“Well, that’s something,” she said to no one in particular. She set her shoulders. “But that house needs to be sold, Flynn, and I’m relying on you to persuade your idiot grandfather to do the decent and sensible thing.”

She arranged herself on the sofa. “Now, anyone wish to join me in a G&T?”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Flynn and I departed the Fontaine Hotel.

“My ears are scorched,” he half joked, giving one of them a playful tug. “I’m fond of my grandmother but she’s like Cruella de Vil on steroids when she gets started.”

I laughed.

“And now I’ve been landed with sorting out my divorced grandparents’ family home. Whoopee! Just great!”

I thought about Merry Wood again as we weaved between the Saturday shoppers. Illuminated Christmas decorations glowed down onto the pavement and at a nearby kiosk, a young man was busy scooping and shovelling hot chestnuts into bags for a group of hungry customers, the warm, cosy scent adding to the festive atmosphere. “But why though? It still doesn’t answer why your grandfather didn’t sell Merry Wood, but led Astrid to think he did. And as for his relationship with Lily…”

“What are you doing this afternoon?” asked Flynn, surprising me.

“This afternoon? Oh, nothing much. I was just going to go home, walk Harley, my rescue pup, and take it easy.”

Flynn towered over me. “I wondered if you might want to grab some lunch somewhere. Then we could go and visit my grandfather.”

I gazed up at him, like a mongoose being hypnotised by a cobra. “What, now?”

Flynn pushed his hands into the pockets of his trousers. “Why not? My magazine photoshoot scheduled for 3pm today has been postponed till next week and you’ve never struck me as the sort of woman who turns down a challenge.”

It was the way he hung on the word challenge that sent my heart into a gallop. What was happening here? Bloody hell! I was standing here, blushing like a schoolgirl! I locked eyes with him. “I do like a challenge.”

A slow smile spread across Flynn’s handsome face. “Well then, lunch first, then we tackle the country’s most revered street artist about his private life.”

So, an easy afternoon ahead then.

We chose an American style place a little further down Byres Road, which served warm pancakes with a variety of delicious toppings.

Its interior was all dark wood and ghost-grey, with huge black and white prints of the Statue of Liberty, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Hollywood sign adorning its walls.

Our cosy booth overlooked the sedate gardens of the Glasgow Royal Botanics, where a choir of children, all decked out in Santa hats, were belting out Christmas favourites for charity.

After some deliberation over the varied menu, I opted for pancakes with strawberries and blueberries, while Flynn couldn’t resist the bacon and maple syrup stack.