‘He’s probably on Tinder looking to date and dump his next victim,’ joked Eleni.
‘It’s not funny,’ insisted Julia but whatever he was looking at on his phone, he was finding it mildly amusing, as his mouth hitched into a smile.
Julia couldn’t help herself, she simultaneously kept flicking her eyes in his direction. ‘Wait until I tell Anais he’s turned up in the village. Out of all the villages in the country, he turns up here.’
‘Did she ever see him after that day?’ questioned Eleni. She too was staring over in his direction.
‘No, she never set eyes on him again.’
Flynn looked up from his phone and caught Julia’s eye, and the moment hung in the air. He acknowledged her with a lopsided grin, and again she felt a tiny flutter inside. Julia shifted in her seat. Damn, she thought, feeling a slight blush to her cheeks, he knew she was watching him.
‘See, he’s friendly, he seems alright to me,’ said Eleni, noticing his smile.
‘I’m definitely intrigued,’ replied Julia. ‘He certainly seems not quite the man I remember, from what I’ve seen so far, but I’m certainly keeping my wits about me. I’m nobody’s fool.’
As the afternoon passed, Julia chatted to Eleni about her plans for the B&B. Everyone was in good spirits, enjoying the sunshine. Fraser patrolled the pub garden, chatting to the customers and making sure everyone was okay, when suddenly there was some sort of commotion. One of the hikers’ dogs had managed to slip its lead and jumped up at a reveller’s plate, swiping a hotdog and swallowing it in nearly one gulp. The hiker scooped up the dog and was apologetic and mortified, however the dog looked very pleased with itself, swinging its tail from side to side. Fraser hurried over with a fresh hotdog.
‘There’s a couple of burgers left – any takers… any more?’ Fraser bellowed on his way back to flip the burgers over.
‘Those burgers have our names on them. Come on,’ said Eleni standing up. ‘We best grab them before that dog goes in for seconds.’
Julia looked over towards Flynn, who wasn’t sitting far from the BBQ. It would be rude not to pass the time of day with him.
‘Maybe we should do the neighbourly thing and invite him over to join us, he won’t know many people in the village yet,’ suggested Eleni. ‘And you can get to know him a little better.’
‘Let’s get those burgers,’ said Julia, not rising to the bait and ignoring Eleni’s suggestion even though she wanted to find out why Flynn was here in Heartcross.
‘As my old granny said, life twists and turns in mysterious ways. People come into your life for a reason. There must be a reason he’s turned back up in yours.’
‘He hasn’t turned up in my life, he’s turned up in the village where I live. That’s nothing to do with me.’ But as they walked over towards Fraser, Julia’s gaze once more drifted over towards Flynn. She noticed he’d taken another phone call and was chatting away once more.
‘A burger, is it ladies?’ asked Fraser, grabbing a serviette and opening up a bun. ‘Onions?’
They nodded.
Just at that moment, the pesky dog escaped its owner again, and with its impeccable timing it tripped up Allie, who was carrying a tray full of drinks. Julia watched in slow motion as the drinks were hurled into the air, before spilling over the burning-hot coals of the BBQ.
Whoosh… Flames hurled high and out of control.
Fraser was waving his arms frantically. ‘Water, we need water, a damp towel… anything.’
Out of the corner of her eye Julia was aware of a sudden movement. Eleni stepped back, and Julia squealed as a tidal wave of ice-cold water was thrown all over the BBQ… and her.
‘What the hell do you think you are doing?’ raged Julia, flinging her arms open wide as the water dripped from her face.
Flynn’s face registered his alarm as he held the empty bucket. ‘Putting the fire out.’
‘Urghh,’ Julia grumbled, swiping the water from her bare arms.
Eleni was doing her very best to stifle her laughter. She bent down and helped Allie pick up the glasses that had been thrown into the air; thankfully most of them had bounced along the grass and not shattered into thousands of pieces.
‘I’m so sorry Dad, I tripped,’ Allie looked genuinely shocked. ‘That dog came from nowhere. I didn’t see it. Is everyone okay?’ She looked around for the dog who had caused the commotion, but he was now sitting down quietly next to his owner like it was nothing to do with him.
After checking Julia was okay Fraser looked down at the two soggy burgers left on the BBQ. ‘I don’t suppose…’ he said turning towards Eleni and Julia. ‘No, of course not. Too soggy and kind of cremated… if you are still hungry, it won’t take too long to get the BBQ up and running again.’
Eleni looked towards Julia then towards Fraser. ‘Why not, it’ll give Julia time to dry out in the sun.’
‘Are you alright?’ asked Flynn, his voice soft and full of concern. ‘I’m so sorry, I just heard a scream, saw flames and reacted.’
‘Am I alright? You’ve just chucked a bucket of ice water over me.’ Julia’s eyebrows shot up. Feeling embarrassed. ‘Look at the state of me,’ said Julia, fully aware that everyone in the pub garden was staring in her direction. She exhaled and straightened her back.
Flynn took a cautious step back and looked at her.
Julia gave a brief headshake and was mortified: her old sodden T-shirt was drenched and clinging to her breasts.
‘Stop looking at me,’ she said with a twinge of irritation.
‘But you just told me to look, and if it’s any consolation you look pretty good to me,’ he said, with a slight smile. But Julia was far from smiling. She huffed and was trying not to focus on his words, but couldn’t help wondering if he was actually flirting with her.
Meredith hurried out then, holding a large towel that she draped over Julia’s shoulders. ‘Here, take this, at least you’ll dry off quickly in this weather.’
‘Thanks Meredith,’ said Julia gratefully, clutching the towel tightly.
‘Let me get you some drinks, it’s the least I can do,’ offered Flynn, this time looking hopefully over towards Eleni.
‘Perfect,’ she replied just in case Julia refused.
Fraser outstretched his hand. ‘And thank you for thinking fast on your feet, those flames could have taken off my eyebrows.’
‘It was nothing, and I am sorry about your soggy burgers.’
Fraser seemed to be chuckling away with Flynn as Julia traipsed back towards the table. She sat down and took a sip of her wine then immediately topped up her glass.
‘It’s a good job Flynn has offered to pay for more drinks, the rate you’re throwing them back,’ observed Eleni.
‘Just look at the state of me. First I trip up not once but twice in front of him, and now he’s flung a cold bucket of ice water over me.’ Julia held Eleni’s gaze and they both burst out laughing. ‘You couldn’t write it, could you?’ Julia was shaking her head in disbelief.
‘You shouldn’t be allowed out without a government health warning stamped on you,’ teased Eleni.