"Rather like people, then," Sasha observed, and Lukas laughed.
"Exactly like people."
Behind them, Ambrose was making conversation about fertilizer with the desperate enthusiasm of someone trying very hard not to say anything inappropriate. Sasha decided to take pity on him.
"I might wander around a bit more," she announced. "Let you two discuss... plant care. Or whatever."
She left them to their increasingly obvious flirtation and continued exploring. The estate was larger than she'd realized, with gardens flowing into more gardens, each with its own character.
She found herself gravitating toward a bench beneath an apple tree, drawn by the dappled shade and the peaceful sound of bees working among the flowers. It was the first time in days that she'd felt truly relaxed. Well, as long as she didn’t concentrate on the fact that she was unemployed again and definitely didn’t think about climbing into bed with beautiful women. Because Victoria was beautiful. The kind of beautiful that gave Sasha an ache in her stomach and made her want to do ridiculous things. Like kiss her best friend’s sister.
"Enjoying the gardens?"
Ambrose's voice made her jump. He'd appeared beside her bench looking thoroughly disheveled and slightly dazed.
"How did the plant discussion go?" she asked innocently.
"I may have accidentally propositioned a rhododendron," Ambrose said, slumping down beside her. "Lukas was very understanding about it. Also very attractive when he laughs, which is incredibly inconvenient."
"Poor you. Having to pretend to be straight while surrounded by gorgeous men who share your very new-found interest in plants."
"It's torture." Ambrose stretched out his legs and tilted his face toward the sun. "Though I have to say, you seem quite taken with the estate. Very authentic girlfriend behavior, being impressed by the family home."
"It really is beautiful," Sasha said, which was true enough. She chose not to mention that she was becoming equally impressed by certain family members.
He looked over to the large windows, where his sister was still pacing around on the phone. "Vic's always so stressed." He was quiet for a moment, watching clouds begin to bank heavily over the house. "Sometimes I wonder if she envies me."
"Envies you?"
"You know, for being the disappointment. The one who doesn't have to be perfect." His voice was carefully light, but Sasha heard something underneath it. "She's always been the golden child. Straight A's, perfect university, perfect career. Meanwhile, I can barely manage to fake a relationship without accidentally flirting with the gardening staff."
"You're not a disappointment," Sasha said firmly.
"Am I not? Twenty-eight years old, no proper career, gay son who can't even come out to his own grandmother, bringing home fake girlfriends to family gatherings…" He shrugged. "Victoria would never do any of this. She'd find a way to handle the situation with dignity and efficiency."
"She looks like she’d create a spreadsheet," Sasha said. "With columns for 'acceptable topics of conversation' and 'appropriate levels of affection to display.'"
That got a laugh out of him. "She absolutely would. With color coding."
They sat in comfortable silence for a while, watching Cathy work among the vegetable beds with the sort of focused efficiency that suggested she genuinely loved what she was doing. Lukas had disappeared, presumably to stake tomatoes, though Sasha suspected Ambrose was mentally tracking his location.
As the weather grew stickier, they got up and started walking again.
"So, no interest at all in talking about climbing into bed with a stranger last night?" Ambrose asked eventually.
"None," Sasha said. "And she wasn’t a stranger, she’s your sister. And it was an accident. Stupid big house."
Ambrose laughed. "Probably gave her the fright of her life. I’m surprised she didn’t clout you with a hockey stick or something."
Sasha had a sudden vision of Victoria wearing a short hockey skirt and long socks and almost fell into a flower bed. "Thinking about actually asking Lukas out then?" she asked, to cover up.
Before Ambrose could respond, Cathy's voice carried across the garden: "Oi! Fake girlfriend! Your fake boyfriend's about to walk into the fountain while staring at Lukas!"
Sure enough, Ambrose was starting to wander vaguely in the direction of the ornamental fountain, his attention entirely focused on something happening near the greenhouses.
Sasha sighed and hurried to redirect him away from potential drowning. Then she caught one more glimpse of Victoria through the windows, and found herself wondering what it would take to make someone that composed look genuinely, thoroughly happy.
It was, she realized, becoming a rather pressing question.
