But maybe Liz had a point.
A few hours later, back at home—merely out of interest—Helen searched how much a flight to Vancouver cost.
Wow, okay.
Maybe a flight before or during the Christmas period wasn’t quite in her price range. Discouraged, she searched for flights in the new year.Slightly better.She’d never taken a flight anywhere before and—ah. She didn’t have a passport. That would take a few weeks to come through and would be another expense to factor in. But the tingle of nerves and financial concerns were soon consumed by excitement. A holiday. With Sebastian. Could she do it?
She’d been tied—willingly—to the cottage for over a decade and, of course, she loved it, but her horizons had broadened somewhat. Coming to terms with Ada’s passing. Meeting Sebastian. Working with the police and setting up her own company. Helen had gained a lot of confidence in her abilitiesnotto mess things up. She was thinking ahead, moving on, achieving her goals.
Visiting Sebastian in a foreign country would be another goal to add to her list.
As would finding out how Sebastian truly felt about her.
Like a sappy teenager, Helen googled images and sporting videos of him so she could see his face and hear his voice. Bypassing all the old images of him with other women, she clicked only on pics and videos of Sebastian swimming. She loved watching him race, loved the sheer focus and determination on his face as he stepped on a starting block. He’d often looked at her like that.
She missed him.
How could she tell him she loved him without risking their friendship? She’d ruin their easy banter if he no longer felt the same way—if he’d ever feltthat wayin the first place.
What she needed from Sebastian was a sign that he wanted to be more than just friends.
But was it even possible to be more than just friends living so many thousands of miles apart?
Frustrated and annoyed, Helen shut down her laptop, triple-checked all the windows and doors were locked then got ready to watch a film in bed.
Sometime later, her phone buzzed.
Check this out.
Helen tapped to play the short video Sebastian had just sent and squealed out loud at the fluffy yellow chicks squabbling to get under mother hen’s bosom. She texted him back.
Where are you?
Vancouver community farm. Another benefit for Strive. Jimmy’s in town this week, we’re grabbing a pizza later. What are you up to?
It was 10 p.m. on a Friday night. Where else would she be other than tucked up in bed, wearing her comfiest hoodie over her comfiest pajamas. She texted back.
I’m on a date in Bristol.
Helen regretted the lie as soon as she’d sent it.What a stupid, childish thing to do!But she’d wanted to poke Sebastian with … with something. Something that would give her an indication that what DI Paul Taylor had overheard was true. But still, Helen shouldn’t risk her friendship with Sebastian by playing such games. She was about to text him back to tell him she’d been joking, when his reply came through.
Have fun. Catch you later.
Have fun?
Have fun!
That’s all he had to say about her date?
Well.
Didn’t that make her feel just … great.
Helen was on a frickin’ date?
Several hours later, even with Helen’s text playing on repeat in his head, Seb still couldn’t believe it.
“So, Eduardo said he might be able to come over next month,” Jimmy said, in between bites of pizza. “It would be great if you could meet him one day, maybe if you’re in Ottawa visiting your mom in January, we could arrange something?”
