Chapter 37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Once she’d dropped Flynn’s things off at the hospital, Lily trudged back to the shop feeling defeated. Maybe it was tiredness clouding her thoughts, but she really didn’t think she could open the shop.
With her mind racing, she didn’t notice the figure loitering by the shop until she got near.
“I don’t know why I’m surprised to see you here,” she told Ted. “Flynn called you, I guess?”
“Yes. He said you needed help.”
“Thank you,” she said, sagging into his hug. “Did he tell you everything that happened?”
“I got the broad strokes.” He kept a reassuring hand on her shoulder when he took a step back. “Is he doing okay? He said he was fine, but he has to stay in hospital?”
“Just for another night and mostly as a precaution, I think. He looks rough, but he’s all right.”
“Glad to hear it. No offence, but you look pretty rough yourself.”
“I stayed at the hospital overnight,” she told him, slipping the key into the lock. “I didn’t sleep too well.”
“You’ve got a few hours to sleep before the shop opening.”
“I don’t think I’m going to open today,” she said, stepping inside.
“Flynn thought you might say that. I’m supposed to convince you otherwise.”
“It’s not because of Flynn,” she said, flopping into the nearest chair. “It’s because I now know for a fact that Gordon was sabotaging businesses and I don’t know if he’s contaminated the ice cream somehow. I’ve tasted most of the batches with ingredients from the garden centre, but I can’t be sure.” She ran her hands through her hair. “How can I serve it to children without being certain I’m not poisoning them?”
Ted’s grimace wasn’t exactly reassuring.
“I can’t, can I?” she asked, needing guidance from someone who wasn’t sleep deprived and stressed.
“Where’s Gordon now?” Ted asked after a thoughtful silence.
“At the police station.” She checked her watch. “PC Hill’s taking him to the mainland today, but the ferry doesn’t leave for a while.”
“Okay,” Ted said, returning to the door. “I’ll head to the station.”
“What are you doing?”
“If he tampered with your ice cream, he might admit to it now. It’ll be in his best interests to confess before anyone else gets ill.”
“That’s a good idea.” She sighed. “Should I come?”
He shook his head. “I’ll figure it out.”
Upstairs, she resisted the temptation to get into bed. She needed to wait and see what Ted found out, and then either get to work finishing her preparations for opening the shop, or – more likely – get to work spreading the word that she was postponing.
Sinking into the armchair in the living room, she stared out of the window at the sandy beach and the hypnotic waves washing onto the shore. When her phone rang, she grabbed at it, thinking it would be either Ted or Seren.
An unknown number flashed on the screen. She answered it with a questioning lilt.
“Hi,” the familiar voice said. “It’s Sally.”
“Hi,” Lily said, sitting upright. “How are you?”
“Honestly, I don’t know how I am, but I wanted to call and apologise.”
“What for?”
“For my dad,” she said, as though it was obvious. “I can’t believe what he’s done. This all feels completely surreal, but I’m so sorry. I know he tried to poison you as well as the others.”
“You don’t need to apologise. It was your dad, not you.”
“I know, but I feel as though I should have realised what he was up to. I honestly didn’t have a clue. Even now, I can’t comprehend that he deliberately set out to hurt people. I would never have thought him capable of it.”
“It must be a lot to take in.”
“Sergeant Proctor says he’ll go to prison.” Sally’s voice wobbled, and she paused for a moment. “I just can’t believe any of this. And he tried to get Arthur in trouble. I’m so angry with him.”
Lily nodded, but wasn’t sure what to say.
“Ironically, he’s probably going to get what he wants now,” Sally said tearfully.
“How do you mean?”
“I mean, he’s claiming all this started because I couldn’t get a job here, and he was upset about me leaving, but with him not here, I guess I’ll stick around and take care of the garden centre. At least for the time being. That’s if we even have any customers once everyone finds out what Dad did.” She exhaled a shuddering breath. “I should have told him the truth about wanting to leave the island.”
“Don’t blame yourself,” Lily said. “I’m sure there was more going on in his head than just being angry that you couldn’t find a job. Poisoning people isn’t a normal response to that.”
“You’re right,” Sally said. “I think it was more like a trigger. My mum left him, you know?”
“I didn’t know that.” Somehow, Lily had always assumed that Sally’s mum had passed away, but she’d never really thought too much about it.
“She left when I was thirteen. I had the choice of going with her, and I think I’d have gone if I hadn’t felt so sorry for my dad. Mum wanted a career and felt she couldn’t achieve what she wanted living here. She’s a very successful lawyer now, in Bristol.”
“Is she part of the reason you wanted to move there?”
“Yes, but again, I felt bad for my dad. I guess I was right to worry about how he’d handle it.” She fell silent again for a moment. “Have you seen PC Grainger? The sergeant said he was recovering, but I feel terrible.”
“He’s okay,” Lily told her, then took a breath. “Do you really think you’ll stay on St Mary’s now?”
“Arthur says he can look after the garden centre, but I can’t leave him to run the place alone. Though I guess I may end up closing it, since it wouldn’t surprise me if people boycott the place. I could hardly blame them.”
“If you and Arthur are running it, I’m certain people will support you.” She pressed her head into the side of the chair. “I know I will.”
“Seriously? You’d still take supplies from us?”
“Yes. As long as your dad doesn’t have anything to do with the place.”
“Thank you. That’s sweet of you. Are you all set for the grand opening today?”
“I think so.” She didn’t like to mention that she was waiting to find out if Gordon had poisoned her ice cream. The poor woman had enough to worry about.
“I’m sorry, but I won’t be there to support you. I can’t show my face at the moment.”
“I understand,” Lily said. “Don’t hide away for too long, though. None of this is your fault.”
“Thank you for being so lovely,” Sally said. “I hope you have a great turnout today.”
“Thanks.” Lily told her she’d talk to her soon and ended the call.
She didn’t budge from the chair until Ted returned an hour later.
“And?” she asked, letting him into the flat.
“He didn’t tamper with any of the food he gave you,” Ted said, following her into the kitchen.
“Okay.” She wasn’t particularly reassured. “Of course he’d say that, though. How do we know he’s telling the truth?”
“He admitted to considering it, but apparently Sally had been keen to visit the ice cream shop and he was concerned about her being poisoned.”
“So he has his limits?” Lily asked mockingly. “He draws the line at poisoning his own daughter.” She leaned against the counter. “I’m still not sure I can trust his word.”
“You would if you’d seen the way Sergeant Proctor spoke to him. He really read him the riot act, warning him how much more trouble he’d be in if any children ended up harmed because of him.” He wrapped an arm around Lily’s shoulders and she slumped against him. “I genuinely don’t think there’s a problem with the ice cream. You also said you tested it, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. I felt fine.”
“There we go then. We’ll go ahead with the opening.”
“I suppose so,” Lily mumbled.
“First, you need a nap.”
“I don’t have time to sleep. I have stuff to do.”
“Like what?”
“Like move the ice cream from the freezers into the display case, and write the menu on the blackboard, put out napkins and make sure the place is neat and tidy.”
“If you give me your list of flavours for the menu I can do all of that.”
Emotions clogged Lily’s throat as she shook her head.
“It’s not up for discussion,” Ted told her. “Go and rest. I’ll make sure the place is ready for your first customers.”
“I need to call Seren. She was going to come and help…”
“I’ll call her. Please just go and lie down.”
“Just for half an hour,” she agreed. “My brain probably won’t slow down enough for me to sleep, anyway. Not with so much to do.”
It turned out she was wrong on that front. She was asleep almost as soon as she lay down, and she slept solidly until she felt a gentle pressure on her shoulder.
“Wake up, sleepyhead,” a soft voice said.
She blinked a few times until Seren came into focus.
“Sorry to wake you, but we need you downstairs soon.”
“What time is it?” Lily asked blearily.
“Quarter to two. You have time for a quick shower.”
“Oh, my gosh!” Lily was alert in an instant. “I should have been up ages ago. I have things to do…”
“Ted and I did it. Kit helped too.”
“You’re amazing. Thank you so much.”
“No problem. I heard you stayed at the hospital with Flynn all night.” Her eyes flashed with mirth.
“I was worried and didn’t want to leave him alone,” Lily said, swinging her legs off the bed.
“Are you and he a thing now?”
“No, we’re just friends. We talked about our kiss and…” She dragged her fingers through her hair. “We’re just friends.”
“You don’t seem too happy about that.”
“It’s good,” she said. “It’s really good.”
Seren nodded, apparently content to leave the subject alone for now. “How is he?”
“He seemed okay this morning.” Lily grabbed her phone from the bedside table. “I haven’t heard anything since then. I guess he’s asleep.”
“How long does he need to stay in hospital?”
“Just until tomorrow.” Lily rubbed at her forehead. “I can’t believe I’m opening the shop while he’s in hospital. He’s helped me so much with getting everything organised. It feels wrong that he’s not here.”
“It’ll be fine.” Seren gave her arm a rub. “I also have good news. Glynis is back home. Apparently it might take a while for her to recover completely, but she’s feeling much better. She said to tell you she’s sorry she can’t make it today.”
“It’s great that’s she’s back home,” Lily said.
Seren nodded. “Now get ready and let’s get the party started.”
Even after the nap, Lily really wasn’t in a party mood.
At least she was thankful to have her friends around her. Hopefully, once she was in the thick of things, she’d be able to relax and enjoy it.