You wouldn’t dare!!
While Helen had been spending her days on the beach with her family, Seb had been spending his last days tying up the loose ends on the campaign with Brenda.
Yesterday, he’d taken the train to London to meet with Mikey and Evie for lunch in Covent Garden. They’d left the older children with Evie’s mom and had come with only their new baby, Benjamin, who was now six weeks old. Evie had looked really well and—as she put it—so happy to be out doing normal things now she’d recovered from the difficult birth.
“I can’t thank you enough for all that you did this summer, Seb,” Mikey had said.Man, he’d looked tired.But the guy had four children under the age of five and ran a successful business. For sure he’d look tired. “You did an awesome job. I’m sorry if the extra workload impacted on your time with Helen. How is she now?”
The time had come to tell Mikey and Evie the whole damn story, from his stupid fake-girlfriend plan and the Cassie mix-up to Bastard Bates and the police operation.
Mikey, a taciturn man, had looked very displeased, and worse, he’d looked betrayed. “Well … seems like you’ve had quite the adventure this summer. All that bull you gave me about why Helen wasn’t called Cassie, and now this? You were lying this whole time. Pretending. How could—”
“People lie sometimes,Adam.” Evie’s sharp tone cut him off.Why did she call him that?Whatever the reason, Mikey went very still, then he started picking crumbs from the table. “Sebastian’s just explained his reasons,” Evie continued. “He’s truly sorry, can’t you see that?”
Mikey cleared his throat, then after several long moments, gave Seb a reassuring and forgiving smile. “Thanks for telling me. I appreciate your honesty, and yeah, I understand that sometimes peopleneedto lie.” That last bit was directed at his wife with a pointed look which Evie returned with one of her own.
Seb ignored the unspoken words that had passed between them. “I am truly sorry but hey, it seems that I got my comeuppance anyway.”
Evie smiled kindly. “Good luck with everything back home, Sebastian. I hope we can see you next time we visit Vancouver.”
Seb hoped so too.
Now, he left the chicken enclosure and headed back to the house to finish packing his bags. A couple of hours later, Tom and Helen pulled up outside. Seb went out to meet them, and the way his stomach flipped at seeing Helen again made him regret his flight to Ottawa in just a few hours’ time. He ignored the sharp twang in his chest and forced up a smile.
Everything’s just freaking awesome.
“Hey!” Seb helped Helen out of the car. “Did you have a good time?”
“It was great.” Helen’s bruising was much less severe now and the swelling on her lip had gone down, just a tiny mark remaining. Her cheeks were rosy where she’d caught the sun and tiny freckles speckled her nose. She looked rested too, her eyes less haunted than the last time he’d seen her. “Being nagged constantly by my pain-in-the-buttyoungerbrother was just what I needed. I tell you, Harry doesn’t get half the scoldings I get.”
“That’s because he does what he’s told,” Tom said and turned to Seb. “The other day, I told her to rest her foot, and the next thing I know, she’s taken my mother-in-law’s bicycle and set off on a ten-mile ride.”
“I needed to, Tom,” Helen said. “Cycling didn’t hurt as much as walking, not at first, anyway.”
Seb grinned at her. She grinned back.
But then her smile faltered. “Are you all packed and ready for your flight?”
Seb nodded, not feeling ready at all.
“I’ve made lunch,” he announced brightly. “Are you heading back to Cornwall tonight, Tom?”
“Yes. Helen—because she’s Helen—doesn’t want me to stay with her.”
“You’ll be back at the weekend so you can pester me all you like then, so finish your holiday, enjoy it, and stop worrying about me. I’ll be fine by myself.” She glared at her brother. “You know I need to do this, Tom.”
Tom glared back. But only briefly. “All right, if that’s what you need to do.”
“Yes. It is. I won’t let what happened with Jaxon put me off living comfortably in my own home.”
Bam!Rebel fairy strikes again.
Seb’s chest swelled. Helen had guts. He admired her for it. Loved her for it.
Just Friends, eh?
We’ll see, Hobbs. We’ll see.
Chapter 35
