My chest heaved in sympathy for the pain both of them had suffered. What a mess. It was a heart-breaking story of deception. Two people who belonged together, kept apart for all these years because of the jealousy and resentment of their partners – partners who never really cared for either of them at all.

Beside me, Flynn reached over and took my hand in his. The sensation of his warm fingers furling around mine sent a bolt of happiness through me. I couldn’t fight my feelings for him. It was useless to even try.

I tightened my grip and gave him a shy smile.

“But how on earth could you afford to keep the house?” puzzled Lily, who had emerged onto the top step and was squinting a little in the sun. “You were a struggling artist.”

“Thankfully, I didn’t have to struggle for much longer at the time. Not long afterwards, I started selling a lot of my paintings.”

Flynn senior hesitated, before posing a question. “Have you heard of the artist Chandler?”

“Yes, of course,” replied Lily. “He’s that street artist. Nobody knows his identity.” She blinked down at Flynn senior. He cocked his head to one side and arched one brow.

A little gasp escaped out of her mouth. Her eyes read his face. “No. Are you trying to tell me that’s you? You’re Chandler?”

“Yes.”

Lily gawped past him at Flynn and me, looking for confirmation.

“It’s true, Lily,” I nodded.

She made another stunned noise. “Well, I never,” she managed, fighting to take it all in. “I don’t know what to say.” She allowed this revelation to sink in. “Did Astrid ever find out?”

“Oh yes,” ground out Flynn senior. “At the beginning, I kept it a secret from her. I was worried she might blab to some of her celebrity friends and then it would end up all over the newspapers.”

“But?” I asked.

“But she surprised me. I never knew for certain as she always denied doing it, but I think one day when I wasn’t around, she found the key to my studio – I kept it hidden – and had a snoop around. I’m not sure what she was looking for.”

“And did she manage to find anything?” asked Lily, curious.

Flynn senior raised his brows at the memory. “She spotted my Chandler signature in the bottom corner of one of my paintings and put two and two together, what with the speculation in the papers.”

“How did she react?” I asked him.

Flynn senior squinted up at Lily through the icy brightness fingering its way through the trees. “She was beside herself with joy. I’m surprised she could see past the pound signs dinging up in her eyes.”

He let out a hollow laugh. “If I thought she was planning on broadcasting that her husband was Chandler to the nation, I was very much mistaken. I underestimated even her devious nature.”