All the damn time.
“You’re wrong,” he managed, and triumph flashed in Marielle’s eyes because she knew he was lying too.
“I’m going to install the mirror,” she said, and flounced out of the kitchen.
CHAPTER 25
NOLAN
Alexa lagged behind on the hike up the hill—not a surprise—but she wasn’t as out of breath as Nolan had expected. She’d confessed that she did yoga most days, plus Chase dragged her into the gym at least twice a week, always under protest, and she liked to swim as well. Only in a pool, she clarified. Not in the ocean or the sea or a lake because there might be a shark lurking in the depths.
“I’m pretty sure sharks don’t live in lakes,” Nolan said as Juno bounded on ahead of them. “Don’t they need saltwater?”
“There are literally river sharks. And bull sharks can migrate between saltwater and freshwater.”
“Okay, so no rivers. How about a swimming hole?”
“Is it heated?” she asked suspiciously.
“It’s halfway up a mountain.”
“So? Haven’t you heard of wind turbines?”
“No, it isn’t heated.”
“Then I’m not going in it.” She steadied herself on Nolan’s arm as she clambered over the trunk of a valley oak that had fallen in the last big storm. “Have you ever considered moving some of these damn logs?”
“Considered it, but I don’t like to make the place too accessible.”
“I thought you said Antonella Cranston rode her horses around here?”
“Her horses can jump the logs, but folks on wheels don’t have that same ability. A couple of years ago, one of my trails got listed on a trail bike website, and I had to put up a fence along part of the boundary to stop the tourists. And then there’s the Hayes boys on their ATV…”
“How much farther do we have to walk?”
“About half a mile.”
“Ugh.”
“Do you want me to carry your backpack?”
“No.”
“What do you have in it anyway?”
When she said she wanted to bring a few essentials, he figured she’d toss snacks and sunscreen into a daypack, but she’d shown up ready for an expedition.
“Stuff.”
“An emotional support laptop?”
“I don’t need a lecture, okay?”
So that was a yes. “Not lecturing, just worried about your back.”
“I’m fine.” Then, five minutes later. “Are we nearly there yet?”
The clearing on the hill was Nolan’s favourite place in the world, and until recently, he’d never thought he’d be able to share it with his favourite girl. But fate—and a bunch of cyber criminals—had stepped in, and now here they were. The light hit just right, filtering through the leaves of the majestic oaks that ringed the scrubby grass. At the far end, crystal-clear water tumbled over rocks into the swimming hole, not much more than a trickle at this time of year, but still a good example of Mother Nature’s beauty.
