’ll mess everything up,” he said idly. “If I sleep with her, that’s the friendship over.”
Jago squinted. “When was the last time you were in a relationship?”
“I don’t really do relationships.” Flynn picked at the label on his beer. “Nothing long term, anyway.”
“And by long term, you mean?”
“More than a few weeks.”
“Wow.” Jago stretched his legs out. “So it was always just sexual relationships?”
“Yep.”
“Did you ever like any of these women?”
“Not especially, no.”
“That’s really sad.”
Sylvie stepped out of the kitchen with a stack of plates. “It really is,” she echoed, aiming a sly smile in Flynn’s direction as she slid the plates onto the table.
“Great.” Flynn groaned. “Is this conversation going to be circulated around your entire family?”
“No,” Sylvie said. “You’re safe talking to us. I’d say it’s really Kit and Noah you have to be careful around.”
“Keira can be gossipy too,” Jago added. “Everyone else is fine. Lowen rarely passes information on even if you want him to.”
“Come and help me bring the food out,” Sylvie said to Jago, putting an end to the conversation about Flynn’s love life.