“Will that be your schedule in September?”
“Yep.”
“Sounds like a full-time job.”
“That’s exactly what it is.” He crunched another mouthful of apple.
“Your food bills must be enormous.”
“And the rest.”
“Do Strive pay all your expenses?”
“Just the coaching and facilities.” He swallowed, frowning. “I make up the shortfall.”
When he didn’t elaborate any further, Helen took that as a sign to drop the conversation, probably having reared too close to that personal-boundaries clause for Sebastian’s liking. Fair enough. Personal boundaries worked both ways, and there was plenty she didn’t want him to know about her—namely that she’d been involved with a cybercriminal and was possibly still under police surveillance because of it.
She would tell Sebastian, but not today. Not when he was already pissed off about something else.
They walked in companionable silence across the orchard until Sebastian slowed, his attention drawn to the manor house. “Who lives there?”
“No one. It’s been empty for over ten years. It’s occasionally used as a filming location.” Helen stopped at the orchard gate where the trees cleared to give them a better view of Pendlebury Manor. “I doubt any buyer will use it as a home. It’s not particularly homely. Tom and I used to find it a bit creepy.”
“You’ve been inside?”
“Lots of times. We still have a key to the back entrance. Before the current estate manager took charge, part of my job was to keep an eye on it. Want to have a look one day?”
“Are we allowed?”
She shrugged. “Not really.”
Sebastian smiled, the first she’d seen all morning. “Maybe I’ll take a peek. I’m curious.”
So he wasn’t averse to breaking some rules, then.
“Your cottage,” Sebastian said. “Is there a chance the buyers will let you stay?”
“Yes. If I win the lottery. Or rob a bank.” She forced up a smile. “That last bit was a joke, by the way.” She twirled the foxtail between her fingers again. “I need a huge sum of money for a deposit by the end of the year, or at the very, very least, a stable income to demonstrate I have the potential to earn huge sums of money.” But she didn’t want to think about that now. “Come on, let’s go this way. I want to show you something.”
Scrapping her plans to head to the river, Helen vaulted over the orchard fence. After Sebastian did the same, she led him down a narrow, rarely walked upon path shaded by a thick hedgerow. Bushes scratched and prickled their legs as they walked by. Birds sang among the tangled branches above them. The smell of open fields turned muddier as they reached the end of the track. A few more steps, and the bushes cleared and sunlight beamed brighter.
“We’re here.” Helen stepped to the side, making room for Sebastian beside her.
“Wow.” His eyes lit up as he took in the lake. It was a mirror today, reflecting the clouds and sky, and all the colors of the surrounding trees. “Can we swim in it?”
“I knew you’d ask that. And yes, it’s why I brought you here. In case you start losing the feel of the water.”
Sebastian gazed at her, intense and focused, as if he was trying to solve some sort of puzzle. The same look he’d given her yesterday by the punchbag before that sweet kiss.
Heat flushed her skin. “It’s um … only a hundred feet or so to the other side, tiny compared to Canadian standards, but—”
“It’s perfect. Thank you.” Sebastian slipped off his shoes.
“You’re going innow?”
“Of course.” He pulled his T-shirt over his head. “Aren’t you?”
“No! The water’s bloody freezing.”
